The Danish countryside

After experiencing Copenhagen, it was now time to see some of Denmark's other sites. The weather improved as we travelled inland so we had sun but it was still cool and windy.
We drove 30 minutes west to the Gothic Roskilde Cathedral that is the ancient and modern burial place for 40 members of the Danish monarchy. The current church dates to the 1275 but has been a holy site since the 980's. Lettering on the earliest vaults under the main floor are barely legible due to hundreds of years of foot traffic.
Roskilde was the Danish capital from the 11th century until 1443 and to protect the city from attack, Viking ships were scuttled in a navigation channel. Those same ships have been excavated and are preserved at the Viking Ship Museum. There are 5 ships from 10 to 50 feet in length exhibited there. Interestingly 2 of the ships are believed to have been built in Ireland, a strong indication of the extent of the Viking empire.

A half hour drive northeast and we reached Hillerod and the Fredriksborg Castle. Unlike most castles this one is inland and was built in the 1550's as a hunting preserve for King Frederick II. It has been modified, altered and then rebuilt after a fire in 1859. It contains many wonderful artifacts from throughout its history. After a 2 hour tour of the rooms on three floors, we had a delicious lunch at Galanga Cafe in Hillerod.

Another half hour drive northeast to Helsingor and Kronberg Castle, immortalized as Elsinore in Shakespeare's play Hamlet. This Renaissance castle commands control of the 2 1/2 mile wide Oresund, the narrowest point between Denmark and Sweden and one of few exits of the Baltic Sea. Its origins date to 1420 and was a royal residence until 1785. It served as an army barracks until 1923 then it was renovated and opened to the public.

A short drive south to Louisiana, a modern art museum with sculpture garden and gift shop. We visited based on being there for only 30 minutes, so our paid admission would be refunded. It was but the processing time between payment and refund cost $7.46 Cdn. Isn't modern technology marvelous!

In bright sunshine we drove along the seacoast and saw homes of the wealthy as we made our way back to Copenhagen and south to our Airbnb.

The next morning we left money for Tina to pay our ticket, tidied the house and were off to the airport in shifts making sure that Curt Paul was in the last load so that the door was properly closed and the key hidden. He was off to Amsterdam and we were going to Oslo.