First full non-jetlagged day in Copenhagen

The time change with Greece is only an hour, but it meant that we got up early and had time to explore the house, talk to our host, and meet the tortoises. One is 80! This is our first Home Exchange. We are staying 8 nights, and it is essentially free...we paid only the cost of the annual membership. This is a "house-sitting" stay where it is fewer Home Exchange points per night, but we take care of the pets: two cats and two tortoises. Our hosts are away, but the upstairs is private. We have the first floor and the garden to ourselves.

The kitchen

The livingroom. The bed is out of the frame on the right side.

The garden

And the two tortoises who zip towards the door when we go out. They are surprisingly speedy!

 The garden has a fruiting cherry tree! 

This is the front door...look at those roses!

This is the charming street we are on. 

We took the train to Helsinger (Elsinore) to meet one of Melissa's cousins and to see the castle. On the way to lunch we stopped in a museum documenting the history of the shipyards. It had a good 100 year run, but closed down in 1981. It had some.imterestimg.exhibits and a great kids area...for metalwork! Look at all the stations with vices! 

And examples of what the kids made:

Next, lunch! We ate at a food hall that was a repurposed building from the shipyards. There was food from all over the world: Alex and Melissa had excellent Moroccan, Phil and Melissa's cousin, Vibeke, had Ramen, and I had a smokes salmon crepe.

Onto the castle!

The Castle was first built in the early 1400s, but much of what we were seeing was based on the 1574 plans. We enjoyed the creative exhibits. One was a translation of a feast into modern party terms, with one room talking about the drinking culture at the time and then a room with an inclined floor and crazy lighting and fun house mirrors stimulating drunkedness.

There was a big ballroom where we happened on a brief dramatic performance from Hamlet.

King Claudius and Queen Gertrude (Hamlet's mother and stepfather)

That is Hamlet in between them

Hamlet and Ophelia

We also toured the casements, the cellars and tunnels under the buildings. It was sparsely lit and Phil pointed out that it would be perfect for a D&D campaign. 

I was startled to see a number of Green Men and Green animals, like this Green Lion on the main gate:

Im the chapel

In the coffee shop:

It was cold and windy. We are feeling climate whiplash, going from sweaty Athens to windy and cool Copenhagen in 24 hours.

We then went to Vibeke's house for coffee and cakes. It was a beautiful sunlit apartment filled with books and toys for her grandchildren. We had a delicious strawberry tart and some of the terrific Danish bread. After a leisurely chat about her hikes on the Camino de Santiago, we headed back on the train.

A beautiful mural

This is where Hans Christian Anderson is from, so his statue makes sense here!

We took the train home, stopped at a local supermarket and got a very light vegetable-forward dinner, and relaxed.