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Newsletter #46 - February 26 to March 4, 1960 |
| Newsletter #46 April 29-May 6, 1960 DENMARK & SWEDEN Greetings, After a very fine night's rest in Copenhagen, we took a complete Castle Tour of North Sealand. This tour took us through charming countryside, lovely lake areas, beech forests, small villages and interesting outing spots. [April 30] We first drove to Roskilde to see its magnificent cathedral and saw that this is really the Westminster Abbey of Denmark. In this wonderful edifice, all the kings and their queens have been buried in ornamental sarcophagi since 1478. We were permitted to see all of them and they certainly are ornate and have received excellent care. The interior of the church, as well as the sarcophagi, look almost like new even though the cathedral was erected during the 12th century. This is Denmark's most famous church and is about thirty miles from Copenhagen. We also enjoyed the outdoor market while in this old town of Roskilde which is charmingly situated on a fiord and was once the city used as the king's residence but is now used as a museum. We next drove to Hillerod which is the site of the Frederiksborg Castle - a wonderful Renaissance castle of great beauty which is now a national historical museum containing treasures of painting, tapestries, porcelain, silver, furniture, etc. Here you may also see the Royal Chapel and the Knights' Hall. Our next stop was at a quiet residential town called Fredensborg. Here we visited the Fredensborg Palace with its attractive grounds. This is the summer residence of the Royal Family and they were already at the residence which enabled us to see the changing of the guard. Elsinore was our next city of Interest. Here we saw several old, half-timbered houses as well as the harbor which is a tuna fishing base. Near the harbor we saw Kronborg Castle which was built between 1574 and 1585 and is of old Renaissance structure. William Shakespeare made this castle the setting for "Hamlet" and now, every June, "Hamlet" is performed in this castle's courtyard. A splendid view of Denmark's coastline is seen from this wonderful castle. From here we drove northward up the coast to Hellebaek. This drive was very scenic and we enjoyed the distant coastline of Sweden as we drove along. Then on to Hornbaek which is an ancient fishing village as well as a seaside resort with an excellent beach. On our return, we stopped at the beautiful garden city of Lyngby and saw the Sorgenfri Palace which is the residence of Prince Knud - the King's brother. Today was a beautiful Sunday [May 1] and we really had a fine opportunity to see Copenhagen's many elegant buildings. We first went to |
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Amalienborg Palace to see the magnificent residence of the reigning monarch - King Frederik IX - who, at present, is at Fredensborg. We then saw Christiansborg Palace, the domicile of the Danish Parliament and the reception rooms of the King which are located in this same palace. Nearby we saw the Borsen which is the stock exchange and is a very unique and unusual building with an odd, twisted, pointed dome and is like a coiled snake in appearance. Because of the many famous buildings, statues and museums in this city, I will only name them, but I will mention that they were all part of the fascination of this large metropolis. The highlights of our day were the Royal Theatre, The Gefion Fountain, the Little Mermaid, the Column of Liberty, the Glyptotek Museum, the Thorwaldsen's Museum, the National Museum, the Town Hall, the famous Carlsberg and Tuborg Breweries, the entrance to the Zoo, the Arsenal Museum, the Rosenborg Palace Grounds, Mindelunden, the Deer Park, the Bishop Absolon Statue at the fish market, the harbor and the marble church called Frederik's Kirke, the spiral towered Vor Frelsers Kirke, St. Peter's Kirke, Nikolas Kirke and Vor Frue Kirke. These were only the most unusual buildings. We also saw the famous Tivoli exterior several times as it opened today and the crowds were quite large. So, we have decided to wait until tomorrow to view its interior. Today was just like the coldest day we had had this past winter. However, we went to Rosenborg Palace where we consumed about an hourand- a-half viewing the crown jewels and the very grand collection of historical objects belonging to many of the Danish Kings and Queens. This was a very interesting place and you could spend a day absorbing all the various objects in the palace. We then drove to Charlottenlund which is a suburb of Copenhagen and a famous summer swimming resort. Then, on to Klampenborg - another resort area. (Many of these resorts are known as the Baltic Riviera, but they don't hold a candle to the Italian, French and Spanish Rivieras.) In the afternoon we shopped and then went to Tivoli Park. This is really a "fun" fair as well as a park where musicals, cultural programs and all kinds of entertainments seem to share honors. The buildings are gorgeous and resemble those seen at World Fairs. The restaurants are as glamorous and ornate as at any exclusive seaside resort with lights and furnishings of the very finest. Bands march, puppets dance, ballet may be performing in one building while a great violinist is entertaining crowds at another area in the park. During all this, ferries wheels, flying boats, scenic railways, etc., are entertaining another group. This park is open May to September and I'm sure anyone can find the type of entertainment they enjoy here. I've decided I'm the most old fashioned female in Europe as every girl from fifteen to eighty-five seems to smoke either cigarettes or cigars. In fact, It looks to me as if they not only smoke a great deal, but almost all the time. (in Denmark we see a lot of women cigar smokers.) While here in Copenhagen we enjoyed an American movie called "Pork Chop Hill" starring Gregory Peck. We also visited Preben Johnke's mother who lives in Copenhagen and she was a very charming person. We left Copenhagen at 11 A.M. today and took a ferry to Sweden which took one-and-a-half hours. We landed near Malmo - a lovely port city in Southern Sweden which boasts the largest theatre of Sweden. This town is also located in the heart of the castle and manor house area of this province. We shopped and did a bit of sightseeing in Malmo |
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and secured a scant amount of information on tourist places to visit. Prom Malmo, we drove along the coast to Helsingborg which is on the western shore of Sweden in the province of Skane. This city is known as the "Pearl of the Sound" and seems to rise out of the sea in terraces. From the resort area of this city, you get a magnificent view of "Hamlet Castle" or "Kronborg Castle" at Elsinore, Denmark. The only part of this once famous castle of Halsingborg which remains is the keep or tower which was once a part of the city's fortification. Later we saw Sofiero Castle which is the summer residence of the King of Sweden and this castle is along the water with a very wonderful view of Denmark. Our next town was Bastad which is in the resort area of Skane and located in a wooded section. Here we saw the Lagaholm Castle nearby Laholm Bay. We also drove on to Halmstad - the capital of the fertile province known as Hallaad - and which is located on the Nissan River and the Kattergat Sea. Because of its grand location, it is a popular beach resort with every type of sport facility. Here we saw Halmstad Castle which was built in the l6th century and is now the governor's residence. We also saw the Halmstad l4th century church and the ancient fortifications of this old city which are known as Norreport. Tonight we are staying at a lovely hotel in Falkenberg, Sweden. This is another charming resort city with a lovely old church, castle ruins and a quaint bridge over the River Atran. This morning we left Falkenberg in a heavy mist and drove to Varberg. Varberg is a port city where we saw its unique Town Hall. From here we went to Goteborg - also known as Gothenburg - which is a very large port city (Sweden's principal one). Since we sail from this port on the Kungsholm, a Swedish-American Line - we left five cartons of fragile purchases here until our sailing on June 7. We had planned to stay here tonight, but, because of the disagreeable weather, we drove on since we have all of June 6th to look around the city. We must arrive in Goteborg a day ahead of our sailing date since we must deliver our "Little Princess" a day before sailing so she can be "steam bathed" for her voyage home. We've already reserved our hotel room for our last night on European soil - which will be in Goteborg. We could see that Goteborg is a beautiful city as we noticed its several attractive parks, its lovely quays and its many public buildings. Tonight we are in the city of Jonkoping which is situated on the southern point of Lake Vattern - an exceptionally large European lake. We must admit that this lake would be much more scenic on a nicer day. Jonkoping is the "Match Kingdom of the World" as more than a million boxes of matches are produced here daily and shipped to all parts of the world. In this city we saw its 17th century Town Hall, the Church of Christine which dates from 1673 and Habo Church which is built of wood and has three gables. Our hotel room is very lovely with new, modern Swedish designed furniture and very colorful drapes and furnishings. (I'm not a lover of modern furniture, but some of this Swedish furniture is quite appealing and very attractive if used in the correct manner.) Tonight we are in the busy city of Stockholm after a drive among many |
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lake areas and forests which, at times, reminded us of the Poconos and also of many places we saw while driving to Alaska on the Alcan Highway. We were warned of moose which may cross the roads, but we were not fortunate enough to see any. We drove to Granna - the "Pear Town" of Sweden - which is located on the western shores of Lake Vattern in an orchard district where a 300-year-old pear tree is classified as an historic monument. Nearby we saw the ruins of Brahalla Castle which is located high above the lake and had a lovely panoramic view of this large lake and the island which is nearby. We later went to Kinkoping - the capital of Ostergotland Province - where we saw the city's castle which is now the governor's residence and the King's Gardens next to the castle. We also saw the cathedral which seems to dominate the entire town. Our next town was Norrokoping whose modern area has wide streets and lovely parks. The old part of the city contains quaint old houses and medieval castles which are mostly in ruins. Still another town with a similar name called Nykoping was visited today and this city was in a beautiful lake region where we saw several old castles and a few idyllic manor houses. Today is the last day of another newsletter week as well as the wedding day of Anthony Jones and Princess Margaret Rose. We slept late and after breakfast we watched television from eleven until one-fifteen. We enjoyed the entire proceedings of the trip from Clarence House to Westminster Abbey, the ceremony at the church, the trip back to Buckingham Palace, the crowds of people and all the pomp and ceremony. We really enjoyed the entire 2-1/4 hours as it reviewed sections of our tour in London. After the television program, we began our sightseeing tour of Stockholm. Stockholm is Sweden's capital and is built on thirteen islands in Lake Malaren and the Baltic and seems to be laced with many canals and bridges. During the remainder of the day we went to see the Royal Palace known as the Kungliga Slott and also saw the Royal Theatre which was close by. We then went to another island where we saw the Rosendal Slott or Palace which was once used as a royal summer residence, but is now a museum. On this same island, we saw the very large and ornate Nordiska Museum as well as another Grona Lunds Tivoli Park with much the same type of entertainment and amusements we had found in Copenhagen. However, the pavilions and surroundings were not nearly so beautiful and extravagant as those of Copenhagen. Tonight we went to see a cinerama called "Windjammers" which was excellent and was most interesting to us as we visited the islands of San Juan, Curacao and Trinidad many years ago and it brought back many pleasant memories of those islands. It was a picture portraying the life of Norwegian boys on a training ship and how they visited several islands, New York City, etc. Until our next newsletter, Fondest regards to all, Meredith & Charlotte |