Happy in Helsingor

Dull & wet today as we slipped our lines and said goodbye to Copenhagen. The Sound, the stretch of water btw Denmark and Sweden was grey and almost empty as we headed due north past ancient fortresses and islands that could be, and probably have been, either country's.

We had enough wind to sail for an hour and a half then it eased and left us rolling so engine on. Helsingor is the NE tip of Denmark and on the pinch point of the Sound, with Helsingborg, Sweden just a couple of miles across the water. No bridge here so we had to give way to the ferries that beetle to & fro.

This statement will be a hostage to fortune: we are getting better at sussing where the facilities are from our harbour charts, and then going right in and looking for a free space, then mooring bows-to with poles behind us. All managed today with no fuss or stress. Which probably means tomorrow will be different! 

Helsingor grew very rich in centuries past on collecting Dues from ships passing through the narrows, coming and going to Baltic ports. Today it is a very pleasant town to stroll around with great shops,  lovely buildings, and narrow medieval streets. The large shipyard has been re-purposed into museums, traditional boats, community space and of course street food cafés. 

The town is also home to the Kronborg Castle - which Shakespeare used as Hamlet's castle in Elsinore,  the Anglicised version of Helsingor. It stares across at Sweden. The moat for once is very real.

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