To be or not to be, a shopping mission, and mid-summer's eve

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Yesterday, we visited Hamlet's Castle, Elsinore, or Kronberg. It was a long train ride out, particularly because we had to switch trains at Klampenborg. It appeared to be a temporary situation, although I couldn't read the signs (all in Danish), I could see that it was one of those transportation change notification signs we have on our own MBTA. Overall, I have to say I love having access to Google Maps, because it's directions forewarned me of the situation, instructing me to get off at Klampenborg and board a different train for Helsingor.

When we arrived, it was pouring down rain unexpectedly - no rain had been forecast for Copenhagen. (Having learned this lesson about weather, I have since added Roskilde to my Yahoo Weather, and we are not going today, as it will rain at 1PM for the rest of the day, but if we go tomorrow, it will be 68 degrees, the best weather we've seen all week.) We took this opportunity to pop into a huge glass modern building (a cultural center) for a coffee and snack - it was the Spicehusset, I believe. It also had a nice bathroom facility - hey, when you're travelling, you NEED to know these things. Especially with a four year old. On that tangent, all the public restrooms have been very nice here in Denmark.

When we arrived at the castle, it was much bigger than I expected! The ramparts and moats surrounding it go on for quite a distance. There are views to Sweden across the strait, and as the sun came out and turned the water blue, it was one of the more beautiful places we've seen here. The castle itself doesn't look like the kind of desolate place that Hamlet is based in. In most of the apartments, the royal family had updated it in later styles. Kai was a bit bored here, so we rushed through the royal apartments, only able to stop and view the art and tapestries a few times. Then we came upon the kids area (we now know the Danish word for child), where we stopped and built castles and spaceships out of legos. Kai's spaceship looked suspiciously like a Japanese samurai castle. It could be that this was my favorite part of the day, if only because Kai had ceased to say "Denmark is boring. I want to go back to america. I miss my toys!"

Side-tangent - travelling with a four year old is both easier and harder than travelling with a three year old. Up til now, Kai would be happy to go wherever we went. He would play with toys in the hotel room, but he mostly was happy to come along and observe. We always had a stroller, which meant he could nap anywhere. He doesn't nap anymore, and he can walk a far distance, but he does have an opinion about what's fun, and what's not. Now, we are lucky that he does enjoy running about in public gardens and parks, which fortunately also have a playground to stoke his interest in most cases. He will enjoy walking down a shopping street, as long as we can stop in all the toy stores. We do explain though that sometimes we are doing what we enjoy. The Tivoli day was all about him - but this day is going to be all about us.

After finishing the royal apartments, we visited the "casements". This area lies beneath the castle as a series of underground tunnels and chambers for storing supplies and soldiers. Over 1,000 soldiers could and have lived in these subterranean labyrinths. None of the rooms were closed off, but there was very little light - you had to use your own flashlight. Oh, funny thing - the English guide said that "You could explore the chambers with a torch." and I got excited that I'd get to hold a flaming torch. Darn UK to US English for my disappointment! Anyway, there is a huge statue down there of Holger the Dane, a proper viking-looking fellow, and then you just follow the tunnels around looking for arrows to lead you out. My little man got scared but I'm glad to say he was brave enough to make it through.

At that point, we were done with Elsinore, so we returned to town, but to avoid the wind, we decided to walk in the town itself rather than along the harbor. Side-note - In every single picture, I am wearing a fleece often with a hood, so I don't know why I worried about my clothes for this trip. Basically all you'll see is a fleece with a head sticking out. It's cold here because 60 degrees with a strong wind is cold, but don't tell the locals this - they are wearing tank tops. I'm only wearing my jeans or leggings on this trip - every other bottom I packed is too light and is dead-weight. Basically it's not getting any warmer from here. I'm not complaining about the weather - it's not boiling hot and as long as you have a coat and a hood handy for sudden rainstorms and wind, the weather doesn't impact your enjoyment at all.

I was right - in the interior of the town, the wind was less cutting - and with the sun shining down, it was downright balmy. The center of the town is designated pedestrian and appears to be a discount shopping street. I had read that the Swedes take the ferry over to buy alcohol, and there were indeed many liquor stores. However, there were also many clothing stores with sales, with their merchandise on the street in racks, and the prices were in Danish kr and Swedish too. I even saw a few things I liked, but I can't burden my backpack anymore than I already have. Across the street were strung the Danish flags, and the mood was quite festive. My little guy was quite hungry, so we started looking for food that didn't require a sitdown restaurant. (A. and I had made the choice to eat a large breakfast at the hotel to carry us throughout the day, and it did - I wasn't hungry all day long.) We found, of all things, a bagel place, and got him bagel with hummus.

It was at this point that we discovered he had stepped into the doodoo of a rather large bird. So large that it had spread across not just the sole but the sides of his shoes. I surmised the origin due to the greenish color, which reminded me of birds, but it could have been anything. His shoes, which he has had since Christmas, were already wearing through with holes, and we had made the decision not to take them home from the trip. This issue gave us a purpose! A. realized that there was a mall, a real shopping mall, at the end of the street, so we went in on a mission. We found a little shoe store, of the sort with the boxes stacked high and you serve yourself. We figured out he wears a size 28 (though he's a "W" so hard to fit), and tried on as many shoes as we could until we found a pair that fit and he liked. The shoe price was reasonable for kids' shoes (prices in Helsingor are better than Copenhagen if you have to do some shopping), and they're sturdier than the last pair. He could probably even wear them hiking, as they have a generous tread. Mission accomplished - and it felt good.

By the way, did you know H&M is from Denmark? There are H&Ms everywhere. I have already got myself some extra socks from one! I paid less for four pairs of socks at H&M than I did for a coffee at Tivoli. Good old H&M and its bargains. This mall had a three story H&M.

We were on our way home then, and K. slept the whole way in A.'s arms, even when we had to change trains. We returned to the room for a rest, before going out again for Thai food (Ban Gaw), and midsummer's eve.

To get to Ban Gaw, we had to walk through the heart of the red light district. The massage parlors, exotic merchandise stores and strip clubs didn't bother me, so much as the people hanging outside, who looked like they might be drug addicts. If they were prostitutes, they weren't no Julia Roberts. It just felt a bit unsafe - maybe I've been living in the suburbs too long. Then the neighborhood becomes a "Little Asia" of sorts with lots of Indian and Southeast Asian restaurants and grocery stores. Our Thai food was good but more than I needed - and I really don't like sit-down restaurants with a four year old. I'd much prefer to self-cater at a grocery store or get take-out. Lesson learned - and we should save a lot of money if we stop eating at restaurants. Anyway, the only other thing that scared me was seeing a hypodermic needle on the sidewalk, nearly stepped on by my son.

Next, we attended the midsummer celebration at Tivoli. With our CPH card, we got in free for a third time. It was packed this night with people, especially around the lake where the structure for a bonfire was floating with a witch on top. I guess the tradition goes that Saint Hans (or John's) eve is the shortest night of the year, but a night that evil forces are at work and the witches fly, so you light the bonfires that night to ward them off. I also heard that you burn the bonfire to ensure a long summer. At any rate, the holiday has a Christian name, but it must have a long Pagan history. The witch-burning part apparently goes back to the witch-craze of the 16th century and I guess witches were burnt rather vigorously here in Denmark. Yes, google helped me explain some of the festivities so I can't be sure how much of this is true. But it did make for an experience, to wait excitedly with everyone else for the bonfire to light and to watch it burn. I also noticed that many people had festooned their hair - or their bikes - with flower garlands, so that may be part of the holiday as well.

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