Travelling

So, I've left Sweden. I apologize for the lack of posts. I've been really busy with travelling. I no longer have access to my computer or pictures from before I let Sweden which means no Norway post. When I get back to Canada (end of July) I do intend to write that post. Until then you'll get some posts about my travels with pictures when I remember to take one with my phone.

I left Sweden June 15 for Paris. I saw Versailles (amazing palace), the Louvre (I was there for 5 hours and didn't see everything), Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, the conciergerie, the Eiffel Tower and much more. On my last night, there was a music festival and I went and listened to the Paris Orchestra play a symphony inside the Louvre. I spent a week in Paris and had a great time.

Fun fact about the Eiffel Tower, it was originally going to be torn down after the expo because everyone thought it was ugly.



The cafe from the French movie "Amelie".



Sadly the Moulin Rouge does not have a giant elephant like in the movie.



In Paris I found a Canadian pub, although I'm not sure what made it Canadian.



I then went to Caen for a couple of days. It's in Normandy near the D-day beaches. I went to Juno beach where there is the Canadian museum. It was very interesting. There was even an old German bunker that we went inside. Quite cold and windy on the beach. On the bus to Juno, I became friends with another Canadian who also came from Paris.

In Caen there are a lot of churches including a women's monastery and a men's monastery.



Unfortunately, Caen was bombed during World War II so there isn't all that much that's very old. The castle had been destroyed before then.



There were lots of flags around, especially Canadian, American, British, French, and German flags.



After Caen I left France which will come in a later post.

Kastellet and Kronborg

Copenhagen part 2.

We went to the star fortress in Copenhagen called Kastellet. From the fortress you can see St. Alban's Church.



 



We were very lucky with the weather. There weren't a lot of leaves but the grass was green.



The old barracks called the rows.



The church.



The commander's house.



The inner side of the North gate.

Overlooking the rows and the Monument for Denmark’s International Effort since 1948.



More of the fortress.



The windmill.



We also went to Kronborg, more popularly known as Elsinore where Shakespeare set Hamlet.



It's a very pretty Renaissance castle.



 

King Frederik II's Chambers.

The Queen's gallery leading from the Queen's apartment to the ballroom and chapel.



The ballroom was the largest in Europe at the time.



The castle was partially built so that the king could watch the ships going by to make sure they paid the tax he imposed.



The little hall with its tapestries.



Some important history. When the castle was rebuilt, the exterior was reconstructed to look like it had before the fire. The interior, however, was slightly modernized and done in the Baroque style. Also, the interior wasn't quite as nice as in the original castle because there wasn't enough money.



When the Swedes conquered Kronborg, they took a lot of the tapestries including King Frederik II's table canopy. The canopy is currently on loan from Sweden until the National Museum in Stockholm is done renovations sometime in 2017.



The castle had a toilet system!



Frederik V's Chambers.



The chapel.



We didn't have a guide in the castle. You're allowed to walk around alone which includes the casemates. You could buy a flashlight if you wanted.



The statue of Holger the Dane who will supposedly awaken if Denmark is attacked.



The casemates seemed to go on forever and would be easy to get lost in.



They were also very dark.



Back outside.



I believe these canons were pointing at Sweden.



The castle's outer layer is made of sandstone. Maybe not the best choice.



The Danish flag.



The buildings surrounding the castle.



Looking back at the castle.



Overall, I had a great time in Copenhagen. I highly recommend both Kastellet and Kronborg.

Norway is up next.

Copenhagen

I went to Copenhagen, (Swedish - Köpenhamn; Danish - København) the capital of Denmark, from April 26 to April 29 with two other exchange students. We took the train there and back. You go through Malmö over Øresund Bridge and through a tunnel. There's a wind farm between Sweden and Denmark.


There's a site called airbnb were people can post their place to rent while they're away. I highly recommend it if you're in group. We rented a very cute apartment.



The owners met in design school.



We all loved there "closet". Very space efficient.



The kitchen.



And the view out the back door.



Danish is similar enough to Swedish that we were able to read some signs and menues. However, we couldn't understand a word they said. Danish sounds like they are swallowing most of the vowels and they still have a strong accent when they speak in English so it was often hard to understand them.

We mostly just walked around Copenhagen. The first night we got there, unknown to us, it was a holiday so a lot of things were closed. It's a good idea to check for strange holidays before you arrive in a country.

First up was Rosenborg Castle.


The Danish Royal Guard.


A lion eating a horse in the Rosenborg Castle garden.



The Rosenborg Castle garden.

More of the garden. Unfortunately, there were still no leaves on the trees.



Statue of Dowager Queen Caroline Amalie, also in the garden.

Near the garden.



Frederik's Church, more commonly known as the Marble Church.



It was very pretty. It was supposed to be entirely made of marble but budget cuts caused it to only be partly made of marble.



Amalienborg, the winter home of the Danish royal family.



The guards outside seemed to work in pairs. These two were having a conversation while they walked back and forth.



The opera house, seen from Amalienborg.



The fountain by Amalienborg. Apparently, Amalienborg was originally for noble families but was bought by the royal family after their palace burnt down.



Typical looking apartments.



A word about meals. First, Copenhagen is fairly expensive (not as bad as Norway though.) Also, if you go to an actual Danish restaurant you won't get a lot of food. This plate was shared between the three of us for lunch and then you make your own sandwich. And finally, they charge for water. We even tried asking for tap water (if you ask for water they normally give you bottled.) We all thought this was very strange because Denmark has very good tap water.



The Little Mermaid Statue.



A very neat lamp.



Nyhavn, the old waterfront.



This bright building is a movie theatre.



Also worth checking out is the lego store.



It was rather quiet some days since it was the weekend. The architecture is very nice in Copenhagen.



Another cute house.



There were a lot of pictures so part two will come tomorrow.