Day 13 - Tuesday, August 2 - In Copenhagen

 Another pleasant morning when we awoke in Copenhagen. Outside our window is a mix of 18th century warehouses, new apartment complexes in the same style and across the canal, an ultra-modern round all-glass office building. We thought the small bronze statue in the water adjacent to the plaza below our window was the Little Mermaid but we learned later than it is not - it is actually a rather bizarre stature of a much older woman. The other side of the ship is facing the harbor which has many wind turbines along the shore and just off-shore. 

We went for a walking tour of Copenhagen in the morning, walking along the promenade and soon came to the famous statue of the Little Mermaid. She is based on a character in Hans Christian Anderson's children's story. We then continued to walk around the part of the city going back to the 1600s and 1700s, including the royal residences. It was interesting to see so many people riding bicycles which 50% of the population uses to get to work or school. When asked about biking in the winter, our guide said that Danish people don't say there is bad weather, just dressing appropriately for the weather.

On the way back we went through the citadel, the ancient fortress of Copenhagen, which now houses museums and some military offices.

In the afternoon, we had a tour of Christiansborg Palace and the Tivoli Gardens. The Christiansborg Palace is the seat of government with the Queen's palace (not the residence), the parliament and the supreme court. The palace was damaged many times by fire and war and dates mainly to the 1800s. The rooms are beautiful with elaborate carvings, marble decorations and tapestries. 

We then visited the Tivoli Gardens, dating to the early 1800s, housing amusement rides, restaurants, a small lake and beautiful gardens. We enjoyed mugs of locally-brewed amber beer while sitting at the edge of the lake. I remember visiting here in the summer of 1974 after my college trek through Europe and remember having Weiner schnitzel here. I was traveling for 6 weeks with my backpack, sleeping bag, "Europe on $5 & $10 a day" (!), and a Eurailpass. Much of the city along the waterfront has been rebuilt since then but I don't remember what that part looked like - it was just an industrial waterfront then and not a tourist attraction. 

We sailed out of the harbor while eating dinner and passed close by a line of about 20 huge wind turbines spaced about 500' apart.

Tomorrow we arrive on the German coast and leave at 7:00am for Berlin via train.



Carmen and the Little Mermaid


Not "Little Mermaid"
Changing of the guard

Modern tapestry of history

Tivoli Gardens


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