Copenhagen and Hamlet

Nyhavn

We finally arrived in Scandinavia proper after a 6 hour train journey from Kiel through some pretty countryside and a train/ferry ride from Fehmarn in Germany to Rødby in Denmark.  The whole area of the North Sea is dotted with wind generators and the ferry is a hybrid.  Europe is so far ahead of Australia in embracing renewable energy.

Windmills as far as the eye can see

Our first order of business the next morning was to find a dentist for Bob.  He had broken a tooth in Kiel.  After a bit of searching we were able to get an appointment for the next morning and could then start our sightseeing.  

Everyone rides bikes in Copenhagen.  All streets have dedicated bike lanes.  There are bike racks outside all buildings and public transport trains have half a carriage of bike racks.  As a consequence there is very little car traffic in the city.

Rush hour in Copenhagen

Copenhagen was also much less crowded and touristy compared to Amsterdam.  Even at the main tourist attraction of the statue of Little Mermaid and the Nyhavn canal area, the crowds were quite manageable. 

The Little Mermaid

Nyhavn

 We took a canal boat trip which was a very nice overview of the city and then walked around the city to take a closer look at the sights.

Near the Kastellet

Gefion – Norse Goddess of the sea

Frederiks Kirke

Dome inside Frederik's Kirche

Spire of 17th C Church of Our Saviour

The modern Opera House.  In August there is a diving competition off the roof

Spires everywhere

The next day after Bob went to the dentist, we made our way to Christiania.  Freetown Christiania is an area of former military barracks and city ramparts dating to the early 17^th Century.  In the 1970’s the military abandoned the barracks and they were taken over by squatters who wanted to build a new community.  Their mission statement from 1971 stated:

“The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the wellbeing of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted.”

The area has had an uneasy truce with the authorities but is essentially an autonomous urban collective commune.  It is now a major tourist attraction for Copenhagen.  Despite anarchist beginnings the market area seemed like quite a capitalist enterprise.  I expected lots of ferals and the food areas to have some alternative cuisine but the markets seemed to be the same as in any tourist area.  The main controversy of Christiania is Pusher Street (no photos allowed) where there are little stalls about the size of a podium selling Moroccan hash and marijuana. There were also lots of signs of 'say no to hard drugs'.  As we walked further we came across more alternative housing along the canal, though most of the buildings looked unoccupied.  I am not sure what the future holds for Freetown Christiania as it was hard on our brief visit to get beyond the tourist attraction and see what the community was really like.

 

 

Entrance to the market area

  

 

 

Our last day in Copenhagen we took a bus to Helsingør.  This lovely old town is the home of the Kronborg/Elsinore castle, the setting for Hamlet.  Many of the buildings in the town date back to the 1500’s and the pedestrian streets are charming to walk along.  The town seems to be a mecca for Swedish day trippers who come across the narrow strait by ferry to buy cheap booze and do a bit of shopping.

Streets of Helsingør

Corridor of 16th Century St Mary's Church

Magnificient 19th Century Organ

We made our way to the castle.  What a great place!  The castle was built by King Eric VII in 1420 but it was King Frederik II who transformed it into a magnificent Renaissance castle in the late 16^th Century.  Kronborg today has a large courtyard where 4 or 5 doorways lead to different parts of the castle with exhibits of tapestries, paintings, the King and Queen chambers, a tower with magnificent views and Bob’s favourite, the casements or dungeons which were very dark and spooky.  Throughout the day troupes of actors in full period costumes appear and enact scenes from Hamlet, culminating in the famous duel between Hamlet and Laertes.  It was all very well done and great fun.

Kronborg Castle

Courtyard and towers

  

Kids and their parents being led off for sword play

Royal Chamber

Holger the Dane sleeps in Kronborg castle until he is needed to save his homeland.

Beautiful doorway

View from the tower

Sword play in the courtyard

Laertes warning Ophelia about Hamlet

The fatal sword fight with the King and Queen looking on

Happy Families again saying goodbye to the punters

 After the castle closed we went back into town for a Smørrebrød, the traditional Danish light meal of open faced sandwiches – delicious and so beautifully presented they were works of art.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Smørrebrød

Amsterdam and Kiel

I was last in Amsterdam in 1977.  It was my first trip overseas and I was a wide-eyed, naïve 23 year old that was totally blown away by the city.  Bob had never been to the Netherlands and I was eager to show him the capital city.  Well, the city changed a bit in 41 years and I barely recognised it.  The main change was the number of tourists.  (Yes I know, we are two of them.)  The streets were teeming with so many people that one could barely see the iconic buildings along the canal.

Along the canals

The ornate train station

  

Our first stop was the Van Gogh Museum.  In 1977 this was a fairly new museum.  Since then additions had been made but the Van Gogh painting are as wonderful as I remember.

Van Gogh Museum

The next day we continued to walk around the city taking in the sites and stopped at the Maritime Museum.  This was a nice museum but the exhibits were mainly aimed at children.  

Outside the Rijksmuseum

For the tourists

Everyone rides bikes - bike rack outside the train station

Maritime Museum

Outside the museum we met a woman from West Australia, who told us about the Batavia useum in Lelystad, about 15 km from Amsterdam.  She was involved in the restoration work of the sunken Batavia off the coast of WA so the museum was a very special place for her.  We thought this would be a great outing and planned to go on our last day in Amsterdam.  We took a quick train to Lelystad and then walked along the waterfront.  The whole area has been reclaimed from the sea only about 50 years ago.  It is a delightful area of pretty town houses, ponds, canals and quaint gardens. We watched boats going through the locks while eating our packed lunch.

Barge going through the lock

Then on to Batavia Land where there was a fantastic replica of the Batavia.  The Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company build in 1628.  It was shipwrecked off the coast of West Australia on its maiden voyage.  A very bloody and nasty mutiny followed the shipwreck that ranks as one of the most blood-curdling tales in maritime history.

The Batavia

Now that is a block!

It was a grand day out and a wonderful way to end our stay in the Netherlands.

The next day we caught the train to Kiel.  Here we stayed in an AirBnB for the first time.  I wasn’t sure what to expect staying in a room in a stranger’s house, but our host and the accommodation was delightful.  Kiel had a very nice feel to it – a ‘real’ city with minimal tourism.  We only had one full day in Kiel and this was to go to Naval Museum in Leboe.  We took a ferry there, which was filled with happy local holiday makers.  Laboe is a pretty seaside town filled with beachside shops selling knickknacks and ice cream.  There were thousands of sailboats out in the bay.  We walked along the beach, got our feet wet in the Baltic Sea and did lots of people and boat watching.  

The Kiel Canal

Laboe Harbour

Germans enjoying the sun and sea on the pay beach....

and the free beach

The Naval Museum had a WWII German U-boat and a very thoughtful memorial in a beautiful setting.

Naval memorial

Australian connection

U 995 built in 1943

U boat engine room

Engine telegraph

It was another grand day out and we liked Kiel and Laboe very much.

Sailing heaven

Beginning the Northern Break: Düsseldorf and London

It has become our pattern since starting this cruising life to settle Songster somewhere safe in the Mediterranean and spend the hot and busy summer months of July and August in some northern clime.  This summer we are making our way north for a Scandinavian tour.  First stop was Düsseldorf on our way to London.  We decided to stop in Düsseldorf mainly because we were able to get a cheap flight from Prevesa in Greece.  We hadn’t considered Düsseldorf as a destination before but it turned out to be a delightful place.

Church near our hotel

As we only had one full day in Düsseldorf we got up early to start walking around to explore the city.  We first came upon Königsallee Boulevard, a pretty tree lined street with a peaceful canal full of Canadian geese running through the middle of the boulevard.  On either side were upmarket shops.  We walked through the the large square with the Rathaus or Town Hall.

Beautiful ironwork on the bridge across the canal

The Town Hall Square

 We wandered along the Rhine River watching the barges go by.  The area is still a major shipping route.  On the water front was a small Maritime museum housed in a 13^th Century tower, the only remaining structure of the old fort.  We sampled some famous Alt Bier from the Uriege microbrewery and walked around the old town.  The town is dotted with quirky statues and art figures.  We also went to an excellent film museum which inspired Bob to download lots of classic movies.

Statue commemorating the Battle of Worringen and the granting of city rights to Düsseldorf

Detail of the statue

Statue of Bismark

With a beer bottle

Throughout the city were very realistic figures on top of advertising columns.  We often did a double take they were so life like.

The lovers

The dancer

Father and son

Whimsical bronzes

This translates as "We probably do not fool anyone.  Life teaches you wisdom and savings."

All too soon it was time to leave Düsseldorf and fly to London to see Pam and Nicole.  We flew into London City Airport which made our travels so much easier.  It was great to see Pam and Nicole again.  We arrived in London on the same day as Donald Trump’s visit.  From Pam’s humble abode in Southfields we saw Trump and his entourage flying from the US ambassador’s residence in Kensington to Windsor Castle on his way to be rude to the Queen.  

Trump et al flying over Southfields

The cover of a Big Issue in London

While in London we visited the zoo but sadly got rained out.  Still it was fun to see the indoor exhibits.  One day we made our way to North London to Sigmund and Anna Freud’s house, then over to Abbey Road (such a thrill!!) then to some more hallowed ground, Lords.  

Freud's House

The famous couch

   

Of course we had to ....

Good times

  

 A few weeks later we read that Paul McCartney walked over the Abbey Road crossing again.  We are such trend setters that even the trend setters our following our lead! ;)

The gates of Lords

Through the gate we could just glimpse of the pitch of the hallowed ground

It was the end of Wimbledon tennis so Southfields was packed with tennis fans.  We had a lovely BBQ in Wimbledon Park with Nicole’s parents.  The heat wave hitting northern Europe has made the lush green fields of England brown and crunchy.  Sitting in Wimbledon Park it felt more like an Australian summer. 

Our visit to London ended all too soon but it was great to see everyone again.  Over these last 4 years London has become to feel like our second home.