Copenhagen - Denmark & Elsinore

We totally enjoyed our stay in Denmark seeing expected sites like the Little Mermaid and visiting an unexpected new place like the castle of Elsinore.

Like many European cities, Denmark has statues everywhere , especially in parks.

The "statues" on the top of this building forecast the weather way before there was TV and internet,  One of the statues would come out further than the other to forecast a nice day for a bike ride or a day to carry your umbrella.

We walked by the Royal Palace.

So much of Denmark still relies on the sea. The National Opera building was recently built here with funds from shipping companies.

It's not just the open sea but the canals or quays as they are called here provide livelihood and entertainment.  There were outdoor restaurants and cafes as far as the eye could see.

Sometimes, the quays are just a good place to hang out.

The quays provide great spots for pictures as this wedding party found out.  It is incredible how multi racial the major European cities have become.

With tourists from everywhere.

Elsinore Train Station

We thought we would spend the weekend in Copenhagen but we learned the famed castle of Elsinore was just a one hour train ride away. To tell the truth, I only knew it had a magical sound to it and it had something to do with Hamlet.  But why was it in Denmark ?  Shakespeare was an English writer.  Wait a second. Why did Shakespeare write a play about Hamlet - King of the Danes?


How strange the quirks of history.  Around 1000 AD, the historian Saxo Grammaticus s began to write the history of the kings of Denmark.  He wrote in Latin but his work was not translated into French and English until the 1500's.

Saxo wrote about one king who lived in the 900's.  He was murdered by his brother who then married the king's wife.  His son vowed to avenge his father's death.  He was named after his father: Hamlet.

Elsinore had may rooms and halls, one so large it was used to produce plays. In the 1500's, the Danes did not have professional actors so they imported them from England, especially from the Globe Theatre in London. When the actors returned, they were able to describe the castle to within the smallest detail for a major playwright , Shakespeare.

With this information and the history of Saxo Grammaticus, Shakespeare was able to write one of his greatest plays, one about a Dane who lived 500 years before Shakespeare wrote the play.  Many different productions of Hamlet take place at Elsinore every year.