A 110 km trip today for a round trip north of Copenhagen. I used F.R.E.D. (FRED for short) to plan the tracks we would follow. Now, the cynics in the crowd would probably scoff at this, but I think he did a pretty fair job, since he can't speak Danish.Here's where we went: Started at Copenhagen (bottom), up to Fredenborg (the Summer Palace), over to Kronborg Castle (Helsingor), and back down the coast road to Copenhagen.
On the way up we went through little towns, but no industrial areas, so it was very pleasant.
Here's one idyllic house beside a pond.
The villages changed to farmland further north. The farming doesn't seem quite as intensive as the Netherlands and Germany.
I got caught on a speed sign on the way up. Honest, 'Din Fart' means 'your speed.'
I missed a photo of one earlier that showed a Smiley Face if you were under the speed limit.
We arrived in Fredenborg and immediately found a nice spot for coffee.
Here's the entrance to the palace
The statue at the entrance.
I'm guessing this is the royal pennant or ensign. We were too early for a tour, so we headed around the perimeter on our bikes.
This long lane of trees heads down to the lake on the west side.
A boathouse on the lake. It looks like they stack 2 or 3 boats inside and store more outside on a short (50 foot) canal to the lake.
This lane goes directly from the palace to the lake. I guess the Royals use this path when they want to go down to the lake to bag a fish for dinner, or take a sunset cruise.
After Fredenborg we head east to Kronberg Castle. Michel had a flat, which we fixed. FRED then found a nice unpaved lane to follow. Unfortunately, this turned out to be too much for Michel's fragile tubes & she had two more flats.
FRED then found us the way back onto the pavement.
Lunch in Helsingor & a shot of one of the restaurants. Definitely high season for vacations.
A metal sculpture plan of the castle and the surrounding battlements and moats.
This castle was immortalized as Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet. (I don't know any of this stuff, I have to look it up - thank you Wikipedia). It is an important Renaissance Castle an UNESCO World Heritage site.
The north side of the castle
The strait between here and Sweden is only 4 km wide, so this was an important strategic location.
The gun battery facing Sweden.
Now, I'm not sure why, but this beautiful part of the castle looks out on the strait towards Sweden. If I was invading, those windows would be a easy target. The Swedes did invade in 1658 and took many valuables as war booty.
The south side of the castle. We were now running short of time, so we didn't tour inside. Besides, most of us are castled out.
A closeup of a couple of the cannons - first time I've seen wooden carriages for the guns
A family vacationing in the moat.
We stop for an ice cream cone (licorice, yum) and then head out. As we head out of town we find a bike shop and stock up on tubes, no doubt guaranteeing no more problems.
Nice commuter bike. The price (6500 Kr) is about $1300 in Canadian Pesos.
A boat harbour on the way down. We stopped here for a cold drink (to paraphrase Napoleon, armies & cyclists travel on their stomachs)
I noticed this beautiful set of similar designed sloops. Probably local racers.
The water from the road. Lots of beaches and people on them. The water seemed warm and there were lots of swimmers.
As usual, when we scoot into a town, I'm too busy staring at FRED and other cyclists to take photos. No problems getting back to the hotel.
We had a couple of beer in the hotel, a snack for dinner and crashed.
It's a beautiful morning again, so I'm off to WALK around.
TTFN
