Saturday, September 12, 2026

Renaissance and Roskilde

 Friday, September 11, 2026

It was another day of visiting a castle...this time the renaissance Kronborg Slott (castle) in Elsinore, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It is said this castle is the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet.  

The castle sits on a narrow stretch of water between Denmark and Sweden.  The king charged hefty tolls for a ship's passage through this sound, and this provided a great income to the kingdom.  

As we walked across the bridge over the moat, there was a bronze hand coming out of the water...strange! (Part of Hamlet? I don't know because I never read it)
The castle had fancy rooms, each room with a large fireplace.
We heard stories of the various queens and their influence on ruling the kingdom during the early years of the castle.  The main duty of the queen was to have children to continue the reign of the family.  The monarchy system is quite unusual, but they built great castles!  
Windows around the castle allowed a watch for enemies or passing ships.

The grand hall was the place for large gatherings for dinners or celebrations.  
There was even a queen's room for activities...including a jigsaw puzzle...I wanted to stay and finish it!
We climbed up 145 stairs to the top of the watchtower! (whew!)
And were rewarded with spectacular views across the harbor.


We also visited the beautiful castle chapel built in 1582. 
After a fire that destroyed part of the castle, it was handed over to the military and was needed for ammunitions storage but was restored in 1840-43 and the original furniture returned.  
On the first Sunday of each month, the bells still sound.
We had lunch in the adjacent town of Elsinore at a huge food court that was quite a fun place to gather.
And tried Danish cokes (the white coke tasted like regular coke)
We are at another great campground in Roskilde, right on the water.

Here's the laundry brigade enjoying happy hour while waiting for clothes to dry!
And here's me in my "office" trying to get the blog posted.  


1 comment:

  1. I hope you're feeling regal after all of those castle visits!

    ReplyDelete

Hanging it up in Hamburg