Saturday 16 June - Roskilde Viking Boats and Helsingor

At the DSB ticket office I asked for tickets for Roskilde and return.  The lady sold us an all zones 24 hour pass.  With this we were able to go to Roskilde and back then to Helsingor and finally we took a short trip in Copenhagen itself including the new automatic subway.

A short train ride brought us to Roskilde this morning.  The tourist office provided a very useful map and we used it to walk by the cathedral to the Viking Ship Museum.

These large vases in the Horse Market were put there to commemorate Roskilde's millennium in 1998.

Roskilde has a large number of interesting old  buildings.

We arrived at the ticket office just in time to go on the first of the Viking ship rides.  When the captain gave us our instructions it was clear that we were expected to do some rowing.  The captain spoke to the Danes to ask if they understood English then spoke in English for the rest of the time - for our benefit.

The captain explained to us how to use the oars. After he finished this part I asked him if he had any tips on raping and pillaging but he didn't have anything to offer.  The rowing was relatively easy although we had to be careful to follow the person in front.

Our boat.

Another Viking boat viewed from the water.

A crew member helped raise and lower the sail and kept the kids in order.

After the boat ride the museum proved very interesting with the remains of the vessels that have been found and raised.

Back at the station we quickly found a train back to Copenhagen only to discover that the trains to Helsingor were backed up.  We caught the next one which was turned back at the station before Helsingor (Snekkersten).  We had only to wait a couple of minutes for a cross platform transfer into the train from Hillerod.  Helsingor was dead on Saturday afternoon and bearing in mind the rain and thunder we decided to take an early train back to Copenhagen.

Reputed to be Elsinore of Hamlet fame.

Colin had a Shakespeare moment.  "Alas poor Yorrick.  I knew him well."  Couldn't find an excuse for "A hit, a palpable hit."  This was a small door in the side of the Helsingor cathedral.

Our zone tickets were still good so we took the S-tog to Norrport and transferred to the metro to Kongens Nytorv.  The platforms have barriers with full doors.  A very impressive system.  We had a drink at a pub that was established in 1723 and then walked along the tourist strip to find somewhere to eat.  We decided to eat inside as it was spitting with rain.  There were plenty of people outside sitting on the sidewalk drinking prodigious amounts of beer.

View from our table

 Mary had an avocado and chicken salad while I had a plate of three types of open face sandwiches (beef with horseradish, fried fish and egg, shrimp and caviar).

Three types of open faced sandwich.  There was bread in there hidden beneath the lettuce.

For dessert we had waffle cones with ice cream and wandered along the street looking at the lightship then admiring the view from the canal bridge.

A preserved light ship.  The house where Hans Christian Andersen stayed is the red one to the far left.