Hamlet's Helsingor

On Monday we decided on the brilliant idea of visiting Elsinore, the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet amongst other things. There is a castle there, originally known as the Hook (very cool name) and now known as Kronborg. Ida drove us for our first adventure outside of Kobenhavn and it took 45 minutes of highway driving. The sun was shining on the snow and it was a pretty magnificent sight. We walked up to the castle, debated the sturdiness of the iced over moat, and took in the view of Sweden over the water. We watched a ferry cross from Denmark to Sweden and dodged snowballs inexpertly tossed by Timon. What we didn't do - realise that all museums/historical landmarks are closed on Mondays. It took us a good 5 minutes of trying to open the heavy door of the ticket office before Ida realised it was good and closed (to be fair I struggle with all the doors in this country as they seem to be heavier than lead). There was nothing to be done but a trudge into town for lunch. Now it's going to sound gross, but I had a very Danish lunch of warm pate on rye bread with bacon, mushrooms and beetroot and it was amazing. I've never had warm mushy pate before but I loved it! Timon....not so much. We sat in a very old-fashioned cafe with Dolly Parton tracks on the stereo and coffee-d away the next hour.

Back to CPH along the coast (sighted a windmill!) and it was time to collect Bastian from daycare. Bastian is Rebecca's child, who is Ida's best friend. He is 1-ish. Now those of you who watched the Oprah Denmark special (Lucy) it is true what they say - Danish mothers leave their children in prams outside shops, cafes and houses. You will see a collection of prams with sleeping babies inside as you walk down the street. These prams aren't attached to anything, nor are the children. The theory is that no-one wants your baby except you. I am having A LOT of difficulty wrapping my head around this one. Anyway, we collected him and wrapped him up in many layers of clothes and sleeping bags and walked back to Ida's. By this stage of the day it was -12. Nuts.