Around the Sound

Day 3!  We are just cruising everywhere!  Today was quite the day and we were traveling everywhere!  Today we did Around the Sound.  Which means that we just traveled up to a tip of Denmark, crossed the water over to Sweden and then made our way down in Sweden and crossed back into Denmark via Copenhagen.
So we made our way up to Helsingør (aka Elsinor...sound familiar? Well if you're any Shakespeare fan - it should...if not, you need to study up!;) to go to the Kronborg Slot (aka Hamelt's Castle!!!!)!!  This castle just might have been my favorite one!  It was so neat!

On the train again...we take lots of trains

 Cute city of Helsingør

 Cute shop windows. I spy Hedwig!

 On our walk to the Kronborg Slot we came across this neat church

 And went inside - it was very elaborate in all the decorating!

I found a hobbit home! ;)

 Krongborg Slot (Hamelt's Castle)

So simple, old, majestic, fortress-y.  There was fog today which made it seem like Hamlet definitely could've taken place here.  And if you looked across the water, you could see Sweden!!  How cool is that!

 Very picturesque - Grandpa and son

Canons and a castle - what more could you ask for?

 "DIAGON ALLEY!" I loved these huge fireplaces! Reminded me of Harry Potter.

 "To be or not to be, that is the question."

 More of the rooms...

And down into the casemates!  It was scary, creepy, and cool all at the same time! And very dark!

And then we climbed to the top of the castle!

 Looking into the courtyard

A really cool old door

 The coolest castle!

After we explored Hamlet's Castle, we took a ferry over to Sweden!  Wahooo!!  It was neat!  We stopped first in Helsingborg in Sweden and explored around the city.  As we crossed the waters from Helsingør to Helsingborg, the sun came out...well...kinda!

Crossing on the ferry! We spot Sweden!

I don't know what it is about cobblestone streets, but I love taking jumping pictures with them! ♥

 Kärnan, a medieval tower in Helsingborg.  It is the only part remaining of a larger Danish fortress which, along with the fortress Kronborg on the opposite of Øresund, controlled the entranceway between Kattegat and Øresund and further south the Baltic Sea

 Yay for selfies

 The Castle Entrance to Kärnan

Jumping on the steps up to the castle entrance...again with the jumping...

Sweden has some neat buildings! And the SUN! Yay!

 The Town Hall

After exploring a little bit of Helsingborg, we bought a train ticket down to Lund, which is one of the oldest cities in Sweden and has the charm of a small picturesque, cobble-stoned city.
We saw a AWESOME cathedral!

I felt like I was in Potions Class in this part of the cathedral

 A cute little church in Lund, near the train station

 Thought you may be tired of our faces as we travel on trains...so here are our feet!

After Lund, we took the train down to Malmö, the 3rd largest city in Sweden!  We explored here a little bit.  Went into a Lutheran church where not soon after, a service started!  So we sat down and listened to them sing and talk in Swedish about something from the scripitures... haha it was really neat!

Sankt Petri Church - Construction started in 1319. It is built in the Gothic style and has a 105-metre (344 ft) tall tower.

Inside the church

 Malmö :)

Then we took the train back to Copenhagen and went home.  It was a long adventurous day!  And we are pooped!

Frederiksberg Castle & more of Copenhagen

DAY 2!!  It was an exciting day!  Today we made our way up to Hillerød where we went to visit the Frederiksburg Castle, a renaissance castle with baroque gardens.
OH MY GOSH.  It was incredible.  I was just enchanted by this castle and the grounds and wanted to stay there forever!  It was huge and everything that I had dreamed a castle being.

On the train to Hillerød

 "I see the castle!"

 "I like jumping pictures...let's do one here!"

 "And here!!"

 View of the whole front castle

  View from the back in the gardens

Don't let the sunny day fool you - it was freeeeeeezing! But the gardens were beautiful.

 In the church inside the castle

 The ballroom - I felt like I was in Anastasia ;)

 Besides the color - that is one cool bed!

 Looking out into the gardens

Looking into the courtyard

 I found my knight in "shining" armor! ;)

Another view of the front with the fountain

We walked around the lake and found a quiet spot to picnic. This was our view.

And then we walked around some more and found another cool shot of the castle.

After we explored the castle, we headed back to Copenhagen and visited the Church of our Savior and went underneath it where there were a bunch of coffins.  Then we went back tot he Christiansborg Palace to see the royal kitchens.  Even though nothing was cooking - they made one of their rooms smell like pastries and DANG did it smell good!
After the kitchens, we went to the Tycho Brahe Planetarium and played around in there.

Then we went to the Round Tower (Rundetaarn). That was neat! We got up there right as the sun was setting!  Made for a beautiful view!
The Round tower is the oldest functioning observatory in Europe. The 281 m long spiral ramp winds itself 7,3 times round the hollow core of the tower, forming the only connection between the individual parts of the building complex.

 Walking up the round steady incline to get to the top of the tower

 That view tho...

At the top!

The Hollow Core...they have a glass platform that you can step onto and look down to the very bottom!

After the Round Tower, we made our way over to Papirøen, a large food market just down the street from the tower.  We tried some danish sandwiches before making our way home for the day.