So last weekend (I think, I have such a backlog of things to write about) was pretty cool because I was able to learn a lot about Danish history at Kulturnatten (Danish Culture Night) and a trip to Frederiksborg Castle as part of my Danish Culture Course module. It was great to have a look at so many cool Danish monuments, and, considering Leeds usually has similar events throughout the year, it is definitely something I want to experience more when I move back home.
I LOVED the culture night, the city was vibrant and definitely reminded me of the vibe you feel on Bonfire Night. For only 95kr we were able to visit museums throughout the city for free, not bad when you realise that a normal visit to Christiansborg Palace is 90kr. The palace was so beautiful, every single room looked like something from a fairytale and I was in awe of the Queen's Library, which reminded me of the one from Beauty and the Beast, which has books dating back from Frederick V on shelves extending to over three kilometres! Honestly, it would be a dream to have a book collection even a tenth as impressive as that one! However, I think the Alexander Room was my favourite; it was definitely the most impressive in terms of detail even if I'm not usually a big fan of gold.
During Kulturnatten we also managed to go to Frederiksberg for the first time and found a silent disco inside a library, which is probably one of the strangest things I've even been to in my life. There was a load of light shows in the neighbourhood which were pretty cool and we managed to climb to the top of the Town Hall, we stupidly decided to take the steps rather than get a lift to the middle so ended up climbing about 15-20 floors...I felt like I was going to die when we finally reached the top and my legs hurt for days! The views were worth it though, it's amazing how you can see so much due to how flat the country is.
I ended up stumbling into a few courtyards, honestly, I'm not sure if I was allowed to go there or not because they looked very residential but, nonetheless, it was cool to see how real Danes lived... There was also an interesting museum about workers in Denmark, but unfortunately I don't really have much to say about it because most of the exhibitions were in Danish...although I did get lost in the building a number of times as there were a lot of staircases all leading to different places.
On Sunday I was also lucky enough to go to Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød. The palace burned down in the 19th century (I think) so is now owned by Carlsberg, who promised to rebuild it if it became a public museum, so thank you Carlsberg for that! The castle was pretty impressive, it was HUGE - it is the largest Renaissance Castle in Scandinavia - and initially built by Christian IV, who basically built most things in Denmark by the sound of it. The tour we were given was interesting, especially finding out that the miniature statues on the courtyard's fountain had been stolen by the Swedes, after Denmark lost (one of its many) wars against Sweden so the real statues are still at a palace in Stockholm. I found it pretty funny to learn that they were loaned back to the castle for an exhibition but Swedish guards were hired in order to ensure that the were protected properly.
I don't think the castle was as impressive as Christiansborg, the rooms were quite dark but I loved the church, and I am very jealous of those living in Hillerød who can be married inside of it. I was also incredibly jealous of those who lived across from the castle, I can't imagine living in a house which overlooked a real castle and its gardens!
My favourite part of the castle was the gardens. Apparently Frederick II acquired the land for the castle due to the fact he loved to hunt and wanted to do so in the gardens, which are huge. It was nice to walk around the gardens and take advantage of the final days of sun.
I still have to write post about my mum and sisters visiting, which I plan to do tomorrow, I really need to start planning out posts for this blog more regularly, especially before December, when exams begin and I start to get stressed even though I know I only need to pass the year to be okay.
Anyway, hej hej for now, and hopefully, you enjoyed reading this post! x