Hamlet's House

Okay, It's actually Kronberg Castle in Helsgnore, or in English, Elsinore.

Being the actory type I am I thought it would be cool to see the House of Hamlet. I got off the train in Elsinore, and there it was to the right of the exit. It was still 1/4 mile away or so, but it's a castles, so therefore, BIG. It is obviously a castle, but different from the English style of castle. It has copper spires. I have lots of pictures.

As I walked up to it I noticed, and I saw them other places too, purple wild flowers that had been bundled in a small bundle and left around. Like a mad Ophelia figure wandering around with flowers strewing them here and there. Like in the play. It was a little weird, and I might be the only one who noticed. These flowers were not growing in the area, at least not that I saw.

The castle is impressive. I was thinking of lines in the play as I wandered the grounds; how Polonius was under the stairs and you would nose him soon enough. In the chapel, the fair Ophelia... On the battlements, Who goes there? And of course the ghost walking them the past 3 nights...

I went under the castle into the Casemates. It was lit solely by oil lamps. I took pictures with a flash, just so that I had an idea where I was going. It was dark, and I could see my breath. It had to be about 40 degrees down there. But very cool. And in my head theré were monsters in the dark. Thanks horror movies...

There was the story of Ahmled, and his father the king was killed by his brother who then married the queen. He had to act mad to escape being killed, there was an Ophelia in the story. An English playwright named Kyd wrote the original Hamlet, and old Bill took it and made it unforgetable. The Kyd version is lost to antiquity...

Snoring

Okay, I'm sorry, but if you snore, you should not be allowed to stay in a multi-person room at a hostel. For fuck sake. You know you snore, someone had to have told you at some point in your life. But to have you shaking the fucking walls in a room of 4-16 people, you are the only one getting a decent sleep. And why is it you always fall asleep first? Can you explain that?

No wonder I'm tired after a nights sleep at some of these places.

Copenhagen

Well, the hostel I am in is a bit of a dump. They have no internet, the rooms are small and the beds vary in size a bit. I don't fit in some of the beds... The showers are a bit of a horror. I don't recall how I ended up here, but I was thinking of how I could get out almost as soon as I looked the place over. I think all the others were booked.

Now Copenhagen itself is also a bit of a disappointment. I tried to figure out what it was. There's graffiti all over the place, and there's trash in the streets. The other Scandinavian cities were free of trash. And the graffiti was minimal and quickly painted over.

I am headed to Elsinore at some point. I wonder if I will find out Hamlet wasn't a real guy, and the play is not a documentary...

In Norway...

They will skin anything. At the fish market in Bergen, there was reindeer, wolf, 4 types of fox, seal and coyote. I can only assume the coyote was really lost. Don,t get caught in the woods, they will shoot you and skin you.

Interesting

My apartment builidng is being sold. I could have new landlords next week. They aren,t going to tear down. Supposedly they are going to do some major renovation. What you can do to a 50 year old building is beyond me. But to have construction on my place as well as next door. Sleeping in is a dim memory...

Fjords

Fjords are really big. Not just the size above the boat we were in, but below as well. Like about 300 meters deep. At first I took a lot of pictures. It's really beautiful and green, but after about 30 minutes you begin to slow down. I guess I got a little jaded.

Wow. Beautiful. Wow. Still beautiful. Look, another waterfall. I started taking picutes of only the really impressive waterfalls. Which is unfair to the multitude of trickling waterfalls, but I only have so much memory on my card, and I've only been here a week. (feels like I have been out forever.)

I think the slower pace is maybe better than the rush to get all of New Zealand in, but it's odd to have time to think...

Whale Sashimi

Norway is one of the few (2 or 3) countries that still has whaling. The Japanese do it for "Scientific Research" which is bullshit. So I was walking at the seaside in Oslo and there was a sign that said Sashimi. I like sushi and sashimi, so I tried some. It was a very red color. I asked what it was, "whale". Okay. When in Rome... It tasted not that much different from other sashimi, but it just was a mammal with a brain the size of, well, me.

Oops. A vegatarian ex of mine would be very disappointed.
hee, hee, hee.