A Day in Roskilde

Hello again! It's been a long time, I know, but I have a fairly relaxing week so here's yesterday's day trip to Roskilde.

from Sunday, December 2

Roskilde has been on my to-go-to list for a while because most of Denmark's monarchs are buried there. The plan was to go to Roskilde Cathedral at 10, spend an hour there, take a two-hour train to Kronborg Castle (Hamlet's castle), spend two hours there, and take a two-hour train home, returning at 5. However, it was rather windy in the morning, which would have made the long walk from the train to Kronborg not so fun. So instead, I spend the whole day in Roskilde and had a great time wandering around by myself!

I headed straight for the cathedral when I got to Roskilde, but I couldn't go in while church was in service. (Right, Sundays...) I probably could have gone in anyway and attempted to participate, but I decided to visit the Roskilde Museum, which turned out to be closed for another half hour. 

Part of Roskilde Palace, which is now an art gallery, on the way to the museum. The gallery didn't open until 12.

Okay, no cathedral, no palace art gallery, no museum. Luckily I had overheard a few other tourists asking for directions to the harbor, so I walked in that general direction, thinking I would turn around if I couldn't find it and wait for the museum to open.

Just as I was suspecting that my road wouldn't take me to the harbor, I passed a large park with a sign for a Christmas market. Why not check it out? Turns out the market was pretty small and (again) not fully open for another ten minutes, but from the park I easily found my way to the harbor.

A bit of blue sky over the fjord! Come this way!

Little fishing holes for kids!

 I wandered for a bit looking for a place to eat my packed lunch (pasta with tomatoes). I'm glad I was picky because after trailing a group to a food stand I found a nice picnic table along a harbor path with lots of runners, walkers, and cyclists. After eating I decided to follow them down the harbor, where there was another small Christmas market with cute handcrafts. I considered turning back after buying a few trinkets--the museum and cathedral were open by now--but I'm really glad I continued down the harbor path because I ended up taking a lovely hike along the fjord with increasingly nice weather.

I did a double take when I passed these brightly colored berries.

Light breaking through the clouds and spreading across the fields

The Danish landscape has a quaint beauty.

There was a cemetery on the side of the trail.

Blue skies!!! 

Back at the harbor by the kiddie fishing holes

Looking inland from the harbor. You can see the cathedral in the middle.

After a short stop in a modern art gallery by the harbor, I headed back toward my original goal, the Cathedral. But I stopped on the way to check out the first Christmas market, and I had a bowl of delicious (and reasonably priced!) vegetable soup. I spotted a great hat, but it was a little pricey...

Front of Roskilde Cathedral

Tomb of King Christian IX and Queen Louise

I ran back to get the hat!

And then it was time to head home. I had tests to study for and art to do, and I prefer to get back before it's dark, which nowadays means before 4.

This is what the sky looks like at 2:30. The station and the trees weren't really that dark, but you can see how low the sun is. This photo is actually from today (Monday) not Sunday.

I still hope I can make it to Kronborg in the next week and a half. With such little time left, I've got to make the most of it!