Castles

castle

Summer Cottage

Elsinore

This is being posted in the internet section of the Copenhagen airport about 2:30 pm (about 7:30 Bwd time) It's not free but as we keep saying, "It's only money". I'll try to add pictures also--pictures are all castles w/ the last one being Elsinore, here goes------------

Castles

Did you know that Shakespear never saw Elsinore Castle? They think he heard about it from a group of actors who had been there and he thought, from how they described it, that it would make a good story. There was a real Hamlet who was Danish and the bare bones of the story was written by a Danish historian. Like many of his other plays, Shakespeare took a bare bones story and made a dramatic narrative of it.

We went in the courtyard of Elsinore (also known as Kronborg Castle--King’s crown castle) and got pictures, but didn’t go in. We did have lunch nearby.

We went into Frederiksborg Slot (Castle) All of their kings have either been named Frederick or Christian and this castle was used by some of the Frederiks. It was elegant and ornate and I can’t prove it cuz altho they let us take pictures, we were forbidden to use the flash. And your average castle is pretty dark. The pictures we took may not turn out very well. Outside shots will be fine. These folks were very paranoid that we might touch something and kept hovering around us. I guess we looked untrustworthy. They tried to take large purses away saying they would watch them, but our folks from Texas weren’t buying it.

The third castle was just a picture stop from down the street of the princess’s summer cottage---a HUGE cottage.

We drove along what our guide called the Danish Rivera.with $ 2-7 Million (dollar not Kroner) houses facing the sea.

We got back to the hotel about 3:30 and had some time to nap and get ready for our “Farewell Dinner” at Tivoli Garden. It is not a garden, but a really old amusement park. It was said that Walt Disney loved visiting Tivoli garden and designed Disneyland like it. We had an elegant dinner (unlike Disneyland) and then had an hour to look around. I could tell Nick was itching to try some of the games--mechanical games and baseball pitching kinds of games, but the language was a barrier. We couldn’t read any signs. We walked around and "people watched", listened to really good “American style” jazz and watched a mime show.
All in all a really good last day. We’re flying out Tuesday afternoon, so we still have some time tomorrow morning. Maybe a museum that is close. No more internet--we paid for 12 hrs and that is gone, so this’ll be posted when I get home sometime Wed. See ya then. E

Fish Market pictures

Too much shrimp--this is only one of many booths.

They are ready for everyone.

Fish Market entertainment--they were quite good.

It's as if the penguins were posing for me.

Lovely tulips outside the hotel in Bergen, Norway- I have a thing for close up flowers.

From Norway to Denmark

We flew today with all the accompanying airport hassles- checking baggage, passports, security checks, customs, etc . Some of our folks on the really SMALL plane were seated up front in "extra economy" class. We, peons, in the back were offered drinks to BUY --but nothing free, no, not even a cup of water or a pretzel. The folks in front were GIVEN sandwiches, drinks, hot towels, all the finer things for free. It was not a long flight.

Our hotel is a renovated grainery which from the outside looks a great deal like a gray stone prison. It is fine inside, but rather forboding outside.

We went on a quick bus tour of Copenhagen this aft. So much to see in such a small amount of time. We saw the royal yacht, the statue of "the little mermaid", lots and lots of statues and really large imposing buildings. We went into a church, which seemed really wrong. Folks should not be going into a church snapping pic tures while people are sitting in pews waiting for a worship service to begin. (about 5 or so in the aft--Pentecost Sunday) Several folks stayed and took pictures, I left- having taken only one picture discretely from the back.

X

Supper tonite was on the waterfront- Nick had a yen for pasta, so he had something w/ shrimp and I had meat lasagna. Then we had ice cream from a little shop. The man behind the counter wanted to talk Danish politics (in English) He told us he makes the best ice cream in Denmark (it was good) but people wouldn't buy from him because he was not Danish. Then they sent their children to buy ice cream because his was so good. He would have talked for an hour.

The previous customer in this hotel room had some time left on his internet purchase and we've been using it. It ran out just before I began this, so this is on our dime--uh-- Kroner.

Nick is going to download pictures from the last two days and then I will include some with this post. This may be the last one from Denmark--not sure, but I will finish it up after I get home. I have several things to talk about that I haven't mentioned. Like the fact that English is compulsory in Scandinavian schools- we're missing the boat here, folks.

So for now this is all. See ya' soon. E

Bergen Fish Market, etc

Knute Rockne is from Voss where our train left us .
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Well, Nick’s dream has come true. He has experienced the Bergen Fish Market. Every imaginable kind of local fish is available here. And he has tasted/sampled his way through most of it. Along w/ fish, other local oddities (meats) are available- vacucmn packed and ready to be thrown in the suitcase. We got a couple of things. Union Presbyterian choir (and JK, & MB) you have a taste treat in store--mystery meat.

It has been raining since we got out about 9:45, but thanks to the trusty raincoats, we’re dry if not warm. Nick has been checking the Bwd weather and you guys have received much more rain that we have here. At least in volume. Not sure how much you had or how long it rained, but if the radar is to be believed, you got lots.

I found a great bakery, so for an almost lunch snack, we had sweet rolls and coffee/hot choc. Yummmm! My sweet roll was frosted w/ caramel. I suppose today is a day for grazing w/ no specific meals.

We got out of the rain earlier by going into the Hanseatic Museum. All about German businessmen in the 1200-1500’s who ran the commerce coming in and going out of this harbor They had dorms for their employees (single men) and they must have been really short, cuz the beds we saw built into walls were my size. A regular sized man today would have had to curl up to sleep there. Interesting--- however only about half of the exhibits were translated into English. so I'm sure we missed out on lots of good info.

We’re considering going to the aquarium this aft, if we can figure out how to get there. Bus, boat, walk. It is supposed to be about a 20 min walk, and it's raining but.......

I looked at a lovely pewer goblet (I’m a sucker for stemware- just ask Nikki) but I couldn’t see paying $50 American for a cup. I’ve looked at sweaters, but I would probably wear it once every 3 years when it snows on Easter in Bwd. So, no sweaters. Just mystery meat.

Several buildings in Bergen have the name Rosenkrantz on them. Those of you who are Shakespeare fans--Remember Rosencrantz and Gildenstern, Hamlet’s “friends”. I’m guessing that is not an uncommon name here.

Nick is napping and I’m going to read. Talk to you later. (I’ve finished 5 books and have two more available w/ only 3 days to go)

About 2:30 we headed to the aquarium via ferry boat in the rain. I’ve seen better- it was interesting. On the way back at 4:30 we had the ferry to ourselves and we took pictures. Got some good ones--also some really good penguin pics from the aquarium. It’s as if they were posing for me. It was great weather for Penguins here, not like the poor critters we saw at the Ft Worth zoo who had to be in the air conditioning.. Cold and rainy is perfect for them.

Nick “saved” Barbara Denhart’s pictures when she got a “reformat” message on her card w/ all her pictures on it. He downloaded the photos from the card and saved them to a disk and then cleaned her card. Should work well now. Not sure why it did that.

We have an early morning tomorrow (Sunday)--bags out at 7 and onto the bus by 7:30 to drive to the airport to fly to Denmark. Our castle tour is Monday and I’m psyched.

I’m getting tired of drizzly rain and cold. But I suppose you Brownwood and Arlington folks are equally tired of rain.
See you soon E

Friday, May 25th-cruise and railroad

We had a "late" morning which means we didn't have to have our bags out really early. We were on the road by 10:30 this morning headed down the incredibly high mountain that our hotel was on. Our driver can do things with his bus that I wouldn't even consider w/ my van. He backs down steep roads, he turns around, completely, in front of a hotel in Stockholm,( a very narrow street), he is a "master". Some of these tunnels are narrow and he must stop and "pull over" to let something really big pass. Enough about Knut
Throughout Scandinavia in large chain and small family owned hotels, there has been one unusual consistency. NO TOP SHEETS on the beds. There is a down blanket/duvet thing, but no top sheet. Some have bedspreads and others do not and I'm wondering if this is for all rooms or for "tour groups". I may ask folks who have traveled more than I. Another interesting hotel difference is heated bathroom floors. I noticed from the beginning that the bathroom floors were higher than the rest of the room--would have broken a toe on one, if I'd taken my shoes off before entering. It has dawned on me this morning, 9 days into this trip that all the floors have been toasty.

Yesterday we did another Fjord cruise and the weather was better, but if you've seen 200 amazing waterfalls, you've seen enough. The boat was filled with other folks this time and the Orientals are really PUSHY.
After the cruise, we had an hour to eat or shop, we went to the grocery store and got bananas, coke zero, trail mix and shoestring potatoes. An interesting lunch. The railroad went up another mountain w/ more waterfalls and generally really pretty scenery. The train stopped at one point and there was music and two people ( there is discussion if they were male or female) came out way up on the hill and danced to music. They danced in an icy waterfall and Nick got pictures which I'm sure will be posted later. The Tour guide (Molly) says they do this about 6 times a day. Weird.

We met the bus after changing trains once and drove an hour and a half to Bergen. The bus driver, Knut, gave us a fairly thorough introduction to the downtown and wharf area of Bergen. Knut lives here and at one point took another road when he came up on serious Friday afternoon traffic.

Nick and I have the day to do whatever we want here, we opted OUT of the side trip to learn all about Edvard Grieg. Should be an interesting day of museums, looking around, shrimp sandwiches (Nick is excited about the wharf venders, me--not so much, altho I may try reindeer sausage) Today no one tells us where to be, when to be there, and breakfast is at the hotel from 7-11, so we have many options.

That's all I have to write this morning--it is Saturday 7:30 am

The German bunker at Stahlheim

plus a picture of my dad's butt. -Nikki

Waterfall















Brikstal Glacier, up close




















900 Year old Church