Rock Steves Tour of Scandinavia - Part 5: Kalmar to Copenhagen

 June 7 - Kalmar to Copenhagen

Morning at Kalmar Castle

After an early breakfast, we left our bags with our bus driver and walked the short distance to Kalmar Slott (Castle) on the shores of the Baltic Sea.  It was a beautiful day and the gardens outside of the castle were bright with flowers...and an unusual sculpture.

The Union Monument commemorates the 1397 union of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, which took place in Kalmar.  The purpose of the Kalmar Union was to provide opposition to the German Hanseatic League, which was threatening the Nordic countries' trading power.

An odd sculpture we noticed on our walk to the castle.

Kalmar Slott

The moat around the castle

Gorgeous azaleas in the castle gardens

And another funny little garden decoration.

While on our walk, Laurel got the news that our bus driver had been taken terribly ill while loading our bags and had been taken to the hospital, so she had to scramble to find a new driver for our trip to Copenhagen.  Fortunately, there was another driver, John, who was on the last day of his vacation, and he agreed to take over for today.  

We crossed the bridge over the moat with our costumed guide, Erik, who led us through the rooms of the castle.  

Entrance to Kalmar Castle

Our medieval guide, Erik

Castle courtyard

Erik shared the history of the original castle with a model of its original form.

For those of you who are interested in the history, here are a couple of signs explaining the significance of this castle and the city of Kalmar.

The rooms of the castle were large and contained portraits and some furnishings.  The highlights included a dining table containing a Renaissance Easter Banquet, complete with birds baked in a pie.  (Remember "Four and Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie"? The cooks really did this! But the birds were inserted into an already baked pie crust, then flew out when it was opened.)  

Medieval armor.  Is the small one for a child or for a dwarf?

Gustav Vasa

One of the rooms of the castle

Tapestries were used to decorate and bring warmth into the large stone rooms.

Bedchamber

A Renaissance Office

Game Room

Beautiful inlaid wood covered some of the walls

An Easter Banquet in the Dining Hall

Birds baked in a pie.

There were lots of seafood dishes and various preparations of fowl and meat...
but not many vegetables.

I am always fascinated by the decorated ceilings in castles

A 3-D hunting scene

Gorgeous ceilings

Ceiling

Detail of the Christian imagery on a ceiling panel.

A simple Throne Room

There was also a room containing rather horrifying photographs of women demonstrating various methods of torture used.  (I did not include the most graphic.)

Other instruments of torture or imprisonment

For me, the highlight of our visit to Kalmar was a special exhibit of Monet's art.  A huge room was filled with moving and changing images of Monet's paintings and his comments, accompanied by music.  Monet is my favorite artist, so this was overwhelmingly beautiful.  (As I write this, I have just returned from a trip to France where I got to visit Monet's home and gardens at Giverny.)

My own photo of Monet's lily pond below his house in Giverny.

Copenhagen

John arrived with our bus and we set out for the several-hour drive to Copenhagen.  This turned out to be a bit of an adventure for me, as I was in the front seat today, and John had never driven to our hotel in Copenhagen before, so as we approached, I was giving him the driving directions from Google Maps on my tablet.  (What did we ever do before GPS?!)

Along the way, we stopped for a nice picnic lunch in a park by a lovely lake.  Laurel had brought all sorts of sandwiches, Swedish cookies, and drinks.

Our group enjoys a picnic lunch

The lake below our picnic grounds

Laurel shared a story about Astrid Lindgren, the author of Pippi Longstocking,
which was one of my favorite books in my childhood.
Astrid's face in on the 20 kronor note in Sweden.

We crossed into Denmark over the Øresund Bridge, the longest bridge in Europe. It runs five miles from the Swedish coast to an artificial island in the middle of the strait, which was a little disconcerting, as it appears that the bridge just end at the island, with miles of ocean between you and Copenhagen in the distance.  But at the island, we entered the Drogden Tunnel which took us the rest of the way to the city.    

Øresund Bridge seems to end in the middle of sea...

...but we continued through the Drogden Tunnel

After settling into the Hotel Bethel, right in the heart of the bustling, colorful Nyhavn (New Harbor), a lively street filled to the brim with bikes, tourists, and cafes.  Laurel took us on a walking tour of "Wonderful, Wonderful, Copenhagen" up Strøget, a busy pedestrian street lined with shops, and on to a big plaza in front of the historic Copenhagen Court House. We were surprised by a visit from Hans Christian Andersen, who told us about his life and the story of The Little Mermaid.  His story is a much sadder version than the Disney version!  We finished the evening with a group dinner.  I am really enjoying my tour companions.  They are all delightful people!

Hotel Bethel, Nyhavn, Copenhagen

Colorful, busy Nyhavn

Nyhavn

Sights along our walk through Copenhagen

A town square in Copenhagen

Our group joins the crowds on Strøget Street

Typical Scandinavian architecture

Continuing up Strøget Street

The large plaza in front of the courthouse

Copenhagen Courthouse
Med love skal man land bygge = With laws shall man build.

Around the courthouse plaza

Hans Christian Andersen

A woman from the restaurant brings us akvavit, the "water of life."  
I could manage one tiny sip.

Our group dinner was in Nytorv Restaurant

On the walk back to the hotel, Laurel treated all of us to an ice cream.  Thanks, Laurel!

Along the walk back to the hotel.

Scenes along the walk back.

Gorgeous pillar on the clock tower.

Copenhagen was glowing under the setting sun.

Statue of one of the Danish kings.

Nyhavn in the sunset.

Rick Steves Tour of Scandinavia - Part 4: Stockholm to Kalmar

June 6: Stockholm City Hall and and Evening in Kalmar

Stockholm's City Hall

We set out first thing in the morning today, our suitcases all packed for our first travel day from Stockholm to the Swedish city of Kalmar on the Baltic coast. But we had one more stop in Stockholm at the red brick City Hall. It was National Day in Sweden, so unfortunately, we could not go inside to see the gorgeous Golden Hall where the Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, and literature are awarded. (The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Olso, Norway.)

I used this photo of the Golden Hall from Wikipedia Commons.
The figure on the far wall is the Queen of Lake Malaren, holding Stockholm in her lap.
Credit for the photo to the International Press Telecommunications Council

Our guide Åsa, dressed in her Swedish national costume for the special day, met us outside of the building and told us about its history, then we were joined by her friend Louise, who was a master on a traditional instrument, the nyckelharpa, a kind of cross between an accordian and a fiddle. Louise played several tunes for us, and the two of them sang the Swedish National Anthem.

Our guide Åsa in her national costume.

Figures from the zodiac were embedded in the walkways.  Here is my sign of Scorpio.

View across Lake Malaren from the Stockholm City Hall

Stockholm's City Hall

The Moon Tower

The Banquet Entrance to City Hall

Our group in the courtyard

Artwork on the ceiling of the portico

Decorations on the exterior walls

Saint Clara holding a crown.  She represents the Queen of Lake Malaren.

Louise arrives with her nyckelharpa.

Louise playing Swedish tunes on the nyckelharpa

Asa and Louise explain the instrument to us.

Our group listening to our guides.

Traveling to Kalmar

We spent much of the day on the bus to Kalmar, stopping along the way for lunch in the little town of Söderköping along the Göta Canal, which is part of the waterways constructed in the 19th century to link the west coast of Sweden with the Baltic Sea. After lunch, I took a few minutes to wander around the town, getting myself quite lost trying to find my way back to the bus!

Views of the Göta Canal...

...in both directions.

And a little tributary running through the town.

Tower near St. Laurentii Kirke

St. Laurentii Kirke was rebuilt from a medieval church that stood here in the 1400s.

In the late afternoon, we reached the pretty yellow Frimurare Hotel in Kalmar where the Kalmar Union, a joining of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, was formed in the 1300s. This union lasted for almost 200 years.

Frimurare Hotellet in Kalmar

Laurel gave us a walking tour of the small city, ending on the shores of the Baltic Sea, then we all headed to various restaurants for dinner and to prepare for our morning departure.