Copenhagen Trip - Day Two

Our neighborhood is infested with dragons! They perch on the lampposts and watch us all day and night!

We headed out about 10 this morning for a trip north to the town of Helsingor (pronounced Elsinor) to check out the castle where the play Hamlet was set. The train ride was about 40 minutes and so smooth that Wynn fell asleep on the way. Helsingor is situated at the narrow sea passage between Denmark and Sweden, and a castle fortress was built there from the 1500s to tax traffic passing through.

These two totally rock the scene even when they're not trying. In fact, Wynn is fast asleep here...

The train station is lovely, and the town cute as a button. While the castle is a big tourist draw, and the ferry service keeps a steady stream of traffic flowing through, it’s still a working residential community.

After arriving, Wynn and I gathered tourism brochures while Ann searched for restrooms. She discovered the toilets in the train station required 2 kroner to access, and (along with a German tourist) became trapped when the door to exit became stuck. They managed to free themselves with some trans-Atlantic teamwork of latch-picking and brute force…

Our little family walked the kilometer from city center to the castle and we wandered around the grounds for about 20 minutes before walking back to get some lunch at a sweet old sidewalk café.

There was a science & industry museum in town, but we weren’t sure where the bus would drop us off, so instead we hopped the train back to Copenhagen. Both Wynn and I nodded off on the way – so that was probably a good decision.

After a nap, Ann cooked some dinner, we had a short swim in the pool, and then we walked through the park and along the waterfront just south of the hotel. There is an old military base about 2 blocks south of here which is now mostly running trails and forest, several interesting churches, and a mighty fountain of Gefion, the goddess responsible for creating the island Copenhagen sits on.

We got some family pictures of us with the Little Mermaid on the way back to the hotel, too. Tomorrow we’ll likely have some time on a boat, and see the sights in the central city.

Finally, a good photo of the three of us on vacation...