Kronburg Castle

In 9th grade, we had to read Julius Caesar. I hated it. I couldn't grasp the language, it was a political drama and everyone died in the end.  As a freshman in college, I had my next brush with the bard, Othello.  I hated it.  I couldn't grasp the language, it was a political drama and everyone died in the end.  In my mid-twenties, I found myself living in England and we had an opportunity to go up to Edinborough for the Fringe Festival.  We had tickets for Mid Summer's Night Dream.  I had trepidation about going; my experience with Shakespeare had not been pleasant.

I loved it!  After the first few minutes, I got used to the language but more importantly, I was enchanted with the acting, the performance, the story.  My entire attitude, perception of Shakespeare changed 180 degrees overnight.  While I was still in England, on the London stage, I saw Kenneth Branaugh in Much Ado About Nothing and Dustin Hoffman in Taming of the Shrew,  I saw the Tempest at the New Vic and As You Like It at the Old Vic. I have since seen many productions live on stage or in movies in the intervening years.

We planned this trip to Denmark and were thrilled to discover that Kronburg Castle had been the inspiration for the setting of what is arguably, the greatest play every written: Hamlet. We had to see it.

We boarded the ferry for the 20 minute journey from Helsingborg, Sweden, destination: Helsingør, Denmark.  We could see the castle as we approached on the boat.

Once on dry land, we made a few wrong turns but we eventually found the parking lot and the way to the castle.

The entry fee includes a choice of several tours and we lucked into the "Hamlet" tour.

We waited in the courtyard and at the appointed hour, an actor approached and introduced himself, in English, as Horatio.   Over the next 90 minutes, he took us through the entire play.

We walked along the ramparts where Hamlet's father's ghost appeared to the watch.

 We went below to the crypt where the tête-à-tête between Hamlet and his father took place.

Claudius had knelt inside this Chapel, so we were told, as we looked at the pews and majestic pulpit.

Inside the castle, we viewed several rooms and stopped in Gertrude's chamber.  Horatio told us that he eavesdropped at the door and showed us the tapestry behind which Polonius took his last breath.

In another room, Horatio related the graveyard conversation the two good friends had concerning the skull of Yorick. 

The final stop on the tour was in a large room full of tapestries where we heard about the duel between Hamlet and Laerates, the death of Gertrude and Claudius, and Hamlet's last words.

The tour having ended, we descended the stairs and stopped in the exhibit for the actors and performances of the play that have taken place in the castle.  It is something of a pilgrimage for an actor to have been in a performance here in Hamlet's legendary home. The name Elsinore is the Anglicized version of the town's name.

Of course, we spent time in the gift shop before exiting the castle.  We walked around the castle grounds, saw several trumpeters and shared a sandwich from the small shop just outside the walls.

Not completely satiated, we went inside the "Elsinore Street Food" and finished our mid day meal with Nutella filled crepes.

Dinner at the Jules Verne Restaurant

For years, we had said we would spend our 25th wedding anniversary in Paris.  Rich is a fan of Jules Verne.  When we discovered the name of the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, it was a forgone conclusion of where we would be spending the evening of October 3, 2017.

A year prior I looked online and found that the Jules Verne has something called a "gift box".  I misunderstood how the gift box works.  I had thought we needed a reservation first and then we purchase the gift box.  But rather, it is the other way around; you order the gift box and a voucher is sent to your home.  You then make arrangements and pick a date to use the voucher and the restaurant will make the reservations.   So, we did not get the gift box.  This time :)

Reservations can be made no more than 3 months prior, so I set a reminder for July 3.  Requests for seating next to a window are done on a first reserved basis so I wanted to ensure we got our reservation in at the first opportunity.  That strategy paid off.

We arrived in Paris on Monday 2nd of October and stayed at the Observatoire Luxembourg hotel near the Luxembourg Gardens. Our hotel was wonderful and the staff top notch.  They arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 7pm on Tuesday.  We were told it would be approximately a 20 min ride from our hotel.  We told the taxi driver our destination: the Eiffel Tower.  As he pulled up to the front of the iconic structure, our driver noted our attire and asked what we were going to do and we said we had reservations.  He said "Ah" and told us we needed to go around the back.  He drove us around and let us out.  There was a gentleman stationed there and when the taxi driver told him we were guests, he became our personal escort.  We followed him over to the security checkpoint where he ushered us past everyone standing in line to be the next through. Once past, he walked us straight to the South Pillar to the entrance of the restaurant.  We felt like VIPs.

Once inside the door, we had to go through a 2nd screening.  Unbeknownst to me, Rich had a box in his pocket that caused a slight ripple but I did not notice anything.  There was an elevator operator and 2 other couples with us on the way up, one of which were on their honeymoon.  In the lobby of the restaurant, I was divested of my jacket and we were whisked away to our table.  Most of the wait staff we passed greeted us as we were seated at a window seat.

The table was set with a "plate" and "silverware" that were removed shortly after we sat down.  We were each handed a menu, his with prices, mine without.  Probably should have been the other way around as I paid :) We had the tasting menu, which means that the chef would prepare a set meal.  The only choice we had was whether we wanted 5 or 6 courses.  We had 6; go big or go home.

We ordered drinks, a fruity champagne concoction for me, a vodka something for him.

There was a slight commotion behind me and Rich said that it looked like a couple just got engaged.  A few minutes later Rich pulled out a small blue Disney Dream collection box and asked me to spend another 25 years with him.  I said yes! It's a beautiful diamond ring in the familiar Mickey shape.
 

Suddenly the tower lights started flashing and went on for 2-3 minutes or so. It was 8pm and the light show would go off again at 9pm as we were still eating.

Our tasting menu:
Marinated sea bream, watercress

Preserved duck Foie Gras, walnut condiment, toasted brioche

Pan seared sea scallop, pumpkin and chestnuts

Oven-baked sea bass, Jerusalem artichokes and black figs

 Seared thick medallion of veal, wild mushrooms and crushed tops

Citrus tartlet and lemon ice cream

Crispy 'tower nut', chocolate from our manufacturer in Paris

After we had finished our meal and settled the bill, we went back to the lobby where we were shown an elevator to the observation deck right below us.  We spent as much time as we wanted to observe Paris at night.

We took a few more snaps and then went back to the restaurant lobby.  I got my jacket and we were handed a small packet of cookies, you know, in case we were still hungry.  We asked for a taxi back to the hotel and the restaurant was quick to arrange it.

A short elevator ride brought us back to earth.  Our escort from earlier was there to take us to our taxi.  Our ride back to the hotel was completed in no time as traffic was lighter than when we started the evening.

A most delightful evening.  Now on to figure out how to top it for our next milestone anniversary!