Our second port of call on Braemar’s Maiden Call Mystery Cruise was Hundested, Denmark. It is a small fishing town of about 8,500 people on the northern parts of the island of Zealand. We started to sail in before 8 AM — and it seemed that the entire town was out to greet us!  The seaside and port was lined with people and the bay was filled with a flotilla boats of many types, including a Viking ship, a Danish warship, a kayak and a small boat filled with photographers taking our pictures. There was even a plane circling over us.

And it kept getting better! There was a Viking group that meet us as we docked alongside the pier. They blew horns to welcome us and erupted into battle as I tried to walk between the two rows — swords and shields were flying!

As we left the official port area, townspeople, a even a few dogs, were lining the street into town — it was an overwhelming welcome and one that I will never forget (and of course, I had to stop and pet the dogs!).

Again, not knowing where we would be, I opted for a tour and again was surprised to learn that we were going to Kronborg Castle — also known as Hamlet’s Castle. On a previous cruise to the Baltic, I had only seen this castle from a distance as we sailed by — now I was gong to go inside! We climbed up the the main living area and saw many furnished rooms and some impressive paintings. One long hallway was called the Queen’s Gallery. It connected her apartments to the main ballroom. The room was huge, taking up one whole side of the castle. I imagine it would also be very cold, as it only had one fireplace at one end of the room.

On the way back to Hundested, we drove past the Queen’s Summer Palace, also known as the Peace Palace.

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Once back to the ship, it was easy to walk into town. There was a Viking Village setup to sell various types of trinkets, including some amazing mead. Locals were also around the town, offering information and advice on things to do and see.

Would I go back to Hundested? Yes, no question! Everything was absolutely perfect. Here are some links to more information about Hundested:

As we sailed away, the Vikings were back and sent us off by blowing the horns again.

Our Captain responded by blowing the ship’s horn three times. And the Viking ship escorted us out of the harbour.

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