Hamlet

On Wednesday, after visiting Frederiksborg Castle, we headed up to Kronborg Castle, where Hamlet was set.

Fun fact: the castle has a counterpart in Sweden. Between the two of them, Denmark had complete hegemony over the strait and could tax any ships wanting to go through there. Anyways, it’s really cool because you can see Sweden from the parking lot.

Kronborg was very clearly built for military purposes. Multiple moats, lots of artificial land, and cannons all over.

Yeah, the cannons are just sitting out. They’re gonna be really useful if someone attacks.

Scale model of Kronborg and the surrounding area- it’s very built up to hold off an invasion force.

In front of the castle was a little game for the kids. Give ’em a bow and some arrows, and then tell them to ‘shoot the Swede’ – a mannequin, all dolled up in Swedish national colors. Mmm, political correctness.

Seriously, you can see Sweden from the castle. HOW COOL IS THAT

The castle itself is pretty large. That bit off to the right is under construction, repairs I’d assume.

Past the gates and the final moat is… another gate. But this one has windows over it.

The fountain used to be in Denmark, but it was stolen and then destroyed in one of the many, many wars.

This room was apparently the queen’s chamber. Someone thoughtfully modernized the fireplace.

The ballroom. Unlike the Hamlet movie we watched in English class, there were no mirrors anywhere.

Found a tapestry with what appears to be a heavily-armored rhino. Man, I knew people rode elephants to war, but rhinos? Why do they skip over the interesting bits in history class.

The church!

Wandered around the tunnels beneath the castle. This statue, legend holds, will rise to protect Denmark, should the country come under attack.

Anyhow, these tunnels, the second-creepiest set of tunnels I’ve ever been in, were built as living space for the thousands of troops that would be stationed at Kronborg. What a terrible place to live.

Went on a guided tour of the castle after I’d meandered around most of it on my own. The tour guide was in period costume as Horatio.

Headed into a different underground bit of the castle. This was apparently where the “SWEAR” scene of the play happened. Seemed like a good place for it- ‘Horatio’ shouted and the echoes continued on for an impressive amount of time after that.

Eventually we wound up behind a little door in a secret bonus tower. The ‘queen’s tower.’ This room, our guide said, was where the queen liked to make pancakes, which was suitably random. It was also where the body of Polonius was hidden. For some reason, the “Alas, poor Yorick” scene was recreated here as well.

The tour wrapped up in the ballroom, which I showed you earlier. After that, we headed back to Copenhagen.

Wandered around a mall for while, where I found this cool melting piano statue. Then we got some food and headed over to the Little Mermaid.

I promised my grandma I’d get a picture of the Little Mermaid, and here it is. (I also have one of me standing in front of it which I’ll print out and deliver to her when I get back home.)