We wrapped up our Europe 2012 trip with three days in Greater Copenhagen, a beautiful, old “Venice of the North” city and historic surrounding towns.
Aunt Kathleen recommended that we spend the day in Roskilde, an old, old, old city about a half hour from Copenhagen. Taking her advice, we hopped the train and arrived in the ancient city, founded more than 1,000 years ago. Roskilde Cathedral is the town’s centerpiece, accessible through cobblestone pedestrian streets. The Cathedral boasts more graves than I could count, all of the Danish royalty since the 15th century. The coffins and headstones are both beautiful and frightening, adorned with roses and skulls. What’s most interesting is how the headstones line the floor, and you can have to actually walk on top of them.
From the Cathedral, we strolled through the park to the uber-cool Viking Museum. There, you can see up-close-and-personal how they made viking ships a thousand years ago. Museum staff use only the tools that were available to viking shipmakers, and attempt as best as they can to use the same types of wood. Even in cutting down the trees, it’s done in the same fashion as the vikings. Even cooler are the five viking ships that were resurrected from the nearby bay about thirty years ago. These ships represent one of the world’s largest and most important historical maritime finds. From a warship to a cargo boat, the ships were brought out of the bay and reconstructed. Can you believe it took twenty-five years to complete the feat?
The next day we took another day trip up to Helsingor, the location of Kronborg Slot – otherwise known as Hamlet’s castle. Walking the short mile or so to the castle, you come across the moat – yes, a real moat! Over the bridge and through the manmade hills surrounding the castle grounds, automatic speakers begin telling the story of Kronborg Castle. The grounds are beautiful, poised right on a peninsula overlooking Helsingborg in Sweden. We took a self-guided tour of the beautiful royal apartments, traveling through Danish royal history. Much of the castle is original and it’s pretty incredible to see the beautiful artwork, rugs, and furniture that remains. The ballroom is spectacular, with views of the courtyard and bay and two giant, gorgeous fireplaces.
After checking out the castle and the enormous courtyard, we went down to the casements, where a giant sculpture of Holger the Dane presides over the entrance. There’s a vending machine that dispenses flashlights so you don’t end up falling into one of the many openings between floors. I had no idea how dark and damp the casements would be, or that they actually housed so many soldiers. If ghosts exist, I imagine this is one place they’d thrive in. Luckily, I was short enough to walk through and see the sunshine, though Keith had to do a bit of ducking throughout. We finished out our Kronborg tour with a walk through the maritime museum.
Since Sweden is so close, we decided to take the ferry and explore. Helsingborg has an old-world feel, with small, quaint shops and pedestrian shopping streets. We visited a restaurant reminiscent of a 1950s American diner with burgers too big to handle, delivered in small, paper classic cars. Topping off the burger and fries was the perfect chocolate milkshake. Then, we were off for a scenic train ride back to Copenhagen.
Our last day in Europe was spent enjoying the city. We walked through Stroget, the world’s largest pedestrian-only area, to take a canal boat ride through Copenhagen. It’s a great way to see the city without braving the unpredictable autumn weather. We saw the little mermaid (and yes, she’s little) and the beautiful, unique opera house. We had lunch at Nyhavn (pork and red cabbage, of course) and stopped to watch a bubblemaker.
Our last night we had yet another delicious experience at a local french restaurant. I adore the idea of sitting outside in the cool air, with a nice, warm blanket, and, of course, a heat lamp. Keith and I sampled six delicious cheeses and drank our last European wine. It was a lovely and fitting end for a sweet and memorable vacation.
Leaving Copenhagen was hard. It wasn’t just the annoyance of sitting in seats with broken headphone jacks, but leaving a place that I love – and that seems to love me back. Denmark just feels like home – the people, the culture, the food! Europe is full of history, from incredible museums to a story behind every age-old building. It’s also full of this indescribable love of life, and love for one another.
Photos from Copenhagen
`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai 