Kronburg and Fredriksborg Castle

I skipped yesterday's post because of sheer exhaustion!  It was a full day.  After eating breakfast at the hotel we caught the train for an hour's ride up North to Helsingor.  From here it was a 20 minute walk to the Kronburg Castle.  It is on a piece of land jutting out into the ocean that borders Sweden.  The castle itself is very fascinating as it has all the things a castle should have.  A moat, towers, a splendid courtyard, cannons, and an amazing story.  I won't go into detail about it's history but one interesting fact about Kronborg is that it is the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet.  There have been many Hamlet plays shown on it's grounds for many years.  A really interesting place.  We did get to go inside and see some of the details of the royal family's living space.  I could say a lot more but it is late and so I'll move on.

A group shot of us looking over the water.  

Can't see Sweden in this picture but trust me,  It's there:)

After Kronborg we again hopped on the train towards Fredriksborg.  Here is an even more magnificent castle.  We only had an hour so we hurried through to be able to see it all.  We rented a headpiece to hear a narration of what we were seeing.  Oh man!   It was so cool!  There was so much to see here.  I will only mention a few things.

Our walk to the castle was a long one.  

Our feet were already hurting because of the long day but we pressed forward.

A nice view from the front

So after visiting the castles chapel which was very ornately adorned we stepped into a smaller room that the king liked to worship in privately.  It was a room filled with about fifteen or so Carl Bloch originals.  Many I recognized from the church's collection.  All of the paintings were of the Saviors life beginning from the enunciation to the resurrection.  There were some that I had never seen before.  Oh how I wished I could have spent more time in that room studying there details of the paintings.  So wonderful!!

Here's Rick with "The Woman at the Well" painting behind him.

We walked through room after fully furnished room with portraits, paintings, furniture and tapestries straight out of the late dark ages.  The history is staggering ranging from the mid 16th century to the present.  I found it fascinating to see the hundreds of portraits through the generations of royals.  The different styles of clothing that they wore from the 1500's to the late 1700's was so amazing to see.   Even the difference in the style of the portraits was distinct.  I could have spent another  hour just taking in all of the detail of this place.

The king's bedroom. How about that cool bed?? 

After touring Fredriksborg we had a wonderful dinner before catching the train back to Copenhagen.  By the time we made it back to Copenhagen we were all exhausted and our feet and legs were aching.  Just outside the train station where we were to catch our bus back to the hotel is Tivoli Park.  It is the second oldest amusement park in the world.  I have been toying weigh the idea of going there if only to see the beautiful grounds.  Well,  just before hopping onto the bus I said to Rick,  "Let's go to Tivoli!"  I had to tell him that three times because he was hurrying to get on the bus but finally he heard what I said and looked at me like I was crazy.  "Are you serious?" He said.  Long story short.  Aching feet and all we went to Tivoli!  Just as the bus was pulling away we spotted DeeAnn and Hannah who had gotten wind of our plan and decided last minute to come along.  We strolled around, got some popcorn, rode a few rides, and stopped in a souvenir shop for about an hour and then headed back to the hotel.  Needless to say we were super excited to hit the hay last night:)

Me, Hannah, and Rick on a rollercoaster.

It was kind of a kiddy one....just my speed:)

Our spontaneous night at Tivoli.  We didn't find out until this morning that Brad and Ruth after catching the bus to the next stop walked all the way back to Tivoli to spend time there as well!!

Crazy fun day!!