Helsingør and Helsingborg

Yesterday was tour day with a group of IAESTE trainees, most of which just arrived here in denmark a week or two ago. I met up with Gary, Michael, Michael, Hakkim, Kim, Nea and Ryan at Kokkedal station, and we set off to explore the northern tip of Sjælland (same island Copenhagen is situated on).

Helsingør
This small town is at the very tip of the island, jutting out into the baltic sea channel dividing Denmark and Sweden. This is where King Frederik build the Kronberg castle, which also features in the novel Hamlet, and has been used for hundreds of years as a location for epic Hamlet plays. Kronberg was not too impressive from the inside, probably because it burnt down in the 1600's and was rebuilt since then, but the architecture from the outside is quite a sight. It did contain an interesting collection of giant tapestries woven for the King himself, depicting portraits of 70 Danish royalty. The King introduced a toll for all ships passing through the channel, which was paid directly in Helsingør, and the castle cannons would fire upon anyone trying to evade taxation. This made Denmark's northern region incredibly prosperous in those days, much to the discontent of other countries such as Sweden who managed to attack and take over the castle, as well as much of northern Denmark, in the 17th century. Kronberg also houses a large statue of the giant viking Holger Danske, reputably lifesize, as he sits in silence with sword and shield guarding the tunnels under the castle.

Since it was also the (current) Queen's husband's birthday, we witnessed a royal military march, salute, and traditional firing of the cannons (all seemed to be aimed at Sweden). And this leads us to part 2 of the journey. Sweden is so close to Helsingør that it only takes a 15 minute ferry ride to Helsingborg. So off we went, crossing the jellyfish-infested waters that were scandinavia's greatest battlefield for many years.

Helsingborg
Sweden's closest point to Denmark, Helsingborg is quite a pretty town which was also involved with much trade and warfare in the early days. Now, its just a place for rich young couples and middle-aged families, with its expensive-looking apartments overlooking the sea and a small dock for all their private yachts and speedboats. Very pretty place though, and i'm sure it would be great to live there. It was also sunny so we really enjoyed lying on the grass and eating Swedish ice-cream (shaped and coloured like their flag).

We visited Helsingborg's castle, Känan, which is basically a tall tower with far too many steps and a breathtaking view from above. We then walked about the town and stopped for dinner at an Italian restaurant, where my half-bottle of red wine cost me more than my plate of pesto (Doh!). We left sweden again by ferry towards late evening, even though it was still sunny since there's light even after midnight in summer in these regions.


Back in Denmark
Our final trip of the day was to Nyhavn, just west of Norreport, an area filed with bars, coffee shops and restaurants overlooking a 10m-wide channel where all the beautiful wooden yachts would berth, their owners inside them with their friends drinking away til the early hours of the morning. We stopped in a small pub owned by some aussies and spent the rest of the evening drinking Leffe (mmmmm) and talking away.