27th July 2015
Had to be up
early to move the car from the free Sunday parking area outside the hotel
before the Monday parking fees kicked in.
That chore done, we enjoyed the
included breakfast at the hotel, and then set off into the city to explore,
aiming to take a hop on / hop off bus tour, plus a canal tour, which were all
linked. Walking the 5 minutes to the bus
stop, we passed the Tivoli Gardens entrance that we had seen last night, and
that had been suggested as a good “thing to see” in Copenhagen. However it looked pretty much like a big fair
ground with rides, and with an entrance fee just to go in of 90 Krone, (about
$20), we decided to forgo that pleasure.
We signed up for our bus tour, and soon were on our way around the city,
although with the somewhat dismal weather the bus kept its top on !
Copenhagen had
fascinating architecture, of which they are rightly very proud. Even the Sydney Opera House was designed by a
Dane, so they do enjoy world wide success.
But I found it odd that there are very few tall buildings in Copenhagen
– Everything seems to be a maximum of about 5 stories, except for the
occasional building. And of course lots
of Lego shops – I include a couple of photos for my Great Nephew (?) Joe, who
is a Lego expert, and especially involved at the moment with the NInjaga side
of Lego ! I was thinking of you Joe !!
Hard to really
categorize the town – Lot of older buildings, lot of history and links to the
earlier Kings of Denmark, The Christians and the Feredericks among them. There have been a few wars between Sweden and
Denmark, and even England apparently had a go at them back in the early
1800’s. After spending an hour or so
touring the town on the bus, spending some time in the church in which
Australian Princess Mary married Prince Frederick of Denmark a few years ago, and
seeing an amazing “World Clock” in the Town Hall, we then, after having a
delicious local hot dog while sitting on the side of the canal in Nyhavn,
caught a canal ferry to see some of the other sights from the water side.
The canal system
in Copenhagen is extensive – Perhaps not so much as somewhere like Amsterdam,
but city life very much revolves around it with lots of
restaurants and
apartment blocks along the banks. There
are lots of very low bridges criss crossing the canals, so the boats have to be
very wide and squat – very odd looking when you see one head on. And it is
necessary to sit down when passing under the bridges ! Naturally one of the sights we saw was the
Little Mermaid – The one who has been beheaded, daubed in paint, and otherwise
defaced over the years. On seeing her I
was stunned to find she is right
there on the edge of the land – It would be
very easy to climb up onto the rock with her.
From photos I had always imagined she was further out from the shore, so
I now understand how she has been so easily defaced and mistreated !
By the time we
had finished the boat tour it was late afternoon, (we had been doing quite a
lot of walking as well !!), and we went to see the current Royal Palace which
is cleverly set with a clear view down to the water, and across to the Opera
House on the other side. Their guards
wear busbies like the British Coldstream Guards, but otherwise their whole approach
is so much more relaxed. If anyone tries
to stand close to them for a photo, they actually push them away quite firmly.
And when they are on parade, they look around all the time, and when marching
while guarding they have a position where they have their arms folded while
they walk, and their rifle butt is positioned in their arms. Quite ingenious. And in the palace, everything seems much
more relaxed – The central square is open to the public, with just the 4 large
buildings on either side of the square out of bounds. The royal flag flies above the main palace to
show the Queen is in residence.
We then caught
our bus back to the hotel before going out to a great little restaurant we
found in one of the lanes – Called Riz Raz.
We had an excellent meal there, and sat out a fairly fierce rain shower,
before heading back across town to out hotel.
The next morning
we checked out, recovered our car from the underground parking lot, and headed
off to the Rosenborg Castle to see the Crown Jewels and a lot of the Royal
History from the 17th and 18th centuries. This was excellent, and we enjoyed a good
couple of hours there before heading across the road to the National Art
Gallery to see both some local art, and an exhibition that included some Matisse
and Picasso paintings. Very nice
Gallery, even though Art isn’t really my thing.
We then headed back to the car and set off on the
next leg of our
journey, to Sweden.
Photos are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0313ExploringCopenhagen?authkey=Gv1sRgCOG8iurM1f-e5gE
restaurants and
apartment blocks along the banks. There
are lots of very low bridges criss crossing the canals, so the boats have to be
very wide and squat – very odd looking when you see one head on. And it is
necessary to sit down when passing under the bridges ! Naturally one of the sights we saw was the
Little Mermaid – The one who has been beheaded, daubed in paint, and otherwise
defaced over the years. On seeing her I
was stunned to find she is right
there on the edge of the land – It would be
very easy to climb up onto the rock with her.
From photos I had always imagined she was further out from the shore, so
I now understand how she has been so easily defaced and mistreated ! 
while guarding they have a position where they have their arms folded while
they walk, and their rifle butt is positioned in their arms. Quite ingenious. And in the palace, everything seems much
more relaxed – The central square is open to the public, with just the 4 large
buildings on either side of the square out of bounds. The royal flag flies above the main palace to
show the Queen is in residence. 
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