We finally found our Hostel and checked in. This is my first time staying in a Hostel and I would say it was about what I expected. I wish I had taken a picture of the inside. There were 2 sets of bunkbeds, a small table with a couple of chairs and then a separate room with a shower and toilet. Very simple, but cheap! The kids were so excited to stay there though. They certainly had no idea that we were staying in less than ideal accommodations. The cool thing was that the Hostel was right on the beach.
We went and walked along the shore and then cut over towards the city center. As we were walking along the street we heard a police siren up ahead. It took us a couple of seconds to realize that a motorcycle was being chased by a police car and was headed right in our direction. As they passed us, I pulled out the camera and fumbled around trying to take a picture. I wish I'd turned on the video camera though, because what happened next was completely unexpected. The police car pulled up alongside the motorcycle and swerved right in front of the driver, totally knocking him off the bike. The guy jumped up and tried to pull his mangled bike up out of the gutter and get on it again, but the police had already reached him and were in the process of arresting him. It was pretty crazy! And a little scary.
I'm just bummed that I didn't get a video of it, that would have been awesome! Anyway, we walked over to the Castle and spent quite a while walking around the outside of it.
It was so beautiful. Great location for a castle.
Back in the 1400's, Denmark also owned parts of Sweden, right across the channel, so the King at the time, built castles on both sides and started something called the Sound Dues, where they charged any boats passing through the channel a fee. These payments made up two thirds of Denmark's income in the 16th and 17th century and remained in effect until 1857. I guess the boats had to stop in Helsingør and pay the fees or else they were fired upon with cannons from both the Helsingør and Helsingborg sides of the sound. Anyway, we really enjoyed walking around the outside of the castle. After that we went and got food from the city center. Eating out here is very expensive, but we've found that we really like these little kebab shops that sell really yummy food. That night we went back to the Hostel. We had plans to watch a movie on our computer, but it wouldn't work, so we read to the kids until they fell asleep. Unfortunately, a couple of hours after we went to bed, Noah woke up and was up oft and on all night long! He'd fallen while we were walking around the castle, so I think his head was hurting him. But, wow, it was certainly a long and sleepless night. Especially since I was sharing a bed with him. |
| View of Kronborg from the Ferry |
Kärnan is all that is left of a large Danish fortress that, along with Kronborg, controlled the waterway into the Baltic sea. 
It was built back in the 1300's. In the later 1600's, when Sweden took control of that part of the country from Denmark, the King of Sweden had it demolished, fearing that it was too exposed to a sneak attack from Denmark. The tower is all that was left standing.
It was so beautiful!
Crazy that these insanely old castle ruin just sits in the middle of a busy Swedish city. We really enjoyed walking to the top of the tower. The view from the top was amazing, but we didn't enjoy it for too long because it was so windy! After leaving the tower, we walked around the city center for a while, then headed back to catch the ferry back to Denmark. Once there, we headed back to Kronborg Castle. 
We got to tour the reception rooms. Things have been restored in more recent years and you could tell that it took a lot to keep the castle in good shape. It ceased being used as a royal residence in the 1700's and was used by the military up until the 1920's, when it was renovated and open to the public. Many of the rooms we viewed were just amazing.
There was a huge ballroom, that the kids just loved!
They were dancing around with each other and calling one another prince and princesses. And still, ever since then, Noah comes up to me and says, "You Princess, Me Prince." So cute! They also had a fun time deciding which room would be theirs. After touring the rooms, we headed to the Castle Chapel, which was just beautiful. Then, we went and quickly viewed the Maritime Museum that is housed in a part of the castle. At this point, we were kind of in a hurry to see everything, so we didn't spend as much time as we would have liked, but I have a feeling this is a place that we'll return to, so we'll spend more time then. We also got to hike up another long and steep flight of stairs to see the view from the tower. 
After the museum, we went to view the Casements. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was pretty neat. Basically, the casements are the basement of the castle. Back in the day, it was used for a myriad of things; stables, servant quarters, storage, etc. As we were walking down to the casements, we realized right away that we wish we had a flashlight. It was so dark! We could barely make out what way to go. The kids were a little spooked too. Noah especially, as we rounded the corner and saw the big statue of Hølger Danske. 
The legend goes that Hølger Danske was a long ago King of Denmark, that did many great things and eventually retired to the depths of Kronborg, to slumber until the day that Denmark is in need and he will awaken and come to it's rescue. You can read more about him here. As we explored the casements, we were really wishing we had a flashlight. We could see that there was writing on the walls that you could only read if you shine a flashlight on it. And we could tell there were many things to see and explore, but it was just too dark. It was really neat though. 
Another place I'd like to go back to. Kronborg's biggest claim to fame though is that Shakespeare used this castle as his backdrop for the play Hamlet. And now, they periodically put on productions of the play in the castle. That would be neat to see!Anyway, this is getting pretty long. I should wrap it up. If you want to read more about Helsingør, click here. If you want to read more about Kärnan, click here. If you want to read more about Kronborg, click here.
After leaving Helsingør, we headed home driving along the coast. It was so beautiful. I really enjoyed seeing all the little danish villages. And Denmark is so pretty and green. Once we headed inland, we missed our exit and ended up in Downtown Copenhagen, but we eventually made it home. It was a fun outing!
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