Statens Museum for Kunst, the National Gallery of Denmark

all i have from my trip to this National Gallery is one photo.
why?
because we only had 10 minutes in there. lol.
there was a huge air space in the middle of the domed traditional building.


Tivoli, the Pleasure Gardens

this is another old school amusement park, built in 1843, that is a major landmark in the center of the city.
we had to walk around the big square block that the fenced gardens occupied a lot.

inside Tivoli.
a "Chinese Style" Pavilion.

i think it was a performance of Swan Lake.

Indian Style mystery building. maybe a restaurant?

loads of kids and people.
somehow, the atmosphere wasn't as magical as the one at Grona Lund.
maybe because this park is smaller.

the star-flyer, which we didn't ride.

fancy lights.

mmmm ice cream.

a little train chugging through the grounds.

candy store.

big-ass candy floss.

quirky street.

reminds me of One Piece.

a random little body of water with a ship in it.

Copenhagen at dusk.

H.C. Anderson watching over Tivoli.

mmmm lights.

 Frederiksborg Castle

okay. this castle and its grounds are seriously so pretty and wonderful, i feel like i need to tell people to skip Kronberg and spend the day at Frederiksborg instead.

because i didn't think Frederiksborg was going to be anything great, i didn't research the transport from Helsingor to Hillerod properly. we ended up taking a long train journey and reached Frederiksborg at the castle closing time.
but luckily, the gardens were still open!

but first, check out this cute little H+ van in Helsingor!
what's H+? i don't know.

we took this wide-view train from Helsingor to Hillerod.
the journey itself was very scenic, passing through leafy forests where you can imagine the train honks were for warning deer to keep away from the tracks.
but it was sooo long, like 2 hours?
we fell asleep.

then we had to take a bus to the Castle.
the nice bus driver told us to alight since we weren't sure where it was.
here's the exterior, surrounded by a moat.

something about the red brick and little walkways and bridges made it so charming and romantic, even before we saw the actual castle.

and there it was!
what a beauty!
Frederiksborg Castle was built in a Renaissance style in the 1600s, with turrets and wings added on in the later periods.

a very enchanting fountain in the main square.

lots of ornate sculptures.

the castle was closed at 5pm so we couldn't go in.
boohoo.

something different.
i'm glad i found you.
so pretty.

luckily, i remembered something about a garden in the castle grounds.
otherwise we would have made a wasted trip.

on the left side was a walkway that went along this moat and a gate mini-tower.

another view of the castle.

detail from the gate.

a glorious Baroque garden!

the French Baroque style of gardening is to control nature and have lots of surprising elements in it.
i was seriously in awe of the amazing neatness of the little shrubs that have been cropped so immaculately.

so so pretty...

water feature running down the middle.

these little shrubs ... just so cute.

just so gorgeous!

Kronborg Slot

Hamlet, the famous brilliant emo prince, was the main reason we traveled from the city to Helsingor, where we could see the Kronborg Castle.

he was the Prince of Denmark in Shakespeare's tragic play, which is one of my favorite things ever.
however the association between Kronborg and Hamlet is tenuous.
Helsingor (Elsinore) was very famous as a real town that grew rich from taxing the ships that passed through its bay (Sound). Shakespeare then used it as a setting for his play. that's it.

that said, it was interesting to visit this historically important castle, situated at the Sound (stretch of water between Denmark and Sweden).

this is Helsingor station. old school, all wood.

neat chandeliers in the lobby space, and nice panels.

outside the station was this pair of statues.
Hamlet on the left and Ophelia on the right.

the old town is seriously old and awesome.

but before we explored its atmospheric streets, we had Danish hotdogs, in its red skinned glory.

timber frame houses!

approaching the castle, surrounded by moats.

crossing a bridge.

this is the actual entrance of the castle building.

who is Prince Amlet?

very austere interior.

bay windows overlooking the Sound.

canons to control the ship traffic.

lady dressed up in theater gear, giving a guided tour.

the Danish flag.

nice weather.

from the inside of the square of the castle.

a random Shakespeare appears.

you can watch Hamlet being performed at this castle too!