Visiting Friends in Copehagen

Castle Elsinor in Helsingor, the site of Shakespeare's "Hamlet"

November, known for gray skies and damp cold, is not the time most would pick to visit Scandinavia. However, I had friends in Copenhagen, Denmark, which supposedly has milder weather than is usual for this far north. Also, when you can fly free to Europe as an airline employee, you go when there will be open seats. And this usually translates to off season -- November in Europe is certainly that, if nothing else!

View from the Rundetarn

I had not seen Casper and Ulla in three years -- since we hung out together in a national park in Swaziland, in southern Africa. We'd hit it off well and kept in touch via e-mail. Luckily, they were available during the time I had for this quick visit. So I set off, and it was a partly cloudy afternoon in Copenhagen when Casper picked me up at the airport. We headed downtown to start the sightseeing right away. After a short driving tour, we parked and began exploring the city's pedestrian-friendly streets on foot. Bicyclists whizzed by regularly, most fairly well bundled up against the chill air. The Danes are avid cyclists, and Casper explained many commute back and forth to work on their bikes. I imagined it'd be a bit rough in the winter, but Casper assured me it's a year-round thing.

We started on the Strøget, a busy, pedestrian only street in the "Old Town" part of Copenhagen. It was lined with shops and hopping with activity this afternoon. Buskers played their guitars and high school groups sang songs or sold baked goods to raise funds for overseas charities. Our destination was the Rundetårn -- a round, brick tower built in 1642 by King Christian IV. You climb it by an internal ramp rather than stairs. The ramp spirals round and round for 209 meters until coming out on top of a wonderful view of downtown Copenhagen. The red tile roofs stretch out on all sides, broken here and there by the weathered green of copper church spires. The sun broke through the clouds as we looked out over the scene, illuminating the autumn foliage with a blaze of reds, yellows and oranges. Casper pointed out the sights as I took photos.

Houses in downtown Copenhagen

Next, we stolled towards the central square, dominated by the Rådhus, the 19th century town hall. We slipped inside the dark, Traditional buildings in Copenhagenbrick building,which serves as the mayor's office, and wandered its corridors and stairs. Casper got a kick out of the mayor's aid mistaking him for someone who was submitting an official petition. I told him it was his long, forked beard which made her think he was a radical! Darkness comes early to these northern climes, so Casper and I headed back to the car. We detoured by the school where he teaches for a brief visit, before heading to his apartment. Ulla owns a hand-made clothing shop, which is downstairs, attached to their second floor apartment. She was just closing up when we arrived. We got a chance to catch up for awhile, before heading back out to the local shopping mall, where Ulla had to run some errands. While she shopped, Casper led me to the electronics stores where he oggled big screen televisions. Then they took me to Casper's favorite restaurant downtown, and treated me to a steak dinner. We told stories about our travels over the intervening years. I was particularly interested in their journey up the coast from South Africa to Tanzania. They had been heading to Mozambique when I left them in South Africa, and their trip proved to be quite an adventure. After dinner, we returned to their apartment where they helped me plan out my own travels for the next day. They explained the public transportation system, which seamlessly blends metro, light rail, buses and intercity trains. We checked websites to verify opening hours and they gave me one of their trip passes to get me started on my journey the next day.

One thing I learned quickly the next day: Visitors should not even THINK about scamming Denmark's public transport system. Before you board a train (or metro or whatever), you punch your ticket the required number of times at an automated machine. This put a location and date/time stamp on it. Conductors come by and check tickets repeatedly. So, if someone thought to save "ticks" on their trip pass by not punching it at the station, they'd be caught and fined in short order. Not that I tried that, of course. I was a good little traveller and enjoyed the comfort and efficiency of the transportation. I think the only confusing part for a visitor would be deciphering how many zones a trip crossed, which decides the number of times you punch your ticket. I simply asked my friends in advance and remembered what they told me.

Excavated Viking longship, in Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde

From light rail to train, my journey time from my friends' apartment to Roskilde, my first destination, was less than an hour. The nearby town was a capital of Denmark back in the Viking days. It sits on the edge of a long fjord that cuts through Zealand island, leading out to sea. Doubtless, the Vikings chose it for its excellent communication routes with both the sea and the farmland of the interior. And it was Vikings that I'd come to see in Roskilde -- or more specifically, Viking longships. An early Viking king had sunk five ships to block a channel that could be used as an invasion route to his capital. A couple decades ago, archeologists found those five ships and excavated them. The wood has been treated and re-assembled into five Viking age ships in the (aptly-named) Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.

Walking alongside an actual Viking longship is an amazing experience. You peer down their length and see how long they actually were. Then you look inside, though, and imagine how cold, cramped and wet an overseas voyage in one of them would be. The museum also has two very interesting films shown in several languages, including English (nearly everyone in Denmark speaks English fluently). The first film details the finding, excavation and rebuilding of the five ships. Another covers the voyage of the Sea Stallion -- a modern longship reconstructed using techniques discovered during the excavation at Roskilde. In 2007-2008, the Sea Stallion sailed from Denmark to Ireland and back. You can go online and watch video clips covering the voyage at www.seastallion.dk. I highly recommend checking them out as they are excellently done.

Besides the Sea Stallion, nearly a dozen other modern reconstructions of Scandinavian vessesls are lined up outside the museum. These run the gamut from small fishing craft through larger medieval trading vessels to the 30 meter long Sea Stallion. During the summer, you can clamber around on them, or even pay for rides around the harbor. Sadly, in November, they were landbound and their tops covered with tarps. The museum was excellent, though, and a couple hours there sails by.

Denmark's magnificent Domkirke in Roskilde

Next, I retraced my steps back to the town square to visit the Domkirke, Denmark's most magnificent cathedral. Its twin brick towers loom over the pretty town. They rise above the quaint, richly-colored homes and trees which line Roskilde's leafy side streets. A nice surpise was that photography (even with a flash) is freely allowed inside the cathedral. This seems to be the case for most attractions in Denmark. It is a welcome change from some European sites that prohibit photography for no apparent reason (other than to maybe sell more postcards?).

Most of Denmark's past royalty are buried in the cathedral, going all the way back to King Harald Bluetooth more than 1,000 years ago. I'd asked Casper at what point did Danes see themselves as no longer Vikings but merely Danish people. He pointed to the reign of Bluetooth as the turning point. It was also when the Danes become at least nominally Christian. Six centuries after that, Denmark's most prolific builder-king, Christian IV, dug up Bluetooth and moved him inside the newly-built Domkirke. From that point on, most royals are buried here, including Christian IV, who lies in a stylish silver and black casket in a side chapel. The renaissance era church is quite ornate, and features a number of different styles of chapels, from light and airy, to colorfully bedecked with frescoes and multi-colored marble. I wandered around it, examining the chapels, the intricately carved wooden choir seats, the gilded, gold altar screen, and more.

I spent so much time in Roskilde that I suddenly realized I was shorting my next destination. I zipped back to Copenhagen and changed trains for Helsingor, another oceanside town. This one lies on the northern tip of Zealand island. Helsingor has three main claims to fame. It is a ferry port to Sweden, where hordes of commuters or day trippers cross. Casper said most are Swedes, coming to Denmark to buy its lower priced alcohol. He joked that if I ran into a group of Swedes in town, chances are they'd be drunk! Helsingor is also known for its medieval streets. Many are pedestrian only, and are lined with churches, monasteries and other centuries old buildings.

I had come for the town's third claim to fame, though: Elsinore Castle. This massive, brick-walled fortification had been built and enlarged by a succession of Danish kings, chiefly to levy tolls on passing ships. It had been fought over and sacked more than once, but still stands impressively today, on a spit of land jutting out into the sea. Elsinore Castle is encircld by a network of moats, earth embankments and brick walls, as it was constructed during the gunpowder age. Many attractions close early in Denmark in November, so I had only an abbreviated visit within the castle itself. However, two concentric pathways ring the castle, and these are open all day long. So, I was able to trace the castle's wind-swept outer fortifications at my lesiure, and admire its commanding position. Placards every 50 yards or so doled out tidbits of history about Elsinore in both Danish and English. Elsinore has also become a pilgrimage of sorts for fans of William Shakespeare. The bard used Elsinore as the setting for Hamlet. His account of Danish prince Amlud is fictional, of course. However, that doesn't keep fans from flocking there to gaze at its walls and ask the eternal question: "To be, not to be?"

Castle Elsinor in Helsingor, Denmark

After my visit, I wandered Helsingor's scenic streets, ducking into an attractive, red brick monastery. Eventually, it grew dark, though. I bundled up against the evening's chill and hurried to the train station. Service to Copenhagen runs several times an hour, and I caught the next one. I arrived back at my friends' apartment just as Ulla was closing up shop, again. They were eager to here about my sightseeing. We enjoyed a some Tuborg beers as we talked about the day's events.

I awoke to the sound of rain on the windows the next morning. I hadn't been 100% sure to do that morning, but the rain decided it: My last day would be a "museum day." I was meeting Casper at 1 pm at Christianborg Palace. There were a couple museums I'd considered squeezing in before that, but when I walked through the doors of the National Museum, I realized it would be only one. The collections were simply too sprawling and too extensive and interesting to cut short. I chose to concentrate on the Danish Prehistory and Medieval Denmark wings. The exhibits have descriptions in Danish and English, and are often wonderfully atmospheric in their use of lighting, music and sound effects. My favorite single piece was a massive silver bowl, carved and stamped inside and out with intricate figures of animals, men and gods. The detail was tremendous. I recognzied definite Celtic influence, and the placard indicated there were Thracian (an ancient Balkan people) artistry, as well. More Celtic design was on display in the form of thick gold neck rings called torcs, and bronze helmets with large spiraling horns sprouting from their sides. Note that the Vikings did NOT wear horned helmets (sorry, Hagar the Horrible), but the Gauls did -- at least for ceremonial occaisons.

Silver Bowl in the National Museum in Copenhagen

The bog burials were evocative, too. One moodily lit room contained the wooden skeleton of a 30 foot long boat that had been used by a Danish chieftain to raid a neighbor's territory. Archeologists had pieced together the story of the battle, as victorious warlords often dumped spoils of battle in nearby bogs as a thanks to the gods. The shields, weapons and broken up longboat attested to a victory by the defenders. It was amazing looking at the invaders' equipment and realizing the defenders' devotion would make them throw valuable swords into the waters. Bodies were sometimes sacrificed in bogs, as well. The museum displayed the grisly relics of men and women ceremonially killed to please Wotan or Thor. Like at Roskilde, photography is allowed in the National Museum, and I took quite a few photographys of its amazing relics from Denmark's viking days and before.

Checking my watch, I hurried through rainy streets to meet Casper. He had wanted to join me when I visted the Ruins Under Christianborg -- a relatively new attraction in Copenhagen. It delves underground and explores the foundations of the castles and palaces that have been built upon this central site. I was surprised to find how much of the earlier fortifications were still in existance. Christianborg Palace is the official seat of the Danish government, but surely must be an unlucky spot for a building. The first two castles built here were stormed and sacked by enemies. After the third was torn down during the renaissance era to be replaced by a more opulent palace, the misfortune continued. The first two palaces burnt down when fires started inside and raged out of control. Each time, the plucky Danes have rebuilt on the spot. The exhibits underneath the palace feature relics of all the previous buildings and accounts of their history. Although not visually spectacular, the ruins were interesting and well worth the hour or so we spent below ground exploring its caverns.

Misty view of downtown Copenhagen

It was still raining when Casper and I emerged above ground. We decided to stroll through Christianshaven, a commune of sorts in dowtown Copenhagen. An abandoned military base during the "Hippie era," squatters moved in and began living in huts and setting up their own communal government. Through the years, the Danish government has cracked down on the oasis of drugs and free love (and rent!), which Casper said usually leads to riots and the government backing down. Some of the homes are little more than shacks, with no heat, running water or electricity. Others are amazingly designed with skylights and all the amenities. Nearly every wall surface, though, is plastered with colorful graffiti -- usually including a "No Photography" symbol. Casper surreptitiously pointed out the Hash dealers and the equally undercover watchmen who would sound the alarm if police began nosing around. For an experiement in freedom, it seemed a place with a remarkable degree of fear or complusion in the air: Casper said that people are pressured not to shout or make loud noises in Christianshaven. He did so once by mistake when he saw a friend from afar and was chewed out for it by those nearby. He also said that some of the dogs that roam the community have been trained to attack anyone who yells, under the thinking that it would be police who would do that during a raid, not the residents who know better. As for me, give me our western rules, culture and amenities over this type of "freedom" any day!

As the rain had finally let up, we walked around a bit more, getting a chance to photography a misty and moody Copenhagen. We ducked inside a cafe for a beer when we got tired of wandering. More beer was in the offing later that evening, though, as Casper had promised to take me to his favorite bar. The occaison was the countrywide release of the seasonal "Christmas beer" by various Danish breweries and microbreweries. Much to my relief, the winter ale at Casper's bar was not a spiced ale, though many Christmas beers often are. Ulla couldn't join us, though, as she had sewing to do for the shop. So, Casper and I wound up my trip swapping stories and sampling good beer. We didn't have to worry about drinking and driving, either. We'd utilized the metro to get home, which is another nice thing about Copenhagen.

All in all, Denmark is an extremely convenient place to visit. The people are attractive, friendly and speak English to a nearly uniform degree. There are lots of interesting things to see, even if you visit during the windswept, chilly days of November.