Denmark Stage 1 - Copenhagen to Helsingor -49km (04 to 07-Jun-2018)

As much as I was looking forward to today’s ride, I felt a tinge of sadness that I was doing it on my own. Farewelling Ursula was not easy; anyway she was taking a leisurely train whilst I was planning to do it tough. My first solo ride was made easy by the Garmin that directed me street by street from our apartment in Copenhagen to the apartment in Helsingor.

Mind you, I did go off track twice within the first 200 meters. Thereafter, it was a breeze. Riding through the outskirts of Copenhagen, mostly past ladies on their bikes with shopping bags, gave me an opportunity to see parts of Copenhagen that the tourist does not see; not disappointed. The rest of the ride along the sea between Sweden and Denmark on a beautiful sunny day was as good as riding gets, with lovely holiday homes all painted white blending beautifully into the landscape.

The ride took me a lot less time than I though and I got to our apartment in Helsingor almost the same time as Ursula.

Our afternoon was spent exploring Helsingor – what an absolute gem of a little village! Helsingor is most famous for Kronborg, a 15^th century castle which towers majestically above a narrow peninsula between the coasts of Denmark and Sweden. It is a magnificent renaissance castle and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. We spent a good 2-3 hours there, checking out how the King of Denmark and his entourage lived many hundreds of years ago. In the impressive courtyard, we also had the chance to watch some aspiring actors performing snippets from Shakespeare’s immortal play Hamlet.

Our host in Copenhagen told us that Helsingor was quite famous for superb ice cream, which we had to test, of course. And she was right; the ice cream shop had quite a few quaint benches outside, filled with people enjoying their afternoon treat. Across from us were 3 Swedish ladies, all tucking into their ice creams whilst spending a day in Denmark.

They told us they were going to stock up on booze, which is apparently much cheaper in Denmark than in Sweden. The ferry only takes 20 minutes to come across and they had a shopping buggy, ready to be filled with wine! They looked like they had a ton of fun, spending the day together. 

Then off to wander through this lovely little town with beautiful houses, a couple of lovely churches and a nice looking Town Hall, which was closed for some private function.

Finally got to meet our host, Lotte, who was a little tipsy after Friday arvo drinks with colleagues. She was lovely all the same; off camping this weekend. Not sure, how she will cope with a hangover in a tent! Dinner was had at a low key (but not in terms of quality of food) Danish restaurant. A traditional Danish meal (have no idea what it is called) for me and salad for Ursi who washed it down with a Carlsberg beer, as you do in Denmark.