Saturday I woke up early and had a quick breakfast while packing
for day. Simona and I biked to train station and went from Herlev to the central
station where the intercity trains passed through. I had been there once before
when arriving from the airport my first day. This time there were people
passing out free gum! We both got three packs because we got one each coming
into the station and then one on our way to the wrong track. When we went back
up and towards the right track we got a third pack. Once at the right track we
waited for our train to Helsingør. It took about 40 minutes to travel there and we saw Sweden across the water on
our way which heightened our excitement. The first thing we did when we arrived
was to check ferry prices because later we intended to go to Helsingborg which
was across the water in Sweden. The we headed toward the Kronborg castle which
was our main reason for coming. Along the way we spotted the little mermaid's boy
friend (silver statue of a little forlorn looking boy), but he was too popular with
a group of elderly folks for us to get a picture then. So we continued to the
castle. Before taking a tour we realized we needed a restroom break and
fortunately they had installed toilets (and running water) inside the castle
though it was one of the oddest restrooms I have ever been in. We purchased tickets
for the royal apartments and chapel and headed up the stairs. There were displays
and then many rooms as we circled around the second floor. Both Simona and I
noticed what we thought to be excessive empty space in the rooms and concluded
that it would be rather lonely living there. We saw lots of tapestries and I
joked about needing a carpet for my room (what a great souvenir!). About halfway
around the third floor was the ballroom which in addition the classical music
made us both have the notion to dance. We didn't because we were not in the
proper attire (like what would have been worn). Finally we came to the kids
room and began to color a paper king and queen which we left behind with the
other ones set on display by either the children or their proud parents. After
a brief tour of the chapel we had lunch right next to the sea, the idea of
which we marveled at. On our way to the ferry we did get a chance to take a
picture with the little mermaid's boyfriend and almost did not take the ferry
because we were looking at the wrong set of hours of operation. We still had
more than a few hours before the last ferry so we bought our ticket. We had
seen some enormous ferries while we were waiting and were obviously a little
disappointed when a smaller ferry for only people came to pick us up (the
others had two floors just for vehicles!). Still we were headed to Sweden. It
was further than we had anticipated because the buildings in Helsingborg were
taller than in Helsingør. We first noticed there were less bikes although still more than the U.S. It was
impossible to miss the tower (and steps) directly inland so we headed that way.
Ironically, Simona thought the grass was greener, but I thought it had just been
fertilized. To our surprise there was a heavy metal band practicing in a local
park which entirely disrupted the peaceful atmosphere. Once through the park we
looped back toward the city center and searched for some Swedish chocolates.
The cashier may have thought we were a little strange when we both purchased
3-4 bars of chocolate, but we had our chocolate so we didn't care too much. We
walked along the coast towards the ferry because our time was running short.
However, on the way we witnessed a strange event that seemed to consist of many
students wearing brightly colored pants and line dancing to loud pop music.
Later we found out they were indeed students and the different colors of pants
represented different groups. Next we saw a portable version of Tivoli (which
is an amusement park in Copenhagen). While waiting for the ferry I looked
around for a toilet, but decided to wait until the ferry arrived. I'm not 100%
sure because it was in Swedish, but I think the toilet at the docking station
was pay per use and I didn't want to pay for a toilet. Free drinking water is
also hard to find by the way. We arrived back in Denmark just in time to miss
the train we needed, but it wasn't the last one so we had an hour to explore
more of Helsingør. We walked down some quaint streets with brightly colored houses and noticed
most businesses were closed. At this point the sun was below the horizon and it
was cold without it. After all that walking we sat by a fountain for a while
until we realized we could be sitting by the sea instead. Once back at the
station we got some coffee to warm up a bit and then took the train back to
central station. From there we took another train back to Herlev and were entertained
by a group of energetic kids eating candy. We biked back cautiously because
Simona didn't have any lights and I showed her a slightly different way to get
back home. After such a long day we were both hungry and I made some grilled
cheese sandwiches which Simona had never had before. She reciprocated by making
some warm milk with honey which I had never had and both were good. The last
thing I did was to make some plans for tomorrow and I decided to go on guided tour
of Copenhagen. What a great day!
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