Out there, somewhere!

Early morning, breakfast completed and we were ready in no time! Destination? The beautiful coastline of Denmark, a bit of Helsingør, and if time permits, a bit of Copenhagen. The best part of a day-long outing is its planning. A lot of fun in the act of planning even though it is often hard to stick to the plan itself! Nevertheless, one needs to pack in as much fun in a single day as possible. So, planning is important!

We needed to get to one end of our destination-spot right on time; there was no margin for error. We had to eat in between stopovers; we needed to take a bit of rest from time to time. We needed to feel happy all along; we did not want to get exhausted at the end of it all.

The first stop was Klampenborg, a nice little suburb north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Piercing through the motorway from Sweden to the capital of Denmark is always a great experience. The roadway, the insignificant hillocks on the two sides, the half-open and half-closed Öresund bridge – every time they all say hello to us, give us a smile or two and tell us how easy it is to cross borders between two neighboring countries. How I wish some other borders of the world were as easy to cross as this one!

Klampenborg is a silent, serene and somewhat sleepy town. The town square was not crowded yet looked busy. Perhaps it is because when something is less, more can be found out of it. The town is the home to a rather large deer park. Flanked by nice-looking, richly decorated houses the town is symbol of affluent charm. Deer were not to be found, they kept themselves in their secured hideouts. Maybe the cold weather had kept them away. But their houses were intact. The large trees and their long shades, the alleys through the forest-park and the odd branches and shrubs covering them gave a soft warning – the residents are not here right now, but they might come anytime.

A few horses loitering around were the only signs of animal life in this vast area. Not to forget the riders who were all smiles. We enjoyed the small retreat. We liked the relaxing smell of the trees and vegetation. It felt as though the calmness of the air had started to influence the time. The clock seemed to run a bit slower than normal. All our clocks did the same. They too wanted to relax!

From park to mall, from loneliness to activity and from a suburb-town to a city-life – our next stop was the historical city of Helsingør. It is a fact that Shakespeare created his play Hamlet in the backdrop of a castle that lies in one end of this very picturesque European town. To my great delight I had my close friend as my guide to show me some of the historical buildings of this city. To get to see a house built in the 16^th century – what could be more exciting than this?

The city-center, the walking-street and the colored houses -- some of which looked like the old tavern mentioned in the poem “The Owl” – presented a nice, feel-good atmosphere. It helped bringing back some old memories. The walk was a charming one; a bit of breeze blowing from one end kept giving us good company. The winding roads built of stones are symbols of tradition. They keep reminding us of the footsteps that have been touching them through ages. Roads have history too – they help mankind move forward, often cross from one end to another.

A long drive in my friend’s car through the coastline leading to Copenhagen was pleasing to the eyes. Among other things the eyes caught the colors of some nicely designed houses. These were houses built close to the seaside and were signs of aristrocracy. Then we saw the darkness of trees on both sides of the road; the trees formed arches and gave the impression of a cave through which a vehicle had just enough space to travel. The road was curvy and undulated and it followed the landscape till the very end of our journey. A short stay at Tivoli Park with children ended the day on a happy note. It was a day well-spent with nature, town, cities and parks.

As we started our journey back and as we were driving past the Öresund bridge I could not help thinking about one thing. Deer had evaded us; an owl could have been a perfect companion had we stayed a night at one of those inns at Helsingør:

“Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest,

Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I.

All of the night was quite barred out except

An owl’s cry, a most melancholy cry” (The Owl by Edward Thomas)