Helsingor

After another great breakfast this morning, we set out for the town of Helsingor and Kronborg Castle, probably the inspiration for Shakespeare's Hamlet. I have to admit that the bad weather is getting us down a bit; it's in the 40's and rainy a lot of the time. This morning it was pouring when we left the hotel, so instead of the bus we took a cab. More expensive, but we didn't get soaked. The forty-five minute train ride to Helsingor took us through many small towns, with lots of glimpses of the sea through the trees and between the houses. They didn't check our tickets; Charlotte says the fine is quite steep if you can't produce a ticket, so that probably keeps most people honest.

Charlotte met us at the train station and we went straight to Kronborg Castle. The castle has a huge moat and imposing ramparts; had it been a nicer day we would have walked around the ramparts. Today we decided to just go inside where it was warmer....barely. The Royal Chambers are not very impressive; there are some nice paintings and gorgeous tapestries on the walls, but there is little furniture and though the rooms are large they seem cold and unwelcoming. Little wonder the royal families stopped coming here in the late 1600's or 1700's, I forget which.

The chapel is truly beautiful--lots of carved wood on the pews and the altar. By contrast with the rest of the castle, it was never destroyed or damaged by fire. Seeing the chapel, one can imagine how the rest of the castle must have looked at one time. Another highlight was the ballroom. It was the largest royal hall in Northern Europe, bigger than any I have ever seen, and lined with gorgeous pictures on the walls. There is a black and white tile floor as well.

We also went through the casemates, not knowing what they were. These gloomy, dark and dank underground passages were used as soldier quarters during times of war. It's hard to imagine that up to a thousand men and their provisions were quartered here, sometimes for months. Beth and I kept walking and walking through these twisted, convoluted underground rooms, thinking we'd never get back to fresh air. Visions of rats and snakes and possibly dead bodies kept crossing my mind. When we finally made it out, Beth said she noticed they didn't collect our tickets for the casemates, and she was pretty sure that if we had gotten lost down there, they wouldn't have come down to find us.

Cold, a little wet and tired, we went to a nearby cafe to have some tea and coffee, and get a sandwich for Charlotte. We stumbled onto a perfect place in an old home, that felt like your neighborhood bar or coffee shop. Lots of different beer bottles surrounding the top of the bar; on the bottom of the bar, the end panels from different wine boxes. Bric-a-brac everywhere; fun, kitschy stuff on counters and table tops; a really nice owner who spoke English (of course) and brought a tray of cookies even though Beth and I only ordered coffee and tea. Charlotte's smorrebrod, which is an open-faced sandwich, had lightly fried fish, shrimp, homemade mayonnaise, fresh dill and caviar. She said it was very good.

After an hour or so spent in a warm, dry place where we enjoyed watching the local men play snooker (we think), we were energized to walk into Helsingor and look around. There is a nice downtown shopping area, with cobblestone streets and some promising shops. At this point it was after 4:00 and the shops were closed, as they will be tomorrow. We said goodbye to Charlotte and headed back to our hotel. Charlotte has a farewell dinner with her friends from the school tonight, then she'll have to pack up all of her stuff from her last four months here.

On the recommendation of the hotel desk clerk, Beth and I went to Amici Miei, an Italian restaurant in Helsingor. We had an incredible dinner (pizza Margherita for Beth, sea bass for me), over which we lingered until we ran out of conversation. I love that about European restaurants; they don't hurry you in the least. They never bring the check until you ask for it, even if you talk for hours without ordering anything else.

Tomorrow we will return to Copenhagen for one last day before flying to Paris on Monday. Hold on, little Juliet! Grandma will be there soon.