Baker European Tour: Last day in Denmark

Whew!  I've done a lot of writing about our Denmark trip, but hopefully people (especially in my family) enjoy hearing some of the details (and seeing lots of pictures) of our adventures there.  This will be the last post from me about my family's trip to Europe; after this we can settle back into the comfortable rhythm of getting updates from Amanda about our more recent travel activities.  :)

For our last day in Denmark, there were lots of things that we could have chosen to see.  Copenhagen and Roskilde still had plenty of major sights available -- for example, the Roskilde cathedral, where all the Danish monarchs are buried, or some of the palaces and museums in the capital that we didn't get to visit -- but we decided to focus most of this day on visiting two of Sjaelland's biggest attractions outside these cities.  As it happens, both of these were castles: Frederiksborg Castle and Kronborg Castle, to be exact.

Frederiksborg Castle was the first stop of the day.  This castle was built as a residence for King Christian IV of Denmark in the early 17th century; in subsequent centuries, some other kings lived there, and it was also used regularly for ceremonial occasions like the crowning of new monarchs.  It has now been converted into the Museum of National History for Denmark, and displays hundreds of paintings (many of them portraits) that show significant people and scenes in the country's history.  Most of the commentary I have about the visit to Frederiksborg has to do with the pictures below, so take a look at the captions for more details.

A tower marking one of the main entrances to Frederiksborg Castle's outer courtyard

A view of the main part of the castle from within the outer walls.

The castle's inner courtyard

I don't remember exactly what this room was used for, but the intricate relief sculptures on the walls and ceiling were impressive; these deer were even accented with real antlers.

The chapel was probably the most impressive space in the whole castle.

Can't have a fancy chapel without a fancy organ to go with it...

... but don't forget some people to pull these handles for the organ bellows. 

The altar, with the king's private box on the left side.

A private chapel toward the back of the main chapel.  Recognize the paintings on the wall?  These are some of the best-known paintings in the LDS church; the church's versions are reproductions of these originals, painted by the nineteenth-century Danish artist Carl Bloch.  I'm a big fan of the vivid colors and incredible detail.

A large ballroom used for formal state occasions

Rachelle knew how to use the ballroom for its real purpose.

A dining room decked out with period furniture and large paintings on the walls

This fancy bed was used by one of the Danish queens.

A portrait of Hans Christian Andersen, who obviously deserves a spot in the National Museum of History

A more modern portrait of the current Danish queen

The castle is built on a small lake, with some nice gardens behind it. 

A view of the castle from the garden area in the back

But wait!  That was only half the day's activities.  After finishing at Frederiksborg, we had a quick lunch at a nearby sandwich shop and then headed to Helsingør to visit the famous Kronborg Castle.  The site of this fortress is better known as Elsinore, because that was the name that Shakespeare used to refer to it in Hamlet, which was set here.  The castle itself has been around in some form since the 15th century, when it was established to assert a level of strategic control over the Øresund, which is a narrow strait between Denmark and Sweden that separates the North Sea from the Baltic Sea.  It continued to play this role for centuries, though it was later used for other purposes as well, such as housing prisoners.  As above, I can describe our visit best with pictures:

A view of Kronborg Castle from outside the main walls

The inner courtyard

Paying a visit to Holger the Dane, a legendary figure who supposedly lives in the casements of Kronborg Castle and will awaken to save Denmark at some future time when it is threatened.  Yes, Brittany is wearing a headlamp (what else?) to explore the passages under the castle.

The castle's outer walls conceal numerous underground passages like this, where soldiers would be stationed to help defend against attacks.

The basement also contained storage bins for food (presumably because the food would stay cold and last longer).

The pulpit in the chapel.  This chapel was not as elaborate as the one at Frederiksborg, but still nice.

The interior of Kronborg was also simpler than most of the rooms at Frederiksborg, but there were still a few interesting paintings and tapestries hanging on the walls.

You can see some of the earthen mounds and outer walls protecting against an assault from the seaward side.

Brittany, Ryan, and Amanda goofing around outside while they wait for the rest of us to finish our tour

That land on the other side of the strait is Sweden.

A small Shakespeare monument placed in the wall of the castle

Look at the ugly ducklings! (Get it?)

When we finished at Kronborg, we drove back down to Copenhagen to meet Lene and Knud for our final farewell dinner.  We met them at the gates of Tivoli Gardens, the famous amusement park in the center of the city.  Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to both eat dinner and visit the park before it closed, so I'll have to keep that one on my list of things to do later in Denmark.  At least I got a few pictures of the outside:

The main entrance to Tivoli Gardens

A closer view

We also got a good look at the impressive Copenhagen City Hall while walking over to meet Lene and Knud.

Since we weren't experts on the Copenhagen restaurant scene (and couldn't get a reservation at the world-famous Noma, even when we looked far in advance), we decided on the spot to head to a nearby steakhouse for dinner.  I'm still a little amazed that my parents could stomach the sky-high bill for steak for 9 people in Denmark, but somehow they made it through.  :)  We all enjoyed our food and then said goodbye to Lene and Knud, thanking them for their great hospitality.  Everyone packed up that evening at the hotel so we'd be ready for our super-early departure to the airport in the morning.

Anyway, I would call the whole Denmark trip a big success.  I think my mom loved being there and reliving the highlights of her previous trip with her parents, and the rest of us got a great mix of family time and famous tourist experiences.  I hope we get the chance to go back again before too many months or years pass.