Copenhagen Scenes

It took Mark, Steve, Cathy and I a while to get to anything interesting as we walked into town.  This group of sculptures were the first thing we came across that we photographed.  I've tried googling every idea I can think of to find out what they are exactly and why they are where they are, without any success, so you'll get our version of them.

Mark called them the "Weebles" statues because their shape looks like those old kid's toys.  Looking them over we decided the theme was cradle to grave, the silver one is childhood with all kinds of toys on it when everything is shiny and new, the black one is teenager with computers, soccer balls, body changes and feelings that can turn you into a monster, the greenish one is adulthood with different work and life responsibilities, and finally the rusted one (how appropriate!) is old age with a cane and ghostly faces.  If you have any better ideas let me know! 

We definitely liked the sentiment here. 🤣

The famous Little Mermaid in all her glory.  Just as everyone tells you, she's not a very large sculpture but she is very beloved by the Danes.  Den Lille Havefrue, is the Danish name of the mermaid who is found on the waterfront promenade at Langeline.  Although smaller than you might expect she is big as a tourist attraction and has been perched on her rock for over a century. 

Serenade is out there in the distance from our walk along the Langeline so you can see we had to traverse quite a distance to get where we were.

More sights along the promenade.  Copenhagen has an amazing number of statues and monuments.  More of those to come later.

We happened upon the beautiful St. Alban's Anglican Church.

Locally it is just called the English Church and was built between 1885-1887 for the benefit of the growing number of English in the area.

The Gefion Fountain is next to the church.  It is a group of animals being driven by the Norse goddess, Gefion, who had supposedly plouwed the island of Zealand from Sweden.  The fountain is the largest monument in Copenhagen and is also used as a wishing well.

St. Alban's is still an operating parish church.

This is one of my favorite photos of the day.

Flowers in Copenhagen were glorious!  Also along the Langeline was this random mine.

Next along our walk came the massive Amalienborg Palace.  There are four total buildings that look like the two in the photo that surround an octagonal square...square as in a large open space. 

Two members of the Royal Guard, Den Kongelige Livegarde.

The 18th century bronze statue of King Frederick V is considered to be one of the best equestrian statues of its time.

 Amalienborg is the home of the royal family of Denmark.  Queen Margrethe II was the world’s oldest monarch, she had been queen since 1972, when she abdicated her throne this past January.  She has been succeeded by her eldest son, King Frederik X.  Amalienborg has been home to the royal family since 1794 when they purchased this one after their old palace was destroyed by fire.  

Just beyond the palace is Frederik's Church, more commonly called the Marble Church.  It is a favorite wedding venue in the city.  Begun in 1749 when King Frederik V planned to create a new area called Fredriiksstaden, it ended up as an incomplete project due to the architect's death and money issues.  When it was finally completed 145 years later the plans changed from its being made of marble to being made of limestone blocks, but the name stuck.

I was intrigued by the sight of an elephant and elephant chain adorning one of the pediments on the palaces.  In doing a little sleuthing I found out that the Order of the Elephant is the oldest and most distinguished Danish Royal Order of Chivalry.  It has roots that go back to the 1400s and is primarily bestowed on royalty and heads of state.  

This guard was kind enough to let Cathy and I take a photo with him.  We weren't allowed to stand next to him but we could stand just in front.

As we continued on to the meet the rest of the group we passed all these old Porsches.  It had to have been a group of collectors showing them off on a Saturday morning.  Pretty cool.

So many bike riders in Copenhagen!  Supposedly a million miles are biked every day in the city.  It's a place where they pride themselves on being very green and hope to be a carbon neutral city by 2040.  On the right is another interesting building.

Nyhavn is a colorful neighborhood along one of the many canals in this uber flat city.

Here you will also find the house of Hans Christian Andersen who wrote so many beloved fairytales, like The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling and Thumbelina.

Later on, near the Tivoli Gardens, I'd see this statue of HCA, who lived during the 19th century.  In total he wrote 156 different tales, which have been translated into 125 languages.

Leaving from Nyhavn we took a canal tour through the city.  Due to exceptionally high tides we weren't able to take the usual route but we did see a lot of different parts of Copenhagen.  The city is located on an island called Zealand (Sjælland), the largest and most populous in Denmark proper but not the largest island in the realm, that title belongs to Greenland. 

The Danes are quite good at repurposing old military installations.  The structure that is now apartments used to be a boathouse for repairing tor torpedo boats.

Across from there is Chistiania, something completely and crazily opposite to royalty but strangely it's located just opposite Amalienborg across the harbor.  Visitors either hate it or love the free spirited way of life there.  This part of the city is a 70’s social experiment that has endured for the squatters, anarchists, and hippies who took over the military barracks and set up their own “free” space here after the soldiers moved out.  These are a few of the descriptive phrases I found for Christiania, “odd and hilarious houses”, “a community that encourages you to let go of all that you’re supposed to be” and “quirky and controversial”.  It wasn't on our agenda for the day so we didn't get any closer than this.

Copenhagen touts this as the world's largest and cleanest incinerator, one that also generates power.  It even has an artificial ski slope on top.  While it does all this it turns out it's not quite as wonderful as it was promised to be.  It's so huge that the cities around Copenhagen don't generate enough trash to make it profitable so they actually import trash from the UK and burn it here.  Maybe a smaller plant would have been a better idea.

A bit of unknown history here for me.  In 1807 the British were fearful that a Denmark that was allied with Napoleon was going to create problems for them.  During August and September of that year they bombarded Copenhagen until the Danes surrendered both the city and their navy.  Later on, to protect their ships in the future, the Danes built multiple structures like these as cannon boat sheds to protect ships from future bombardments.  These days they are nice apartments on the waterfront.

Here you have the Kai Hotel, Denmark's smallest, a little houseboat with only one room that will sleep two people.  Cost per night is about $380.

This part of the harbor is was the operating area for the Danish Navy for many years.  Now it's a spot with multiple museums.

At the former naval yard you'll find a submarine and and old wooden crane that can still operate.  This one has no nails or screws, just wooden pegs yet could lift a tremendous amount of weight.

The royal yacht sits out in the harbor not far from Amalienborg Palace.  I had to laugh later on in the tour when audio guide said the Royals are people just like you and me.  Oh yes, I travel around in my yacht that looks like this any old time I want!  Fun fact though, it is the world's oldest royal yacht, having been built between 1931-1932.  She's called Dannebrog and she is a beauty.

Just a photo of the Danish flag.

We motored past The Little Mermaid again on our canal tour.  Here she is from the reverse side.  There were a lot more people there at this time than earlier!

When King Frederik wants to take out the royal yacht they board from this pier.  The Royals will wait in the pavilion to the left and any guest will wait on the one to the right.  You might be able to see the crown atop the left pavilion.

These are some of the 18th century warehouses that are still harbor side.  The red one on the right stored goods from Denmark's West Indian colonies, the center yellow one held goods from Greenland, and the one on the far left stored goods from their colonies in West Africa.

A shot of Amalienborg Palace from the water with the Marble Church in the background. 

Directly across from the palace is the Copenhagen Opera House.

The next canal we went down was lined with all kinds of boats, some that were houseboats and others just moored there.

With the extra high tide, going under some of the bridges was a pretty close call.  This one left just a few inches above our heads.

Some of the colorful houses along the canals.

And then some of the more modern apartment buildings.

The Round Bridge is a pedestrian and bike only bridge that is designed to look like a ship, and also the circular shapes are to encourage people to stop and visit.

This spot has had a bridge going over it since 1620.  This version of the Knippelsbro Bridge is the fifth on the site and has been in use since 1947.

The sparkle and shine of the Royal Danish Library have given it the name The Black Diamond.  Completed in 1999 it also hosts cultural events and meetings, besides having a cafe and shop inside.

The Danes really know how to create unique structures, BLOx is a multi-use building with offices, shopping, gyms, and food.

With all of the modern buildings going up on the waterfront the city decided to add a wooden boardwalk which they call The Wave, where people can not only walk but they can swim from it as well.  The water in the harbor is so clean it's safe to swim in, unusual for the harbor of a large city.

Opposite the boardwalk were a whole ot of people in kayaks enjoying the lovely day.

More colorful waterway buildings.

Just a selfie as we arrived back in Nyhavn after our boat ride.

Our wanderings then took us past an old lamp post that dates back to 1677.  Who knew they had them that long ago, it would have had to have been lighted each night by hand.

We saw lots of statues of people we didn't know.  This was one of them!  It turns out it is Niels Juel, who was a Danish admiral and naval hero who was instrumental in creating the Danish-Norwegian Navy in the 17th century.

We passed by the Holmen Church which is famous for having been the wedding venue for Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik in 1967.  Originally this was the site of an anchor forge dating back to the 16th century.  Christian IV converted it into a naval church in the 17th century.

A Copenhagen street scene.

Christiansborg Palace is currently home to the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister AND the Danish Supreme Court.  Lots of governing going on here.

Another statue of another king, Frederick VII this time, commemorating his role in transitioning Denmark from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in the 19th century.

Jane and LeaAnn just look like they're trying to push these concrete balls around.  These spheres surround the courtyard of the Christiansborg Palace and serve as a safety buffer between the building and the street.

We were all waiting for Mark to slip up and go into the water here but he made it across without incident.

On the left is the fountain known as Caritas Well.  It is the oldest fountain in Copenhagen, built in 1608 by Christian IV.  The bike with the cart on the front was something we saw all over Copenhagen, always with one or two kids riding in it.

Karl and I detoured from the rest of the group to go to The Church of Our Lady to see the original Thorvaldsen's Christus since we've seen the duplicate of it so many times at the Salt Lake Temple visitor's center.  When we got there we couldn't go in because they were having a concert inside.  The lady in charge of the door told Karl to come back at 1:15.  I was too tired to walk back with him so he went on back about 1:40 and they still wouldn't let him in because they were getting ready for a wedding!  He finally convinced the lady to just let him take a look at the statue from the doorway and get a quick picture.  This was the best he could do.

After our first attempt at going to the church we walked down to Copenhagen's famous Tivoli Gardens.  It's the number one place to visit in Copenhagen.  Surprisingly it's the second oldest amusement park in the country, nearby Bakken came into being centuries before, circa 1583, think entertainers here rather than roller coasters those early years, and it holds the designation of being the world’s oldest amusement park.  

Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843 when magazine publisher George Carstesen talked the king into letting him build a “pleasure garden” outside the city walls. In later years there was a man named Walt Disney, you may have heard of him, who visited Tivoli multiple times to get inspiration for a park of his own.  I mean think about it, without Tivoli Gardens we might never have had the Disney empire, kind of mind boggling. 

The flowers and gardens here really are quite stunning.  There are different areas, one was Chinese, this one looks more Middle Eastern, or even Indian.

We had to laugh at all the squealing and yelling that was going on by the riders on these swings, you'd have thought they were on a roller coaster.

We decided to delve into our inner child and all ride the bumper cars, except for LeaAnn who has a bad neck so this ride wasn't a good idea for her.  She watched everyone's bags.  Apologies to Jane for not getting a photo of her in her car.  These people you think are your friends are pretty vicious in a bumper car, I got in multiple head on collisions!  🤣 Another crazy thing about this ride was that it cost us $13 apiece for a five minute ride, we're all still shaking our heads at that one.  Even if we'd known it would be that much we probably would have done it.

It was definitely time for some ice cream after spending time crashing in to one another.

We told Chuck he looked like a grumpy old man sitting over there by himself so Jane went over and sat next to him, they were both laughing within moments.

I'd never seen a double-decker carousel before, this one looked pretty cool.

More of the beautiful flowers I found throughout the park.

Fountains and flowers, does it get much prettier than that?

I was wondering if I could manage tall bountiful planters like these at my house.

A different kind of ferris wheel.

The oldest ride in the park is the wooden roller coaster.  Does the mountain here remind anyone else of the Matterhorn at Disneyland?  Having opened in 1914, this  is the oldest operating rollercoaster in Europe.

One more view of the coaster mountain, a ride called Rutschebanen, and one of the exits to the Tivoli Gardens.  We had such a short day in Copenhagen we didn't have enough time here but we were glad to wander around what we got to.

After a great time at Tivoli we walked to the nearby train station to find a cab back to the ship.  My aching feet were happy to get back and rest a bit after a nine mile walking day.  Another tiring but marvelous day!