If it's Wednesday we must be in København

Today we actually ventured outside of Copenhagen to see Fredericksborg Castle in Hillerød. It was a 40 km journey on foot, bus, and train. Fredericksborg is a royal renaissance castle, built in the 17th century by Christian IV. As you can see, it is surrounded by a moat.

Walking towards the entrance.

This is inside the castle walls. There are several buildings before you get to the main building.

This is the main building, which has a courtyard inside it.

There is a lot of restoration work being done. Here is someone carving stone using a hammer and chisel. This piece will be used in the restoration.

Inside the castle there are many ornate rooms and hallways. All of them were coverd with paintings, tapestries, carved wood, tooled leather, and plaster decorations. In many places it looks at first like the walls are made of marble, but it is actually wood painted to look like marble or stone.

This is the dining room. They even have a typical royal meal (fake) layer out on the table in the foreground.

This is The Great Room, which was the largest room we saw. It included portraits of several Kings and Queens.

You could easily get a sore neck looking up at the elaborate ceilings in every room. This picture is looking straight up towards a large chandelier and the ceiling.

It looks like Roxanne will need a neck rub tonight.

A view from outside the Castle, with the town in the background. We had some lunch in town before returning to Copenhagen, more sandwiches. The Danes do make a good sandwich.

This is the "Marble Church", a Lutheran church built during the 17th century by King Frederick V. The dome is 150 feet high and 100 feet across, which makes it among the largest of its kind in Europe. It still holds regular services during the week and Sundays.

It seems like most of the historic sites are experiencing extensive restoration work. This is the case outside and inside the Marble Church.

A random small car along the streets.

Yes, after 8 days of travel it is time to wash our clothes. All we have to do is translate the washing machine controls from Danish to English. We managed to wash two loads so far, but with no dryer we have to hang them on a rack to dry. Hopefully they will be dry before we leave Friday morning.

Roxanne laid out our pastries (Danish for you Americans). We found them along the way home at Reinh. van Hauen bakery.

 

Onsdag i København

We made it back to Copenhagen airport with our rental car and after a train ride, a bus ride, and more walking we connected with our host, who showed us to the apartment where we are staying. It is a third floor walk-up, a great location and apartment.

Our first stop was lunch.

We bought "Copenhagen Cards", which includes unlimited public transit and admission to most attractions for 72 hours.

We went to Tivoli Gardens this evening. This is the entrance.

Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park, but not exactly like Dorney Park in Allentown.

These first few pictures don't show that, but you will see what we mean. (these are for you Ross)

There are quite a few garden areas among the rides and restaurants.

What you won't see at Dorney Park is pantomime theatre and ballet. We saw them both here, at the same time.

You probably won't see a live orchestra and singers performing singing Danish songs either.

 

Hej då Sverige - Hej Danmark

Goodbye Sweden - Hello Denmark

Our journey through Sweden has ended, with countless memories of great experiences, great sights, great food, and a chance to connect with Roxanne's Swedish relatives. Just when we started to learn a few Swedish words, we will have to start again with Danish. (thank god for google translate on our iPad)

We begin a few days in Copenhagen, so stay tuned for our experience in Denmark.

 

 

Malmö, Sweden

Our hotel in Malmo, Hotel Master Johan. Beautiful inside, great hotel located in old part of city.

Looking out our balcony from 3rd floor. Narrow side streets.

old town square. Restaurants and shops all around. We ate at a Scottish pub for dinner.

City hall in the large town square

even a Swedish pug! (this picture is for you-Rachael)

The Turning Torso, the tallest skyscraper in Scandinavia.

It overlooks the western harbor. We took the picture this morning. It was cold and windy!

A view from the harbor. You can see the Oresund bridge in the background, which takes you between Sweden and Denmark.

 

On the way to Malmo (Sweden)

These flowers cover the roadway ditches and hills. Purple, pink,white. I have one plant in my garden that I struggle to grow and here they grow like weeds!

Rain today, most of drive from our hotel in jungkoping to Horred (about 1.5 hrs) home to Ekelund Weavers

We took a "see-for-yourself" and self-guided factory tour-wondering along the yellow arrows on the floor. Information all in Swedish. The weaving machines were running. All automated now. quite a good size operation in a very small town(in the middle of farm county)

there is a museum part of the building with some of the history(all in Swedish) and these great old original looms. This is the dobby loom. Makes patterns

This is an original jacquard loom using the punch card system which creates individual designs or motifs.

had a coffee and pastries after some serious shopping. Here they have the seconds for you to buy (considerable discounts) in addition to first quality and all their weaving collections are available-

by the way, Rachael those chocolate balls are delicious! Thanks for telling me about them. We must make them at home now.

obviously Mike had some fun with all my purchases from Ekelund weavers. When we got to our hotel in Malmo(2 more hours of driving in the rain), I was testing the bed- so Mike covered me up with my weavings. It looks like "where's Waldo" (Roxanne)

Our last night in Sweden. Malmo is beautiful, we are staying in the old part of the city. Malmo is really quaint and is the third largest city in Sweden. In the morning we will explore the harbor and then onto Denmark!

Our Last Night On Styrsö

These pictures our from our last night on Styrsö, after our long walk from the restaurant we had dinner at. We have had a wonderful time here, and we have more adventures ahead of us.

Here is a picture of the house with the flag raised and Roxanne waving from the deck.

Earlier in the day we bought some fresh strawberries at the docks to enjoy when we returned to the house.

Roxanne enjoys her ostkaka (a type of cheesecake) with the fresh strawberries on the deck overlooking the sea. You can also see the maypole we purchased on the island.

Here are some pictures of the inside of the house. When you enter there is one big area for the living area, dining area, and kitchen.

A fond farewell to Styrsö!