Day 171, OT - Kronborg Slot and Dinner at HöST

...and we're back.

After thoroughly enjoying our visit to Hillerød and carefully avoiding water-spouting-fountain-gods, Emily, Michael and I took the 930R to Helsingør to do some more castle hopping. This time is was Kronborg Castle, the home of Hamlet.

The castle slot is located on the Øresund, at the point of Denmark closest to Sweden. The land mass on the right side of the map is Sweden. Thanks a lot blog, now I can't get Waterloo out of my head. With any luck, I've put it in yours. But just in case...

This is taken from the 1974 Eurovision song contest. A contest that ABBA - I mean how could they not - won. I wonder if the Swedish keyboard has a backwards "B" key. It certainly should. 

Anyway, for our American friends, the Eurovision song contest is basically American Idol meets The Olympics. Each country sends a singer / band to compete with a new, freshly written song. Past winners include Lulu (she was married to Maurice Gibb and had an affair with Davy Jones!) , Bucks Fizz, and even Celine Dion. And yes, that Bucks Fizz song is featured on the Extras episode where Ricky does the theater tour playing a very colorful genie. 

I thought Celine Dion was Canadian? Did France claim her? What gives?

The winning country is required to host the next year's festivities. This year's winner...Emmelie de Forest from Denmark!

This sounds more Irish than Danish. So, next year, we have Eurovision to look forward to.

And I now realize that Emily already talked about all of this! Sorry readers!

Anyway, from that digression, Kronborg Slot. It was built by Frederik II, from 1574-1585. As for the Hamlet connection.

The legend’s association with Elsinore and Kronborg did not begin until Shakespeare, presumably due to Elsinore’s status as one of the world’s most important towns in the 1600s. Thanks to the Sound Dues which was a special toll that all passing ships had to pay in the town, Elsinore had become a traffic hub for international shipping. 

The town was also regarded as a cultural centre due to the newly built royal castle, Kronborg. It is unknown whether Shakespeare actually ever visited Elsinore. It is known with certainty, however, that a number of English and Scots players from his retinue performed as visiting actors at Kronborg and in the town of Elsinore. They could have been the source of stories about the illustrious castle on the Sound that reached Shakespeare and which inspired him to set the play here. 

“Hamlet” is one of the most famous and frequently performed stage plays in the world. Since the 1600s, countless theatrical productions at the castle and many other venues have endeavoured to keep the legend of Hamlet alive. That is why Kronborg is now known all over the world as Hamlet’s castle, and Elsinore is known as the Town of Hamlet.

We climbed up another tall tower - because, again, that's what we do - and viewed Helsingør / Helsingborg from above. It was a beatiful day.

We also explored the "dungeons" which were - as was expected - dark and cold and wet and - as was not expected - above ground. This guy is down there.

It's Holger Danske! The legend follows that should Denmark ever fall under threat, Holger shall spring to life and protect the Danish state. Sadly, he neglected to do this in 1940. Holger!

Interesting thing about these "dungeons", there is limited to zero lighting. Just before you enter, there's a small vending machine that sells flashlights. Seriously. For all of it's nanny-state leanings, Denmark is awesomely disinterested when it comes public safety. I found the whole experience to be embarrassingly terrifying.

After our train journey home and some much needed rest, we went to HöST for a nice dinner. It is very much in the new nordic style that we've discussed here previously, but at a much more affordable price. For 525 DKK one can enjoy a glass of cava, three courses paired with wine, several small bites, and coffee / tea to finish. It was a very nice meal and the staff was very generous. Plus we ate like we actually live in Europe for a change - we were done around 11:30 or so. What wild and crazy lives we lead!

Thanks to the Kronborg Slot website, mentioned earlier, for the part about Hamlet.

Next time, Michael finishes his trip with a visit to the National Museum and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Will he make it out alive? Collin makes hamburgers and the three of us bend our brains with german board games. Will the fun ever stop?