Alas, poor Yorick!

We left Copenhagen and headed to the northern tip of Zealand - to Helsingor.  On a spit of land overlooking the sea is Kronborg Slot - Hamlet's Castle.  It is a UNESCO world heritage site and once a year, each August, Hamlet is performed in the Castle's courtyard.  That's a production I'd love to attend.

The coastal drive from Copenhagen to Helsingor is beautiful.  The coast is dotted with lovely towns, fishing villages and beaches.  The weather was fine and sunny and we dipped our toes in the water - freezing cold water! There were however plenty of swimmers.  I guess this is why Scandinavian swimming is described as 'invigorating'.

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is also along this coastal drive.  It is a beautiful museum set in green lawns with a sculpture garden overlooking the sea.

So, a day featuring a Renaissance castle, fabulous Museum, stunning coastal drive should be enough for anyone.  The highlight for me though was a visit to the small town of Rungsted to visit the 400 year old ancestral home of Karen Blixen.  I knew nothing of Karen Blixen until in the 80s I saw the film Out of Africa,  which remains to this day my favourite.

In 1913 Karen Dinesen married her Swedish cousin and became Baroness von Blixen.  They moved to Kenya where she "had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills".   Karen Blixen was an independent and adventurous woman; a story teller and writer.  She grew coffee in Africa at an altitude where coffee had never before been grown.  She divorced the philandering Baron and safari-hunting Denys Finch-Hatton became her big love. Her home in Rungsted is furnished with classic Danish pieces that sit beside furniture she bought back from her life in Africa.  There, in the sitting room, is the studded brass chest given to her by Farah - her ever faithful Kenyan servant; and also the chair favoured by Denys as he sat and listened to her stories.  In the attic at Rungsted we too sat and listened to recordings of Blixen telling her stories.

From Helsingor harbour

Courtyard of Hamlet's Castle

The 60m long banquet hall, complete with
original tiled floor

From the tower looking out over the Oresund to Sweden

There's a legend that says a Viking chief is sleeping in the cellars
and he will awaken if ever Denmark needs to be defended.

Karen Blixen's home at Rungsted

What a thrill to wander around her home which
contains many carvings, ivory and artifacts from African
 home at the foot of the Ngong Hills.

I loved her elegant sitting room

It was a beautiful drive along the coast from Copenhagen to the
north coast with many thatched roof homes along the way

In a front garden along the coastal drive the stump of an old
felled tree remains as a work of art.  It has been carved
 into an exquisite bird sculpture

 That's what I mean about Danish design.  It's everywhere.

Elephant Parade

We were delighted to see the Elephant Parade in Copenhagen.  The Elephant Parade's mission is to be the world's largest financial supporter for the preservation of  the Asian elephant and 102 baby elephants, decorated by prominent and up-and-coming Danish artists, could be seen in an open air exhibition around central Copenhagen's parks and streets.

Here are some of our favourites.

Royal Copenhagen blue and white.  My favourite

Dirty Boy.  This is senor's favourite.  He looks like he's been in the
mud, but look closely, the mud is a finely depicted scene.

At the Radhuset.  Bronze dragons and baby elephants.

Jungle baby

http://www.elephantparade.dk

Wonderful, wonderful......

....Copenhagen, of course!

We arrived in Copenhagen just two weeks after the city centre had been flooded during a severe summer storm that delivered two months supply of rain in just a couple of hours.  It was grey and drizzly when we arrived early on a Saturday afternoon.  We spent a couple of hours in the small, but excellent Museum of Danish Resistance and by the time we emerged the sun was out and a walk to the Little Mermaid was in order, followed by a boat cruise around the canals of Nyhavn and Christianshavn.

The thing that excites me most about Denmark is the thing that is on display everywhere - design.  It's in the buildings, the furniture, the fashion and the interior design of restaurants, shops and public buildings.  It is a thoroughly delightful city and if the weather had risen a few degrees above 20 degrees we may have stayed longer than just a couple of days!

The food in Denmark is excellent.  Danes are generally quite particular about their diet and it was easy to find fresh salads, good quality grain bread is usual, and meals were always served with abundant fresh vegetables.  We did, of course, have our first real Danish pasty - which in Denmark are not called 'Danish' pastries!

She's lovely but looks a little lonely sitting on the rock in the harbour.

I actually think this is Santa Claus on his summer holidays.

I love a country that has heart cut-outs in its Palace guard boxes!

Great design - this old shipyard has been renovated into
waterfront apartments

The Danes excel at designing opera houses, don't they?

Houseboat living in Christianshavn

We didn't dine at Rene Redzepi's Noma restaurant.  For two
consequtive years it  has been named world's best restaurant.
We were told that it might be easier to get a dinner table at the Palace
with Mary and Frederick!  The 200 year old warehouse
location and its fit out is stunning. Simple design, clean lines. 
Very Danish.

We spent a delightful morning wandering around the
Botanic Gardens

Den Okologiske Polsemand (the organic hotdog man) or just 'dop'.
Copenhagen's Politiken newspaper held a poll and this
 organic hot dog stand in central Copenhagen was voted
by readers as number one place to eat.  Yes, they were v v good.

Nyhavn

Sun lounge street cafe in Nyhavn.  Like.

Early evening stroll down lively Storget

A summer's night at Tivoli

Danish interior design everywhere.

Danish sea-wind-farm

Between Lubeck (Germany) and Denmark we took a Scanlines
car ferry, and returning from Denmark to Rostock (Germany)
we did the same.  Very efficient travel.  Ferry arrives, nose lifts up,
cars drive in, ferry departs.  Hundreds of kilometers of driving
are replaced with a few short hours of relaxing on deck.

The Bs - Part 2

Berlin, Bratislava and Budapest


Berlin is a flat, bike-friendly city so on a slightly grey summer's day we took a full day bike tour to experience some of Berlin's best and most historic sites.  To see the sites relating to Nazi Germany and the sites of Cold War Germany now set in modern, socially-progressive Berlin makes for an exciting visit. There is just so much to see.  Museum island alone has five museums!  On the recommendation of our daughters stayed in the very smart Hotel Johann in Kreuzberg.   Kreuzberg has a trendy vibe and nearby Bergmanstrasse is lined with restaurants and cafes and away from the tourist hotels.

Ah, that communist-era architecture again.
Alexanderplatz, Berlin.

Bebelplatz, Berlin.  Memorial to the infamous 1933 Nazi
book burning ceremony.  It is a glass plate in
the cobblestones through is only empty bookshelves.
Apparently enough bookshelves to be able to house the
estimated number of books that were burned.

Checkpoint Charlie.  Is that the Officers' Mess?  (I jest, however
 the famous intersection of Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse is now
pure tourist attraction with its fake guard box, replica signs and 'military
police' actors so perhaps it's appropriate to have a large fast-food chain
represented too.)  The History Mile information boards in the surrounding
area have interesting historical info and photographs and we though
definitely worth spending some time around.

Berlin Wall
Berliner Mauer 1961-1989

Brandenburg gate - now Berlin's only remaining city gate

The controversial Peter Eisenman designed
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
A 'forest' of 2,711 concrete pillars.

The Victory Column.  Berliners call
her "Golden Lizzie"

The Reischstag with it glass dome

Colourful Zimmerstrasse architecture

The Ampelmannchen - Berlin's traffic light men.  

After the political changes in 1989 there began a movement to
rescue Ampelmannchen.  The campaign succeeded to the
extent that there is now a whole industry of Ampelmannchen
souvenirs.  "Rettet de Amplemannchen" or Rescue the traffic
light men became a famous publicity campaign in Berlin.

The following are some of my favourite images of the East Side Gallery - a section of the Berlin Wall now painted by artists which is now a memorial to freedom.

We liked Berlin so much that we visited twice - on the way north to Denmark, and then again on our return South.

Bratislava
On to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.  We spent only one day discovering Bratislava's old town with its cobble-stoned streets and castle on the hill.  The old town is beautiful though the rest of the city retains many drab Communist-era buildings.

Bratislava's very own UFO bridge -  Novy Most crosses the Danube

In a quiet neighbourhood of Bratislava, opposite this derelict sight......

....stood this gorgeous Gaudi-esque blue Church

The church of Saint Elizabeth

Bratislava old town

My kind of bank.  Thank you Bratislava

Budapest - in Budapest the spas are best!
The most obvious mark left by the Turkish rule of Budapest around the 1500s is the city's glorious bathhouses.  After our Turkish hamam experience we were keen to see some of Budapest's spas and baths.  Budapest has more than a dozen thermal spas to choose from, and I chose to visit the Rudas Thermal Bath.  We arrived in Budapest on a Tuesday, which at Rudas is women-only day.  I had also read that on single-sex bathing days no swimwear was required, and as towels are provided I headed off alone to find Rudas with just my wallet in hand.  I found Rudas Bath house across the Elizabeth Bridge on the Buda side of the Danube, tucked into the foot of Gellert Hill.  At the turnstiles the attendant spoke only enough English to tell me how much a spa session would cost and confirm that no swimwear was required. I undressed in the change room, wrapped myself in the towel, which is actually a single bed sheet, and headed to the main bathing room.  The main pool is an octagon shape below a huge dome which has small coloured glass windows.  As I stood a marvelled at its ancient beauty I noticed....that everyone was wearing swimmers!

My reaction may have been different at home, but here in Budapest where I knew no one there was nothing to do but drop my towel, put my shoulders back and as quickly and gracefully as possible slide into the 36 degree pool.  Up to my neck in the water I began to relax and take a peek around me.  Slowly I realised that there were other women also in the thermal water up to their necks, and as they moved in and out of the pool I was relieved to find some of them were, in fact, naked bathers.  It seemed to me that women speaking English were wearing bathing suits, and women speaking Hungarian or German (and me) were naked.

Surrounding the octagonal pool are four corner pools of 28, 30, 33 and 42 degrees.  There are steam rooms, and hot dry air chambers which are progressively heated - 45 degrees then 55-60 degrees.  In these room are large timber chairs to laze on.  Finally, there is the 18 degree cold water plunge pool with waterfall.  When  you have had enough heating up/cooling down bathing, it's time for a half hour massage followed by some relaxing time in the vaulted-ceiling Resting Room.  It was a wonderful way to pass a couple of hours.

Next day Senor and I visited Szecheny Baths on the Pest side of the Danube (mixed day, swimwear required).  It is Europe's largest spa complex.  It is huge and grand with more than a dozen indoor and outdoor pools of varying temperatures, as well as steam rooms and whirlpools.  We spent most of the day here and it was wonderful.  Here are some photos.

Szecheny Baths - outdoor pools.  The pool in
the foreground is 38 degrees - like a hot bath

Like us, people stay there all day

One of the indoor thermal pools

The icy 18 degree plunge pool.  Surprisingly
enjoyable after the steam room and hot baths

The Danube and the Buda side at dusk

It is said that the Chain Bridge is to Budapestis what the
Eiffel Tower is to Parisians