In May 2018, David and I went on a seven-day Scandinavian cruise on the Sapphire Princess. We sailed round trip from Southampton, England, with port stops in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Click here to read a short introduction about this awesome cruise.
This story, which is part of a series, is about our day in Helsingborg, Sweden, the third port of call on our cruise.
This story, which is part of a series, is about our day in Helsingborg, Sweden, the third port of call on our cruise.
Helsingborg, Sweden (May 30, 2018) We sailed from Copenhagen to Helsingborg last night. Or perhaps we merely drifted with the currents, as this coastal city was only 30 miles or so north of Copenhagen, across the Oresund (“Sound”) from Helsingor, Denmark, where David and I toured Kronberg Castle. The two cities – Helsingor and Helsingborg – are so close, in fact, that you can take a ferry from one to the other.
This area of Sweden was first settled in 1085, making Helsingborg (pop. 140,000) one of the oldest cities in present-day Sweden. The city earned its nickname, The Pearl of the Strait, due to its strategic location at the narrowest part of the sound.
The weather was (again) unseasonably hot – it was already in the low 80s as David and I got ready to go ashore. No matter, though, as David and I are desert-dwellers, accustomed to temperatures that can soar to 110 degrees plus in the summer.
When I researched Helsingborg ahead of our trip, I found that there was a local chapter of the Global Greeter Network, an organization through which local residents volunteered to guide tourists around the city. I reached out by email, and two days later I received a confirmation that Jan Mark and Astor Brorsson would meet us when we arrived.
Helsingborg is a “tender port,” which is to say that the water was too shallow for the ship to dock at the city’s pier. The Sapphire Princess anchored in deeper water and David and I joined fellow passengers on a small boat that took us to the pier.
This area of Sweden was first settled in 1085, making Helsingborg (pop. 140,000) one of the oldest cities in present-day Sweden. The city earned its nickname, The Pearl of the Strait, due to its strategic location at the narrowest part of the sound.
The weather was (again) unseasonably hot – it was already in the low 80s as David and I got ready to go ashore. No matter, though, as David and I are desert-dwellers, accustomed to temperatures that can soar to 110 degrees plus in the summer.
When I researched Helsingborg ahead of our trip, I found that there was a local chapter of the Global Greeter Network, an organization through which local residents volunteered to guide tourists around the city. I reached out by email, and two days later I received a confirmation that Jan Mark and Astor Brorsson would meet us when we arrived.
Helsingborg is a “tender port,” which is to say that the water was too shallow for the ship to dock at the city’s pier. The Sapphire Princess anchored in deeper water and David and I joined fellow passengers on a small boat that took us to the pier.
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As we approached the pier, we caught our first glimpse of Helsingborg. There was quite a bit of new development – residential and commercial – along the shoreline of this beautiful city.
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We arrived an hour before we were scheduled to meet Jan and Astor. This gave us the opportunity to wander through the streets on our own.
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We met Jan and Astor at Fahlmans, a bakery located on Kullagatan, which is the main shopping street in the inner city of Helsingborg. This street, lined with retail stores and restaurants, was easy to navigate because it's a pedestrian-only zone – no cars allowed.
When we stepped inside Fahlmans (to the left in the photo above, looking down Kullagatan), we discovered that there were like-minded passengers from the Sapphire Princess – a dozen others who also booked this tour. The more the merrier, I thought!
My wife Debra wrote a book a few years ago. The title of the book is Biotouch: Healing With the Power in Our Fingertips. It is about an easy-to-learn touch-healing modality that is a great complement to traditional medicine. We always look for “where’s Debra’s book” photo opportunities when we travel (like Where’s Waldo), which we add to a collection of similar photos from around the world. I didn’t have a copy of her book with me, but undaunted, I used my phone to pull up her book on Amazon. I enlarged the cover and voila, we had our photo op. That is Astor on the left and Jan on the right.
My wife Debra wrote a book a few years ago. The title of the book is Biotouch: Healing With the Power in Our Fingertips. It is about an easy-to-learn touch-healing modality that is a great complement to traditional medicine. We always look for “where’s Debra’s book” photo opportunities when we travel (like Where’s Waldo), which we add to a collection of similar photos from around the world. I didn’t have a copy of her book with me, but undaunted, I used my phone to pull up her book on Amazon. I enlarged the cover and voila, we had our photo op. That is Astor on the left and Jan on the right.
Leaving Fahlmans, we headed east on Stortorget on our way to visit Karnan Tower, a 330-foot medieval tower that sits atop a plateau above the city. Typically, you would approach Karnan by walking up the Terrasstrapporna (“Terrace Stairs”), a monumental staircase that connects the market square (where Fahlmans was) with the plateau. But as you can see from this photo, the staircase was being rebuilt. We skirted the construction and used another route to reach the tower.
Karnan Tower, which was part of a 14th century Danish fortress (when Denmark controlled this area), is the oldest building in Helsingborg. Before the fortress was razed by Swedish King Karl XI in 1681, the upper part of the tower could only be accessed via a drawbridge. Today, though, we had the choice of reaching the upper part of the tower by more modern conveniences – a spiral staircase or an elevator. We opted for the elevator. From the top of the tower, we had an amazing view of Helsingborg and the Oresund...and we spotted the Sapphire Princess, which you can see in the photo to the right.
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From the tower we headed to St. Mary’s Church, which was built on the site of a 12th century stone church. Construction began at the beginning of the 14th century and was finished about 100 years later. The architecture is Danish Brick Gothic, characteristic of the Scandinavian buildings of the 14th century.
Jan and Astor had arranged a special visitation to the locked vault where various precious relics were kept, including a bible from 1550 and many items made of silver. And something else in the church caught my eye - a "wailing wall" fashioned from bricks. And just like the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, we could write and place a note (a prayer, request, or thought) in the wall. How special was that?!
It was time for us to refuel, and our hosts recommended lunch at Restaurang Creo. That’s not a typo, by the way, but rather how the word “restaurant” is spelled in Swedish. The second story restaurant had a nice atmosphere, and the customers were mostly locals. The main dish? Drrrrrrrrrrum roll, please: Swedish meatballs! And to wash down those meatballs, David and I had a beer from the Swedish brewery Kronleins, which was founded in 1836.
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After lunch, we walked to Jacob Hansen’s Hus. Built by merchant Jacob Hansen in 1641 as part of a family farm, it is the oldest residential building in Helsingborg. It was restored in 1929, and today is used for everything from conferences to wedding parties. We loved the distinctive look of this building - the dark timbers set against red-painted brick walls and the high-pitched roof in red-yellowish tiles. By the way - do you see that good-looking guy with a backpack near the front door? Why, that's David!
Our last stop was Helsingborg’s neo-Gothic style Radhuset ("City Hall"), which was designed by architect Alfred Hellerstrom and completed in 1897. The tall towers with pinnacles were the first things that caught our eyes, and then we spotted the distinctive slate and copper roof. The red brick façade was beautiful against the deep blue sky. In front of City Hall was the statue of Count Magnus Gustafsson Stenbocks, a Swedish general who led the Swedish troops to victory in the Battle of Helsingborg (1710), the last battle between Denmark and Sweden for Scandia.
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Jan and Astor had another surprise for us - a private meeting with Lena Bjerne, the Vice Mayor of Helsingborg! No one on our cruise ship, other than the handful of passengers on the tour with Jan and Astor, had this experience. Lena was a gracious host. Over the course of an hour, she told us about city hall, explained local politics, showed us the city council rooms, and shared the history of Helsingborg as depicted through a handful of painted glass windows. Lena was a delight to listen to and an excellent ambassador for Helsingborg!
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It was time to leave, as the Sapphire Princess was scheduled to sail at 4 pm for Oslo, our next port of call. David and I bid adjo ("goodbye") to Jan and Astor, and then we headed to the pier to board a tender boat. On the ride to the ship, David turned to me and said, “By the way, the people of Sweden are ridiculously good looking. I caught myself staring at the women here, I'll admit it. Holy smokes, so many beautiful ladies everywhere I looked!” No argument here.
We had dinner at Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, a specialty restaurant on the Sapphire Princess. You see, this trip was a gift to David from Debra and me – earlier in the month, David earned his associate degree in accounting. We celebrated his achievement with a sumptuous five-course meal, which included a VERY LARGE veal chop for David and lobster tail for me, and not just one dessert for David but TWO.
We had dinner at Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria, a specialty restaurant on the Sapphire Princess. You see, this trip was a gift to David from Debra and me – earlier in the month, David earned his associate degree in accounting. We celebrated his achievement with a sumptuous five-course meal, which included a VERY LARGE veal chop for David and lobster tail for me, and not just one dessert for David but TWO.
And I ordered up a beautiful sunset for him. Yes, it was quite a day for David and me, both on and off the ship!
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