Exploring the grounds and within the walls of Fredericksborg castle in Hillerød

Today's weather is pretty good. yesterday was bad... most of the time was raining and raining... so i did not go out yesterday. In fact spent my morning doing some bank stuffs but something went wrong so i've got to re-do it tomorrow. Drat!
Anyway yesterday i was tired... coz only got back to my room around 2.30am. Yeah was out with my colleagues for dinner and drinks in Nørreport. I've no idea what time the rest of my colleagues left the place.... but i must say, Danes are really really good drinkers!

Anyway today I went to Hillerød to visit the super famous Fredericksborg Castle. I went there with Julia, whom i got to know last weekend. And I also got to know a new person, Denise. She is a German, who is currently studying in Roskilde University. (ermmm... this university is like 1hr away from Lyngby by train)

Entrance to Fredericksborg castle

Walking the cobbled-stone pavement to the castle

one of the courtyards we need to walk through before we reach the real courtyard of the castle

Symbol of Christian IV (Christian IV was one of the Kings in Denmark)

Fountain with figurines

Fredericksborg castle is one of the largest Renaissance castle in the whole of Scandinavia. It was built by Frederick II in 1560. I must say, the castle is really really huge. I mean the area is big. When we reached, I was really surprise. Coz the entrance to the castle is not super grand and big. In fact its just a small little entry way. And u can really mistake it for a castle entrance. And we had to walk through like 2 moats before we reach the real courtyard of the castle! Now the castle has been converted to a museum. Pity i did not have my student pass, otherwise I could have only paid 60 DKK for the entrance fee. Anyway I paid 75 DKK to get into the walls of the castle.

The main courtyard of Fredericksborg castle

Intricate carvings and sculptures on the walls of the castle

Some ancient costumes on display

The items on display in the castle are slightly different from those that I saw in Kronborg slot. In fact I don't remember seeing any tapestry in Fredericksborg castle. I saw lots of paintings. portraits of people, normal artistic paintings etc. Walking through the rooms, You can see how the different eras took place within the castle walls from the beginning till now. It was really interesting.

Paintings on display in the hall

Fantastic paintings on the ceilings of the hall

Great Hall of the castle (which is also the grand ballroom)

looking through the windows from the castle to the courtyard

Within the castle walls, there is a church. Julia told us that the 2nd Prince of Denmark (the current one) married his 1st wife (who was a hong konger) there. Even though they had divorced, the former wife was given the title as countess of Fredericksborg castle. 

Church inside Fredericksborg castle

the 3 of us in the church

Another highlight of Fredericksborg castle is its massive garden! This really made it stand out compared to Kronborg slot and Amalieanborg! The gardens of Fredericksborg was really really nice....i mean looking at it reminds me of the gardens that I saw from pictures of Versailles.
Around 3.15pm, we had to say goodbye to Denise, coz she we heading back to Lyngby to sign her rental contract. So left only me and Julia to finish up our tour of Fredericksborg grounds! =D

strolling to the gardens of Fredericksborg castle

we're walking to the gardens

Gardens overlooking the castle

That's me in the gardens

So it seems like, i've finished a few of the important sights of Denmark, not too sure where i will visit the next weekend. But one thing's for sure, by next weekend, i will not be so poor... hahaha... will be getting my 1st paycheck fr the university this wk! yay! I can finally buy a bike and no need to walk that much. =D

Strolling along Nordre Toldbod in Øesterbro

I did not go to school today. I had quite a number of stuffs to do today.
1. wait for my parcel to arrive (coz my landlord did not want to help me to receive the parcel)
2. get my tax card (don't get this done and sch will not give me 56% of my salary)

Anyway thank goodness, my parcel arrived in late morning! so this means that I can rush to the tax office to get my tax card. while waiting for my parcel to come, i was reading journals and checking on available apartments to rent. I must say, its rally really difficult to find and rent a decent apartment here in Denmark! and the best thing is i always see flats on sale! Urgh! apparently i'm not the only one who has difficulties finding good and cheap apartments.... many have told me they face the same problem. hmmm... this housing issue, i can only chant hard to have the good fortune to get a good one.

Back to my parcel, yup it came in late morning. I'm really happy! Many thanks to my parents for helping me to pack some of my stuffs that i left behind in s'pore. Anyway, once it came, i unpacked and did a very important thing! That is to put up my Gohonzon! Really happy about it!

My Butsudan in my bed'room'

Once i settled the unpacking, i quickly took a shower and head to the tax center which is at the south of Copenhagen. took me about 35min from my place to get there. it is really not easy to find that place. when i got there, i had to wait quite a bit for my turn. i was surprised that it was very quick to get my tax card. it was like i waited for 40min for my turn, and it took the tax personnel only 5min to get it done! i really have no idea how come i needed to wait so damn long. anyway i got him to explain to me how much taxes must i pay and after taxes how much do i have remained. The tax system here is a little complicated. Let's just round up the percentage of taxes i need to pay as 36%!!!! Yeah unbelievable isn't it?? The taxes here are really really high! No joke about it. But its true, the remained amount allows me to survive i mean sufficient for me to pay my rental, food, transportation and still have savings! But i think the people here... may not have huge savings as compared to the people in s'pore. Coz if i were to spend more, most probable, each month i will not have savings! Anyway, this is how it is in Denmark.

After getting my tax card (in fact it was just a bloody paper. but the govt wants each resident who is working to declare yourself, otherwise you will not be paid or have to pay more taxes), i saw that i still had a bit of time. So i decided to head down to Øesterbro (its pronounced as Aster-bho), where the little mermaid is. But i'm not visiting her today. In fact I'll be strolling down Norde Toldbod, which is the waterfront of Copenhagen area. Walking along here, you'll get to see the Danish Navy, the Danish Opera House, Amalienborg and Frederiks church. I missed all these when i was there to see the little mermaid 2 wks ago.

Walking from Øesterbro station to Nordre Toldbod

Typical Danish building seen in the city

Anyway i stroll along Nordre Toldbod, I saw this church, Saints Alban Church. Think when i went to see the little mermaid, i saw the other side of the church. Today i saw the frontal view. Right in front of the church is a petty interesting fountain, called 'Gefion Fountain'. To me its a little similar to some of the majestic fountains in Italy.

St Alban Church

 Gefion Fountain

River behind St Alban's church (storm clouds coming in)

I saw a very interesting man sitting, pondering. He was pondering seriously.

Machinery man

Hahaha... yeah, he is made up of different machinery parts. I mean its a brilliant design. hahaha... i guess only mech. engineers can appreciate him. =P

Dahlerup's Port Authority Building

Denmark's Opera House

walking down the waterfront, i came across a pretty old and brown building. I did not know what it was. When i looked at the windows, i saw sculptures made from plaster... and they are not ordinary sculptures, but sculptures that carry designs of ancient greece. hahaha... yeah i've always been fascinated with ancient greece, ancient egypt etc. so took a couple of pictures. then I realised that it was in fact a sculpture art museum! It was free, so i went in and took a look. I must say, i was awed by the sculptures. They were really fantastic!

The sculpture art museum

The fake Michelangelo's David

Sculptures on display

Next, i continued walking down and saw Amalienisplayborg and Frederik's church. Amalienborg is the winter house of the Danish Royal Family. It consist of 4 palace buildings surrounding an octagonal courtyard. I even managed to catch a glimpse of the guards patrolling the entrance of each building.

Amalienborg portion 1

Amalienborg portion 2. that the statue of Frederick V

Amalienborg portion 3

Royal guards at the castle grounds

Behind the palace is the Frederik's church. It is also known as the Marble church. Apparently it has the largest church dome in Scandinavia. After my stroll, its back to Lyngby and tomorrow i head to school again. =D

Frederik's church

Interior of church

Ceiling of the church's dome

Dutch inspired architectural design of a building. Pretty typical sight in CPH city

A day trip to Helsigor, where Hamlet's castle is

As I mentioned earlier, I'll be writing on my afternoon trip to Helsingør, where, its well known for its castle, Kronborg Castle. Helsingor is also known as Elsinore in Danish. You must be thinking what so great about Kronborg Slot. Hmmm... if you're into Shakespearean plays you'll be pretty familiar with the story of Hamlet. Yup! Kronborg Slot is the castle depicted in Shakespear's story of Hamlet. And apparently, the play 'Hamlet' had been staged there for numerous times!

I met my new friend, Julia, whom one of our common friends, Xuan You, introduced. She is a pretty interesting and tough lady. She married a Dane, so she is settling down in Denmark. We had pretty interesting conversations throughout the journey and she enlightened me to quite a number of things concerning Denmark, Danes and the culture here.... =D

From our place in Lyngby, we took the train to Hellerup (its pronounced as Hea-rod... hahhaa... i know this is kinda weird, but that's how Danish is) and changed train which will take us all the way to Helsingor. the entire journey was about 53min (minus the waiting time) Coz today was sunday, the frequency of trains were lesser. 

I never thought that the weather today will be so good. Coz when we left Lyngby, the skies were cloudy.. and when i checked the weather, it did not give good weather report. So i was really surprised to see sun and blue skies in Helsingor! 

Helsingor train station

When we reached Helsingor, we met my another new friend, Irika, whom I got to know last weekend at the Youth course. She is sort of having an exchange program in a boarding school in Helsingor. She is a Soka U student. She will be returning to Japan this December. Irika is also another very interesting person.... hahaha... u will never believe me if i tell u that in her short stay of 6 months, she has traveled to 12 countries!!! Amazing! she told us that she traveled to these countries within 1 month! wow i hope to be able to achieve that (meaning visit as many countries as i can in these 3 years here in Denmark. But of course I will also work hard in my studies. =D)

I guess everyone knows of the famous Little Mermaid in Denmark. But do you know that there is also a statue of Little Merman?? Hahaha... Julia & I did not know that too! Irika showed us the Little Merman statue in Helsingor. Its super shiny unlike the little mermaid statue.

Little Merman in Helsingor

That's how shiny the little merman is. we could see our reflections on it! =P

a fountain surrounded by blooming dasies

Kronborg Slot

She brought us to Kronborg castle. Kronborg castle is one of the most important Renaissance castle in Northern Europe and its been listed as a UNESCO heritage site since 2000! Its situated at the site, where when you look beyond it, you can see Helsingborg, a city in Sweden! yup! that's how near Sweden is to Denmark! Irika told me that we can just pay 70 DKK for a 2 way trip on the ferry to Helsingborg! Yeah I'll visit Helsingborg on another trip. =D

That's the city of Helsingborg, Sweden!!!

Anyway back to the castle, apparently, the castle was built in 1420s, by 1 one of the Danish kings. He built this castle/fortress there, so that he could control the payment from the ships entering and leaving the Baltic seas. So in the olden days, you can say that Helsingor was a pretty bustling and rich town! 

Entrance to the castle

As Irika has visited the castle 3 times, only me & julia paid for the entrance fee to visit the interior of the castle. it cost me 75 DKK for the entrance fee to visit the rooms, ballroom & chapel i think. The ballroom in the castle is one of the famous icon in the castle. it was a long hall with chandeliers hanging from the ceilings and the tiles were black and white. We also strolled through the rooms that were the living quarters of the king and his subjects and rooms with hanging tapestry.

one of the huge halls in the castle

The famous ballroom in Kronborg slot

Julia told me that Danish castles will always have tapestry hanging on the walls. These tapestry help to keep the warmth within the castle walls. I must say, these tapestry are pretty awesome... i mean it must have take months or even years for the ancient people to get just 1 done... coz there are lots of designs on it... and they are huge! U take a look at the picture to get a better idea of what i'm trying to say here.

One of the many tapestrys seen in the rooms. This is the most majestic one!

The castle also boast of a huge courtyard. I think this courtyard is where, the play Hamlet was being staged. Apparently the character, Hamlet, is not a true story. It just a fictional being that Shakespear concoct when he wrote the play. Shakespear had never been to Elsinore, but he used the castle and the town as the icons in his play.

That's Julia & me posing in the courtyard of the castle. Behind us is the chapel of the castle

Castle seen from the courtyard

Swans basking in the sun in front of the castle. See how blue the skies are and how green the grass is

After touring the castle, we walked through some of the streets in Helsingor. I must say the streets are very quite and no business are taking place. Coz today is Sunday! Yup! all shops are close on Sundays! This is something that I still got to get use to in Denmark! Its a nice stroll... coz i got to see some of the old Danish cottages and interesting shops. Pity that I could not enter them... coz they were closed. 

A cafe/pub that had colourful mugs on display at its windows

Painting on a wall showing what Helsingor was (a rich port where ships come & go) 400yrs ago

Streets of Helsingor town

Some old Danish cottages in Helsingor

Then its time to say goodbye to Irika, while Julia and me took the train to Hellerup, where we changed to the S-train to Copenhagen. Julia wanted to show me a really nice cafe in Copenhagen that's very near to the train station. And in this shop, you can find 300 different kinds of teas! imagine that! i think its pretty similar to the TWG tea shop in s'pore. But i did not have the tea, instead I ordered Cappucino & a cranberry muffin! yup! a nice way to end off my day trip in Helsingor.

Irika & me at the train station. Took this before we board the train to Hellerup

My cranberry muffin & cappucino