Last weekend, Copenhagen surprised us with another sunny day! A sunny, clear-sky day in March? I am sending many thanks to the Viking Gods for such a blessing!!
How did we spend our day? You ask.
Missy and I had plans to go to Helsingรธr to visit the well-known Hamlet Castle. We tagged a long with the QA program of the University. The QA program is a mentor-mentee program that pairs up Danish students with international students–they host events regularly to help students get acquainted with the city, meet new people, and much more. If you find yourself attending UCEAP, I would recommend joining the program! It’s a good way to meet people and check out the city in an inexpensive way (the program occasionally funds admissions to museums, castles, etc).
So how did we get there?
We took the train from Norreport Station towards Helsingรธr. You can’t miss the stop…since it’s the last one ;) The ride took about 45 minutes and the journey costs 52 DKK one-way with a Rejsekort. Since I’m already talking numbers, I’ll just mention that it costs 80 DKK for admission to the castle (with your student ID)! The regular price is 90 DKK.
Enough about numbers, here is a photo of Floriana and Virginia (my other roommate) after we got off the train. They are super cool Italian girls!!
On our way to the Kronborg castle, we walked through the city center of Helsingรธr. The center is small (in comparison to the center of Copenhagen, of course) and contains a few shops like Tiger, H&M, and more liquor stores than I expected. The featured image of this post (the one you clicked on or the first picture of this entry) is my favorite capture of the day! I think it accurately portrays Denmark showing rustic & beautiful architecture and a cute plants shop. In case you can’t view it closely enough, here is the photo I was talking about:
We walked for about 10 minutes from the train station to the Kronborg Castle. On the way, we walk past a giant water way that connects Denmark to Sweden. Here is a photo of a mini port! In the back, you can see the Kronborg Castle peeping out.
Would you just look at the sky?! It’s so beautiful! I can’t wait for the summer to come so I get to see this everyday :)
We walked a bit more and…TADA! We have arrived to the Kronborg Castle! The castle Shakespeare’s Hamlet takes place in. Unfortunately, I did not go on the guided tour so I do not know much about how that came to be. Also, I did not read Hamlet so that makes me even more clueless (to be fair, I read Othello, Romeo & Juliet, & Macbeth– ;)).
Here is the entrance to the Kronborg Castle. Going in, there is a small walk way/bridge that hovers over a small body of water. To my knowledge, Kronborg Castle is surrounded by water and/or has water ways/canals running through it.
The castle, itself, was great! We explored the many rooms and came to a conclusion that the stairs are extremely steep back in the day and that tapestries must have been the King’s favorite home decor item. All jokes aside, the castle contains a lot of fancy furniture, many beautiful tapestries, and even some clothing. Our favorite part was the view from the tower! We walked up 145 steps (it says on the sign and I counted to make sure) to see these breathtaking views.
A view overlooking the city of Helsingรธr.
Denmark, I love you!
A view looking down to the inside area of the Kronborg castle. Here you can also (sort of) see Sweden on the other side of the water.
Lastly, a picture of my beautiful (and brave) roommates sitting on the edge of the tower. I also took a picture at the same spot after I gathered enough courage to do so. If you didn’t know, I am incredibly afraid of heights.
Not pictured is the dark dungeons. There were no natural lights and only a few candles here and there. It was difficult to navigate and felt every bits of creepy. It was also damp and cold.
For more information regarding the history behind the Kronborg Castle and why it was considered a symbol of Denmark’s power, read more about it here. I would highly recommend you do a guided tour. I wish I did but decided to spend the day browsing through the castle at my own pace.