To Be or Not to Be

June 29, 2012

Our first stop today was to visit the Little Mermaid since we'd only seen the back of her during our boat trip on the canal. I would have been quite sad had we not be able to see her in her entirety. She is small but perfectly placed near the shore in a little cove and looks quite at home there.

Then we had a wonderful sight-seeing opportunity as we made our way along the sea coast to Kronborg Castle, Shakespeare's inspiration for Hamlet. It was stormy today with a choppy sea, low clouds and rain, so a perfect setting in which to imagine the Prince of Denmark in all his brooding glory.

The castle did not disappoint with its impressive halls and wonderful views of the sea. There is an attached church accessible from the castle although us commoners had to use the outside entrance. It is said that the various queens did not like coming to this remote castle since it had been configured and decorated more for the kings and their sport. I don't see the objection, myself.

John had been anticipating the trip to Kronborg as the highlight of our stay in Denmark due in large part to the presence of the Holger the Dane, a statue secreted below ground who, according to legend, would come to life in defense of the castle should it ever be invaded. Toward the end of the tour, he determined that Holger was not on the itinerary and that we would soon be back on the bus. It's a good thing that old people need to use the facilities with some frequency and that they don't hasten to or from because he found out from a helpful employee that Holger was ensconced but a few minutes walk down some nearby stairs. He and Caroline made haste and won the prize. When I spotted them topside, they told me that we could run down and see him and so off we went. We had a private viewing with Mr. H. and then proceeded at a good clip back to the bus, beating out at least one of the other tour members because we were willing to run a bit. Inspired by youth, I was.

 

 

We collected ourselves en route to Louisiana, Denmark's leading contemporary art museum where we had a nice lunch and enjoyed the art as well as the grounds. It was raining quite steadily but we had jackets and umbrellas and walked around the beautiful lawns, gardens and sculptures. Back to the bus for our drop off at the port and our 2,000 passenger ferry.

We had a very adequate room with two beds and an en suite bathroom, thank God. Enjoyed being out on the deck for a few hours as we left port and then it was time for the Danish buffet feast for dinner after which we lost the obligatory kroner at the casino playing Black Jack (Ron, Caro and John) and the slot machines (me). It didn't take long so we had plenty of time left to play a few card games in the coffee bar where they have free WiFi. It's all so civilized and European.

We cannot count the number of languages we have heard on board ship today. One of the funny things is how many Danes come up to speak to Ron. When he stares back at them blankly, they realize he does not speak Danish. They know their own, these people.

Tomorrow the fjords and Oslo.

 

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