Thyrahøj

The weather gods are not happy at all today and the day was foul and ferocious. The wind howled and the rain slashed sideways, hedges rippled and road puddles made the driving hazardous. Samara said it was an "un-joyable" day! "Such groans of roaring winds and rain" said Shakespeare in King Lear, which was appropriate because of the weather and because we went to Kronburg Castle, also known as Hamlets Castle, though Hamlet and King Lear never met.
Kronborg is a renaissance castle and stronghold of the town of Helsingor, made famous by Will Shakespeare as the setting for Hamlet. The Castle has been here since 1420 but, like most things we've found, it burnt down and had to be rebuilt in 1574. It sits at the head of the Oresund Sound and, on a clear day, you can see Sweden. In fact, despite the gale-force winds, pelting rain and high seas, we actually could still see the outline of the Swedish coast!
Holgar the Dane sits sleeping in the crypts below the castle, waiting for the day that Denmark is in trouble when he will rise up and defend her. That could have been today with the brutal weather!! Kronborg contains an impressive chapel, an amazing Great Hall and decorated rooms of then King and Queen Fred and Sophie, who was 24 years his junior. (there have been a lot of King Frederik's over the years). She was 14 when they wed! Dirty old bugger!!
We tried to have a wander around Helsingor but the weather broke us…
We drove out to Fredensborg Palace, a favourite home of the Danish royal family. They were currently in residence so we couldn't visit but it was still hammering down so we didn't mind staying in the car. I braved the weather to try and have a look at the gardens to no avail…
So, we headed to Frederiksborg Castle - I told you there were a lot of Frederik's!! Now this was a beauty! It's been restored and is now a natural history museum and gives a great Danish history through portraiture, furniture and design through the era's. We listened to the audio app as a self guided tour and even Samara was engrossed. Not once did she complain about being in another *#@*$'ing museum! The chapel here was impressive, the art work amazing (though our interpretation was quite a bit different to that in our audio) and the painted and 3D ceilings rivalled that at Versailles. The only thing we didn't like was the modern art section (though the portraits of the current royals, including Crown Princess Mary, were really quite good).
We chilled in our B&B early this evening to dry out and cheer over the Aussie world cup victory over Denmark!! (Well, me anyway…) Go girls!!
If this weather continues, please send thoughts and prayers!Read more