Copenhagen & the Climate Conference Carnival (5)

The conclusion of the follow-up field trip to Forest Day 3 ended up with all three different trip groups meeting up at Kronborg Castle. Now I have posted photos of this castle before, so it may look familiar to those of you who faithfully read my blog :-). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) it was too beautiful not to photograph again. I think this picture should win a Danish Christmas Photo contest...















And this is the runner-up best pic I got of the outside of the castle.


















When we entered the courtyard of the castle we were treated to a short performance of hunting songs from various places in Europe. Unfortunately, the wind was blazing and we were a little too cold to appreciate it :-(.

Following the short performance we disbursed in groups of 20 for a short (free) tour of the castle, where I picked up a few extra stories of the castle.

The first (and funniest) story is that back in 1600s sometime when there were lavish parties at the castle 4 lemons cost as much to buy as a cow (since the lemons came from the mediterranean). At this parties the king (Christian the IV I think) and the queen would serve 20 course meals! Of course there was too much food being served for any normal person to eat 20 courses so it was common practice for guests to regurgitate their food to make room for the upcoming courses...and they did it right at the dinner table! All I can think is how much the dining room must have smelled!

When I went to the castle with Yoko we failed to find the cellar where the statue of Holger the Dane is located. As the story goes Holger is supposed to wake up from his slumber in the depths of Kronborg castle whenever the Danes are in need of protection. Not sure where he was when the Germans arrived in WWII, but anyway its a good story and here is the statue.



















I also learned that there was an escape tunnel from the cellar of the castle that is (if I remember right) 5 kilometers long and resurfaces on the other side of the town of Helsingor. Apparently, the kings would use this tunnel to go out in public dressed as commoners without their guards to get a break from palace life. Here is the tunnel entrance.














So all in all we had a good day, I met some new people and learned some new things. I also got to close out the day with Morten drinking glogg (danish spiced wine) and aebleskiver (warmed donut-hole like pastries that you put jam and powdered sugar on top of), yum!