The sunset tonight

The sunset over Danish Zealand tonight.

A Danish landscape

This time of the year the scenery in northern Zealand (Denmark) is quite colorful:

Frederiksborg and Fredensborg - Two Magnificent Royal Palaces in Denmark

Frederiksborg castle in Hillerød is one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Norhtern  Europe.

Denmark is the country of over 600 castles and manors. However, there is one area of Denmark, where you do not find more than a handful of private, historic manor houses - the northern half of the island Zealand (Sjælland in Danish). This is due to the fact this region (including Copenhagen) has at least since the 16th century been "reserved" for the Royal Family. 

Fredensborg was originally a hunting seat for the King of Denmark.

Here you will find the most magnificent Royal castles and palaces. In addition to Amalienborg in Copenhagen and Kronborg in Helsingør, the most spectacular palaces in northern Zealand are Frederiksborg and Fredensborg, the main spring and autumn residence of the Danish Royal Family. 

Work on the Frederiksborg palace began in the 1560s under King Frederik II, but the main builder was his son Christian IV, who was born in the palace in 1577. 

The Dutch master builder Hans van Steinwinckel and his namesake son were responsible for the planning and construction of Frederiksborg in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The little Bath House from 1580 remains from Frederik II,s original palace. It isoccasionally
used by the Royal Family for hunt lunches.

The Baroque Garden was carefully recreated in 1996.

The Baroque garden is noted for its four royal monograms in boxwood.

The magnificent Fredensborg Palace was built in several phases during the 18th century by Denmark's foremost architects of the era.

The original architect and planner of Fredensborg was King Frederik IV's head gardener Johan  Cornelius Krieger, who also turned out to be a first class architect. 

Royal builders Lauritz de Thurah, Niels Eigtved and C.F. Harsdorff later made additions to the palace, all carefully respecting Krieger's original design. 

The Fedensborg Palace is often the setting for important Royal Family events, like weddings, birthdays and various anniversaries. The Queen also receives visiting foreign  Heads of State at Fredensborg.

The changing of the guards is a popular event among visitors also in Fredensborg.

The Fredensborg Palace Gardens are among the largest of Denmark's historical gardens.  The main park area  is still undergoing an extensive renovation. The reopening is scheduled to take place in the autumn this year.

Birds, ships and mirages in Øresund

On my afternoon walk this afternoon, I noticed that mirage effects were quite visible. Even if it was quite cold, sea birds appeared to enjoy the sunny day.

Here are a few of the pictures I shot:

On this picture you can see a minor mirage effect when you look at the cargo ship. 

These mallards looked quite nice., when they were swimming towards the point where I was standing.

A busy afternoon in Øresund ...

Here again, you can see the mirage effect quite well.

This formation of swans was another beautiful sight this afternoon. In the background you can see the northern part of Danish Zealand "hovering" in the air due to the mirage effect. 

The shape of Nissan's futuristic car carrier City of St. Petersburg  looks quite interesting, due to the mirage effect.

About ten minutes earlier, the City of St. Petersburg could be seen "hovering in the air" when it approached Helsingborg.

PS

Just for comparison, here is another shot of the swan "formation":

Views from my balcony (5): The Christmas tree

The Christmas tree looks nice, with Danish Zealand and Øresund in the background. The ship, barely visible, is the tanker Baltic Faith on its way to Klaipeda.

Chimney greeting moon

The photo above I shot in Viken (northwestern Scania) this afternoon at twenty past four. (Days are short here in northern Europe this time of the year).

While the chimney greeted the moon, the sun was setting over Danish Zealand on the other side of the Sound:

PS

I could not resist adding a few of today's other Viken pictures:

Views from my balcony (2): The coastline of Zealand

From where I live the distance to the Danish side of Øresund is only about 4,5 km. The picture below shows a part of the Zealand (Sjælland in Danish) coastline today at about 9 AM.

The large building in the middle is the hotel and conference center Marienlyst.