Denmark and the Penultimate Move

Our weekend was colorful but windy. On Thursday, we moved out of the temporary apartment and into a hotel room, then back into the temporary apartment on Sunday. We are officially gold medal contenders for the Olympic team in moving, and the sweet front desk clerk has agreed to be our coach. One week from today will be our final move into our long-term apartment. Relief is within reach!

Here's a rundown of the news since my last post.

Friday Fail

Although this is a little embarrassing, it's also so ridiculous that I'm compelled to share. First, on Friday, I took myself out to the Dunkers Kulturhus, an interesting space that is a tourist center, Helsingborg history museum, reading room, bar/cafe, art gallery, and gift shop. It is also teeming with children.

Afterwards, I walked to Kårnan, the old castle atop the hill in city center. This is where things went wrong.

First, to the left of the large stone staircase leading to the top of the hill, I saw a large blue neon-lit sign I'd never noticed before that said HISS. Beneath this sign was a long, eerie stone hallway lined with historical information about Kårnan, at the end of which was an elevator. On the elevator door was something about a fee of 13 crowns. Ever the adventurer, I pressed the elevator button and stepped inside. As I did so, a totally hidden door in the wall of the tunnel opened and a woman appeared with a credit card machine. I asked her if the 13 crowns was a museum admission fee, and either she didn't speak very good English or we didn't understand each other, because I paid the fee as an elderly man got in with us. We rode to the top and the elevator door opened to reveal the truth:

I'd paid 13 crowns to ride the elevator. I'd gone the handicapped route. There is no Kårnan museum (UPDATE: you actually can tour the castle, but it's only open certain times of the year).

Erin's consolation was that 13 crowns (about $1.50 USD) is a cheap mistake.  

Saturday Trip to Denmark

On Saturday, we took the ferry to Helsingør, a Danish town just across the Öresund from Helsingborg where we went to visit Krongborg, the castle made famous as Elsinor in Hamlet. The ferry departs from the marina every 20 minutes without end, and aboard is a place to buy food and drinks as well as a duty-free shop with booze, cigarettes, stuffed animals, and perfume (i.e., everything you'd ever want). While waiting to board the ferry, I met a gray spaniel named Tilde, whose mom explained is afraid of being left behind while travelling. Tilde was whining a little bit while wearing a custom-made collar with her name on it, and she tried to lick my face while I pet her and talked to her in a funny voice.

Here is a selfie taken aboard the ferry.

We trekked out to the castle (FYI, "castle" in Danish is slot) and, holy cow, what an amazing thing to see. Kronborg is a UNESCO Heritage Site for good reason. These pictures will not be able to accurately capture how incredibly awesome it was to see such a beautiful structure still standing after nearly 500 years. How is it even possible that people once lived here?

Kronborg is basically an enormous museum, complete with winding staircases, tapestries, art, furniture, and more. Interestingly, there were a good many people in the courtyard dressed in all sorts of costumes, and we found out from one of the tour guides that those people are LARPers, i.e., participating in Live Action Role Play. They pay large sums of money and come from all over the world to perform Hamlet there, but have adapted it for various eras. For example, one woman was dressed like a flapper. 

  

After Kronborg, we walked around the town quite a bit, shared a falafel sandwich, and had a beer at a pub. One thing Helsingør has that is amazing is an enormous, incredibly cool library and kulturhus which houses an art gallery and maritime museum along with a place to sit and have something to eat and drink. 

Shameless Plug

One thing I spent a bit of time on last week was a new and improved website for my dad's business, www.TJsDiscountAuto.com. It's a work in progress, and I'm still struggling to figure out the intricacies of search engine optimization. But, for those of you who don't already know, my dad is just about the best one out there and we're hoping the website gives his business some new exposure. 

Have a good week, everyone!