Day trip to Helsingør

With colourful doors
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I had asked a few people where the top day-trip destination would be outside of Copenhagen. Some thought taking the bus/bridge to Malmo, Sweden, for others it was historic Roskilde or Hillerød with its fabulous sounding castle.

But, in the end, I went on the recommendation of a friend of a friend that I had just picked up from e-mail: Helsingør. I could conveniently combine this with a stop in Humlebaek (A few pics from the Louisiana Museum of Art can be found on tmy Danish Art & Design Museums page).

Straedes
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I decided to go early and have breakfast at a recommended pastry shop: Møllers Conditori. Tasty, but even more buttery and flaky than average. Also found a very nice cheese shop nearby, with some antipasto items, and a wine selection in back. Ah, everything you need to survive. Don't mind the boar's head nailed to the wall or the stuffed kid (goat, that is) out on the cheese table. Just addds to the atmosphere.

And speaking of atmosphere, I loved the buildings in Helsingør.  Old, colourful and charming. A peaceful place.

Medieval town
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Ah, but it's 11. Time for the main event. The big draw  for me (and hordes of  other tourists in the summer, at least) is that Helsingør is Elsinore in English. A.k.a.: the setting of Hamlet. Not that Shakespeare ever travelled there, but this is only a minor flaw to a Shakespeare fan with a decent imagination.

If you fit in that category, here are some things to do to make the most of a  trip to Kronborg Slot (Castle):

• The ramparts: Look for signs of revenge-seeking ghosts
  

  Narrow streets
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• The Apartments: Stab behind the occasional arras where Polonius could still be hidden

• The Moat: Pick the most likely spot where Ophelia could have drowned herself

• Anywhere: Mope about, reciting as many soliloquies as you can from memory

Iron symbols
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For other ideas, or if you just need to brush up on your Hamlet, you can take a few minutes now to review the Dick and Jane Hamlet. My favourite line is:

"Does Hamlet love his mother a little too much? Perhaps."

The castle itself is nice, but not so exciting. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't climb about outside, but this was not enough to spoil my day. But the castle prisons are actually pretty cool. A nice maze of of a place with low-ceilings, limited windows, and lots of small, dark cells. Especially effective in October, when there was no one down there but me. (I hoped).  Nice and creepy. Just in time for Hallowe'en.

Walled garden
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Not to worry. Holger Dansk is always down there in case anything goes wrong. According to legend, this is the Danish hero that will rise again in the hour of Denmark's need.  (Not sure whether this resurrection myth pre-dates the Arthurian legends, but they definitely share some common elements).