Opulent castles and quaint countryside

Once again, I am reporting on two days of activity, however, I will not be able to post this until (hopefully) tomorrow. The tiny house we rented for the night does not have Wi-Fi, but in the meantime, I will be able to write out my post.

We left Copenhagen heading north on the island of Zealand for a day of castle touring. Our hotel selection was in the town of Hillerød, where the magnificent castle of Frederick Slot is located. The edifice and its grounds are truly spectacular and well worth a visit. We chose not to go inside, but we have been told because we had much planned for the day, but we have been told that it is equally outstanding.

Frederick Slot

Big mouth

Later in the day we drove to the town of Helsingør, where another famed castle is located, Kronborg Slot, the fortress where Shakespeare based his Hamlet. While aesthetically not as sumptuous, it is nonetheless a UNESCO World site and a renaissance masterpiece. Unfortunately, but necessarily, it was undergoing extensive renovations.

Kronborg Slot (Elsinore)

We found Helsingør to be a fascinating town. Located on the Øresund, a narrow piece of the Baltic Sea, that separates it from the town of Helsingborg in Sweden (clearly visible from shore), the town bases its economy on day trippers traveling by ferry from the Swedish mainland to buy liquor, which is sold in Denmark much cheaper.

Diane and two countries. Standing in Denmark, with Sweden across the sound

The following day we headed south, once again through Copenhagen, but continuing on, first to the island of Møn, where Denmark’s most famous cliffs of Møns Klint are located. Denmark is a relatively flat country, therefore these imposing chalky cliffs rising directly from the Baltic, are a sight to behold. The forest occupying the top of the cliffs is equally impressive.

Church in Borre

Looking down from atop the cliffs

Then it was on to the island of Falster and the resort town of Marielyst, where we are spending the night in a “tiny house” located on a farm with 23 stupendous steers. Marielyst can easily be compared to Cape Cod. Many Danes have their holiday homes here, and the beach reminded us of Falmouth’s on the Cape. Of course, this being Autumn, Marielyst lacked the excitement of summer, with many businesses closed for the season and almost non-existent tourist activity, but it was quite clear that this would be the place to be in the summertime.

Cool cattle at our tiny house

All's closed for the season

With the wind blowing fairly hard, we were a bit cold even with our down coats, so you could imagine our surprise when we spotted a family nonchalantly swimming at the beach.

OK, since there is no WiFi, I will now turn to my book and wait until tomorrow when hopefully I can find a place where I can hit “send”. Until then, I send along my best to all and my thanks for following us on this Scandinavian adventure. Ciao for now.