"To be or not to be"

A visit to Kronborg castle is sure to bring up at least one reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet as it is the castle that he based the story upon.

Saturday I took a DIS subsidized trip about an hour from the city to the small city of Elsinore and visited the Kronberg castle. It was honestly a bit difficult to get myself into the city that morning as I was reluctant to brave the intense wind and a fair bit of rain but it was definitely worth it! I even ran into a girl that I had met the night before on the train platform who happened to be doing the same tour. So now I have a friend in my little neighborhood as well!

The town of Elsinore is very similar to the other towns I've seen so far in Denmark. It has the distinctly brightly colored buildings, which remind me a bit of Georgetown, and a center pedestrian walk flanked with cafes, kebob houses (yes, there are lots!) and shops. Wanting to get out of the cold a new friend and I headed into a coffee house and ordered coffee and a danish (vienebrød), I even asked for it in Danish! How polite the girl working there was to pretend to understand what I said : ) We finished our lunches and meandered around a bit, trying to get off the main street and explore some of the side streets. I noticed a little antique shop and we headed in. It was more or less a kind of heaven : ) I say this as an admittedly huge fan of PBS's Antiques Roadshow and an even bigger fan of a good deal.

Inside we found a really great collection of antique furniture, china, art etc. at amazingly low prices (even for US standards). Then I found that there was a sign leading us upstairs which seemed to indicate that everything upstairs was 5 kroner (Really my danish isn't that good but any good shopper knows big red letters usually indicate a sale price), now this is serious business because 5 kroner is appx. one US dollar. I found a really great porcelain kettle that I decided to get for Antonio and Agneta (it turned out to be their 28th wedding anniversary!) and was so happy that I could have made the trip there just to go to that store!

But, oh right ... the castle! Well firstly, it had a moat! How great!! A real moat!! You can see it in these pictures as I found it to be the real clencher in terms of judging the legitimacy of any structure claiming to be one of the most important castles in Europe. Our group split up and we were led for about an hour and a half around this truly impressive fortress. It was also quite a lesson in Danish history. I learned that the Swedes and the Danish have been involved in 26 wars over the course of history ... most unfortunate for the Danish as this has led to the loss of 1/3 of their landmass. Also, that King Christian (all Danish Kings are Christian or Frederick and maybe we can assume that this King was Christian the first ... ) used the sound seperating what is now Sweden and Denmark (pictured below) as a way to tax ships crossing in acquiring his personal wealth.

Something I found to be very interesting was that our guide told us that throughout history when the Swedes attacked Kronborg they looted it and took away artwork, tapestries etc. and now those artifacts are featured in Swedish museums! One particularly impressive painting we were shown was not taken due to the fact that it depicted the Swedish King handing a crown to the Danish Queen! Well, they have their pride I suppose : ) This of course coming from me who is 1/4 Swedish : )

Sweden!! The sound you see here separates the two countries by a mere 4km. I even received a text message on my Danish cell phone welcoming me to Sweden and reminding me that international rates apply. Keep in mind international rates mean using your cell phone may result in the need to auction off arms, legs, vital organs etc. to pay the bill. yikes!





More to read here about Kronberg Castle!



I also wanted to put up a few pictures from the tour we had during orientation. We of course hit all the big stops ... Parliament, the Royal residence, the little mermaid etc. Our tour guide was a young Danish guy and really gave a great narrative of the city and its history. I especially liked seeing the guards outside of the Royal residence and was even more thrilled when I saw their daily march (to music) through the city center.






So a bit more of an idea as to the historical and Royal presence felt throughout the city. For me it is an impossible to task to walk to class without reflecting on the history and age of the surrounding buildings. I think it's really wonderful and have definitely had complaints of other places (Arizona for one ...) for being the complete opposite. Anyways, lots to enjoy and I am about to spend the evening with my host parents, their daughter Maria and her boyfriend Thomas, their son Martin and his wife Anna, Antonio's brother Maurizio and his wife Dotta. Should be a party!

: ) More on the way