Picketts in Poland: Copenhagen, Denmark….Day 4 (August 2013)

Majestic Castles in Denmark

Our last day in Denmark was spent visiting two beautiful castles….

….Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød….

….and Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, also called "Elsinore" in English.

While walking to Copenhagen's main train station for our journey to see the castles….

….we snapped a quick picture of a 7-Eleven store.

7-Eleven stores disappeared from Houston many years ago….but they were everywhere in Copenhagen!

Our first destination was Hillerød….just a 30-minute train ride north of Copenhagen.

After disembarking from the train we took a city bus until we came to the beautiful Fredriksborg Castle….the royal residence of the popular King Christian IV.

Today the castle is a huge national museum…it is stunning with many ornate details.

It is also referred to as Frederiksborg Palace.

The grounds were also beautiful….not sparing details here either.

The magestic clock tower….

….and amazing gardens and surrounding grounds.

What a great back yard!

On the right-hand side of the portico below is the date of 1736....

….while the oldest parts of the castle date back to 1560!

We knew very little of Danish history or important people that governed or came from here.

So it was interesting to spend a few hours learning about wonderful Denmark.

One of the first areas we walked through was the Knight's Chapel, an enormous church inside the castle.

Not only is it part of the castle-museum, but it is still used as a local church today.

At the far end of this magnificent chapel is the Compenius Organ….built over 400 years ago!

Mark stands next to the organ while reading about it. The organ was constructed in five years using 1,001 pipes. We would have enjoyed hearing someone play this organ.

Today it is displayed in its almost original condition!

Next to the Knight's Chapel is a small room displaying original art work from the Danish artist Carl Bloch. His paintings depict many of the notable events in the life of Jesus Christ.

Carl Bloch's paintings have been used frequently by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints….

….so we had heard of him and recognized many of these paintings.

We have seen these pictures displayed on church walls and in classes, magazines,
and visitors' centers.

Mark looks on and listens about the art work.

I enjoyed seeing the picture of Mary the mother of Jesus, arriving to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

Everywhere we looked there was ornate decoration in the palace….

….including beautiful stained glass windows.

Periodically we looked out the windows and through archways and found new and striking views.

Highlighting some of our favorite places in this huge castle-museum….

I love this painting of the royal family.…Crown Prince Frederik and his son, gazing at his grandmother, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Queen Margrethe II has reigned for almost 42 years. She was the eldest child of King Frederik IX, and at the time of her birth only males could ascend to the throne. Later the constitution was changed when it appeared there would be no male heirs.

The Queen was the first female monarch in Denmark since the early 1300s. Her father reigned for 25 years…but she has reigned for over 40 years!

A royal bedroom….

….and beautiful art work and portraits of royal family members.

We came to the portrait of someone whose name we actually recognized….Hans Christian Anderson. He is the Danish author of over 168 fairy tales, including….

The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid….

The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Match Girl.

There was also a portrait of the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen….

….who created the marble statue of the resurrected Christ called The Cristus. We saw this original statue on our first day in Copenhagen. It was interesting to see a picture of the sculptor whose name we only knew previously.

Christian IV was born in the Frederiksborg Castle. He was the longest reigning monarch of Denmark….more than 59 years

He was Denmark's most well-known king….he promoted trading and shipping, and involved Denmark in unsuccessful wars against Sweden.

The National Museum in Denmark is filled with beautiful art work, furniture….

…. and amazing rooms. Here Mark is just entering a large hall…the ceiling was filled with beautiful pictures.

The clocks in this palace were intricate and beautiful...

I have seen such interesting time pieces in many of the countries we have visited here in Europe.

The beautiful gardens were green and extensive, covering many acres.

At a small dock on the side of the palace lake we boarded a boat….

….to take us to the other side of the lake.

The mini-cruise was quite relaxing, and it was most enjoyable to see the palace grounds from the water as well as the land.

The boat made stops at two or three different docks where riders could board or disembark….which shows just how big the lake is.

The kind boat pilot invited a boy to help steer the boat around the lake. I was impressed with the driver's kindness.

As for the boy, he took the job seriously and concentrated intently on his task.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Frederiksborg Castle.

On to the second castle on our day tour….Kronborg Castle.

From Frederiksborg we took another regional train to the area of Helsingør, or Elsinore in English….

….passing small Danish neighborhoods along the way.

After disembarking the train and asking for the direction to the castle, off we went walking….

….and in a few minutes saw Kronborg Castle in the distance .

Kronborg Castle was first built by the Danish king Eric of Pomerania in the early 1400s. It was originally not a castle, but a fortress that played a significant role in the history of northern Europe.

The fortress was significant because it is strategically located at the narrowest neck of the sound that is the entrance to the Baltic Sea. Just 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) on the other side of the sound was a sister fortress that enabled the king to charge "sound dues" of anyone that wanted to enter or leave the Baltic.

150 years after King Eric, the fortress was made into a castle by King Frederik II.

The sound dues were abolished in 1857, and now the sound can be considered a modern aquatic highway….as many ships pass through it.

When Kronborg was built, both sides of the sound belonged to Denmark. Today however, the other side of the sound is Sweden….we had no idea we were so close!

Kronberg Castle is also the setting for Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark", the source of such famous quotes as….

"To be or not to be, that is the question",

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be", and
"This above all: to thine own self be true".

So Kronborg Castle is also referred to as Hamlet's Castle….

….and the play has been performed here with famous actors such as Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Christopher Plummer, and others.

Since we needed to catch a train back to Copenhagen in order to fly back to Warsaw that evening, we only walked around the perimeter of Kronborg Castle.

But on this beautiful summer day the scenery was equally beautiful around the castle grounds.

As we enjoyed exploring the grounds of this very old castle… I thought it would be a great idea to re-read "Hamlet" once again.

This is a castle with a rich history!

Traveling by train, we returned to Copenhagen and then had a quick walk to our hotel….

….passing one of the bicycle parking lots that are all over the city. Copenhagen, like Amsterdam, is a city of bicycles and cyclists.

We had come to know this street very well in the four days of being in Copenhagen….

….though we could only guess how to pronounce it.

Fortunately though, we had discovered that just across the street from the hotel was a train stop where we could board a train to the airport.

So about three minutes after leaving the hotel we were awaiting a train on the platform.

Our last meal in Denmark….airport food that was actually tasty and somewhat healthy….