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I was tempted to title this post “Sjælland (Zealand) and Sweden”, but I promised to avoid such. This is a two part entry, covering a couple of day trips I made from Copenhagen (yes, I was able to tear myself away).
July 6, 2007
Waking to another gloomy, grey day, I felt inspired to undertake a Shakespearean pilgrimage to Hamlet’s Elsinore (now called Helsingør) and its castle, Kronborg. Only an hour north of Copenhagen by train, Helsingør felt a suitable location to situate the mad prince - set on the narrow passage of Ãresund, the strait that separates Sweden and Denmark; dark choppy seas crash around the castle. But, as my earlier research revealed, the story of Hamlet, while set in Denmark, did not actually unfold in and around Kronborg, but in the region of Jutland. The original Hamlet, Amled or Amleth, was written about by Saxo Grammaticus, who wrote a history of Denmark in 1200. Likely, Saxo used Old Norse legends to create the Amled tale - but you can see the resemblance to Shakespeare’s play: Amled’s father, King Harvendel, is killed by his brother, Fenge, who then turns around and marries Harvendel’s wife. Amled plays mad
to save his own life, but manages to revenge his father’s murder by killing Fenge.
Other than in Shakespeare's imagination, Hamlet never set foot in Kronborg. But the castle was definitely worth a visit, as was the quaint town center.
From Helsingør, I decided to continue my castle theme trip and caught a train to Hillerød to see Frederiksborg Castle. On the way, I had one of those experiences that makes me realize why I like traveling alone sometimes. A ten-year old boy was sitting next to me on the train; shyly he began to speak to me in Danish. When he realized I wasn't quite following, he asked -- in Danish -- if I was "Svensk" (Swedish). Instead of laughing, I smiled and told him I was actually American. He smiled, too, and tried out some English on me. It was a sweet experience, one that might not have happened had I been wrapped in conversation with another traveler.
When I originally thought about undertaking a day trip around northern Zealand, I had planned on going to see Frederiksborg Castle first. Only the weather caused me to go to Kronborg in the morning. But I am
very glad I made the trip in the order that I did - after Frederiksborg, Kronborg would have paled in comparison. Here was a castle castle, complete with large moat and extensive formal gardens. And the interior was one of the more sumptuous I’ve seen (the chapel and the main audience hall were jaw-droppingly spectacular). While Kronborg has literary resonance, Frederiksborg is an architectural beauty - one of the truly great castles of Europe.
After a long day of castle hopping, I tried to catch a train from Hillerød - but hit my first Danish “adventure”. Apparently, there was a problem with the Copenhagen track, so all of us needing to head in that direction were directed to a bus that would take us to the station in the nearby town of Allerød. The confusion continued when the train there wasn’t on the correct track. But I never feared that I wouldn’t make it back to Copenhagen. Although all the instructions were being issued in Danish, there was always someone nearby willing - and happy - to translate for me. In all, it only took me an extra hour to get back to the city. Really, not bad at
all.
July 7, 2007
In general, I am not the sort to cross a border simply to tick another country off the list. But I could not resist taking the train over the nearly 8 km long Ãresund Bridge to the Swedish city of Malmö - only a 30 minute journey from the center of Copenhagen. It was too easy not to. (I could also justify the trip historically, since the southern part of Sweden, SkÃ¥ne, used to be part of Denmark…)
Admittedly, my main reason to visit was to glimpse the famous, and now iconic, Turning Torso, the tallest building in Scandinavia and one of the tallest residential structures in Europe. This twisting skyscraper is quite a contrast to the city’s medieval center, where there are still wood-beam structures from the sixteenth-century, and the Malmöhus, an old Danish fortress (which now houses several museums). Overall, however, I must admit that Malmö, after Copenhagen’s vibrancy, left me a little underwhelmed. Nice for a half-day trip, but I didn’t feel the need to linger.
Before leaving town, I took a peek inside the Skt. Petri Kyrka (Church). Interestingly - at least for me - there was a
Turkish tour group being shepherded through. In Malmö?
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Gihan
non-member comment
James, I'm really enjoying living vicariously through your journal. Keep the posts coming - your trip already sounds fantastic, and its nice to see and read your experience as it happens.