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Rosenborg Castle

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Rosenborg Castle is a renaissance castle located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV’s many architectural projects. It was built in the Dutch Renaissance style, typical of Danish buildings during this period, and has been expanded several times, finally evolving into its present condition by the year 1624.

This was the most complex tour of a castle I have been on yet. The Castle has three floors and two basement levels. With that being said I could create a post for each room let alone each floor. But I will group all the upper floors together and devote a whole page to the basement.

There were several rooms in the castle devoted to just the crystal and china.

Each piece of furniture seemed to have a story or legend connected to it. Even the murals and pictures told of the history of Denmark.

Sognefjord

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The fjords are often described as “nature’s own work of art”, formed when the glaciers retreated and seawater flooded the U-shaped valleys.

The Sognefjord is Norway’s longest and deepest fjord, and it’s famous arm the Nærøyfjord has World Heritage status. The surrounding mountain areas are amongst Norway’s most popular hiking areas.

The scenery along our cruise on the Sognefjord was more than picturesque it was breath taking and jaw dropping. And that is probably why I have so many photos to share.

All Aboard!

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The Flåm Railway is one of the steepest standard gauge railway lines in the world, with 80% of the journey running on a gradient of 5.5%. The train runs through spectacular scenery, alongside the Rallar Road, vertiginous mountainsides, foaming waterfalls, through 20 tunnels, and offers so many viewpoints that, for many people, a single trip up and down is not enough. 

How does the saying go? Getting there is half the fun! Well getting there for this group is all of the fun. Sights along the way had everyone jumping from side to side to get pictures and see the sights. The train did make a couple of stops for us to take pictures too!

The villages and farms along the way were so inviting. You wished you could stop at each and hear the stories that evolved there.

Norway

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After the rainy day start in Norway this was a welcoming site the next morning. A bit chilly but after a couple of minutes of brisk walking you were warmed up to continue on. The beautiful town of Bergen in Norway is a must see. I swear you could even breath better there, fresh clean air. The water was crystal clear and just down right beautiful.

Stave Church

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A medieval-style Fantoft Stave Church in Fana. The church was originally built around the year 1150 at Fortun in Sogn, a village near the inner or eastern end of Sognefjord. In 1879, the new Fortun Church (Fortun kyrkje) was constructed as a replacement for the medieval stave church. Fantoft Stave Church was threatened with demolition, as were hundreds of other stave churches in Norway. Fantoft Stave Church was bought by consul Fredrik Georg Gade and saved by moving it in pieces to Fana near Bergen in 1883. Outside the church stands a stone cross from Tjora in Sola.

Many of Norway’s magnificent stave churches are difficult to visit without a car. Traditionally built outside of villages, many of the stave churches still standing are in rural locations around the fjord region.

Simply put, stave describes the architectural style whereby the walls were constructed of upright planks, or staves. They are an instantly recognisable icon of rural Norway, so much so that they were part of the inspiration for some of the settings in the Disney movie Frozen.

This was was within walking distance although it was closed for the season and we only got to take pictures of the exterior.