Friends in fun places

It's nice to have friends visiting from Houston. The weather has cooperated, being sunny and rather warm for April but just now cooling off. They have traveled around on their own during the weekdays. In the evenings we've enjoyed dinners in the apartment, hearing about their days and catching up on news from Texas. This weekend we enjoyed spending time with them, going off to Trelleborg and then touring Rosenborg Castle (the part not under renovation) and seeing the treasury and crown jewels.

Trelleborg is the best preserved ring fortress from the Viking age built by Harold Bluetooth, son of Gorm the Old. The fort was attacked by a rival army led by his son Swein Forkbeard who eventually prevailed and became the third in the line of Danish monarchs which continues to this day. I mostly tell this because of the cool names. Lately they've been in a rut with every king since 1513 being named either Christian or Frederick. A brief respite is provided by Margrethe, the current queen; but another 70+ years of Christian/Frederick can be expected given the current heirs to the throne...

Trelleborg is a an hour and 15 minute drive from our apartment. On the way through south Sjælland we saw fields of rapeseed blooming a brilliant yellow. At the fort we enjoyed watching the sheep and lambs in the adjacent field and also explored the reconstructions of Viking houses (picture #3). For dinner we went to a cafe on the church square in Slagelse (picture #4) a nice town in western Sjælland. It was cool in the shade, but the cafe provided blankets to help us keep warm while enjoying the fresh air.

Rosenborg Castle is one of my favorite places in Copenhagen because of the history and the beautiful grounds. Unfortunately it is currently under renovation so only three rooms are open for visitors. For now, a visit to the treasury with the crown jewels is included in the ticket price.

Now our friends are off to Oslo on the ferry before returning to Copenhagen and a short jaunt to southern Sweden and Jutland.