Copenhagen

Denmark is a much smaller country these days than in past times.  Originally Denmark took in both Norway & Sweden, however over the centuries there were many wars. Nowadays Denmark is made up of several hundred islands, plus Greenland.

Copenhagen is the capital city and means “merchant's harbour” because for centuries it has been just that. The harbour has changed a lot over the years and these days it is a modern container harbour, a departure point for many cruise liners, and the Danish Navy has a base on the harbour. The city also has a large canal system. In past years the canals were used to deliver goods and transport people. These days many people moor their pleasure boats on the canals and there is a tall ship harboured in one of the side canals. I took a canal tour and I think this is a wonderful way to get an overview of a city like Copenhagen.

I have joined a tour group here and it looks like being a busy 3 weeks.

The first evening of the tour we went to ‘Tivoli’ – in the days prior the 2^nd WW, ‘Tivoli’ was a garden with some entertainment there. During the German occupation they destroyed a lot of the garden to disillusion the people of Denmark. After the war years ‘Tivoli’ was redeveloped and today it is a mixture of stunning gardens, water-gardens, some great restaurants and a theme park. It is a popular place for locals to dine out and for the people of Denmark to visit and enjoy the large theme park.

Day 2 – we visited some of the ‘must see’ sights in the city including:

·        The ‘Little Mermaid’ statue. This represents one of Hans Christian Andersen’s stories. The poor little mermaid has suffered quite a bit of vandalism of recent years; her head went missing and then an arm! She has been restored.

·        The Royal Palaces – these are very different to what we see in the UK. There are no fences around the 2 palaces in the centre of the city. However armed guards do patrol each palace. When we walked into the square, we did notice a man riding a ‘transport bicycle’ with 2 children in it. No one took much notice as you see these everywhere, however our guide pointed out it was Prince Frederick taking the 2 older children to pre-school! Apparently he and Princess Mary try and live a normal lifestyle as possible.

·        The Danish Crown Jewels – these are quite different and not at all what I expected to see. There is a very ancient crown there that it is very intricately woven with fine gold threads. There were many jewelled swords and 2 amazing horse saddles that had gold threads woven through them and decorated with diamonds & pearls. The most recent crown jewels were beautiful – gorgeous crowns and several other jewels worn by the Royal Families. These days the Danish Kings or Queens do not have an official coronation like in the UK.

·        Frederiksborg Castle – these days this castle is the Museum of National History. It is a very interesting place to visit and quite different to what I saw in the UK. The ceilings here are nearly all very decorative plaster ceilings. The Chapel here is stunning and is still used as a church. At one end of the Chapel there are many shields dedicated to all the former Kings and to Heads of States from many countries (including Winston Churchill, The Emperor of Japan, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandella and many more). Princess Mary does have a shield there. On her shield there are two, seven pointed stars that represent her former country (one point for each Australian State and 1 point for the Australian Territories). And as you would expect there were many of tapestries, paintings and furnishings were very old and quite beautiful.

·        Last on the list was a visit to the Royal Summer Palace. It s located in Northern Zealand – meaning ‘Land of the Seals’.

Because of road works, the bus was diverted and we had to drive through some gorgeous Danish country side and I was amazed to see Lupins growing wild everywhere. Many of the houses in the country areas have thatched roofs. The thatch is quite different to what you see in the UK. The northern side of the thatch needs to be replaced about every 20 years; however the south side will last for up to 30 years. If you need to rethatch your home, you need to book the Thatcher at least 2 years ahead. There is a shortage of Thatchers, so the government encouraged younger people to train in this trade. Apparently the campaign has been successful and there are now many apprentices. The material they use here are the reeds that you see growing around the many lakes and waterways.

The Beech Tree is the Danish National Tree, and we did drive through several beautiful Beech Forests. We saw a couple of very old Copper Beech Trees – these were a deep coppery red in colour and stood out from all the green trees that surrounded them.

When we finally reached the Summer Palace we found it was located it a delightful village and the grounds go down to one of the larger lakes. This is where Prince Frederick & Princess Mary had their wedding party and where the family lived until the Palace in Copenhagen was ready for them to move into.

One thing you do see in outdoor restaurants & coffee lounges is either (as I saw at Tivoli) sheepskins covering the chairs for warmth, or most places provide both outdoor heaters and blankets to keep you warm. Quite different to what we in Australia are used to!

On the last morning in Denmark we took a 20 minute ferry trip across to Sweden. There is a bridge and a tunnel, but it does have a very expensive toll so most trucks, coaches and cars still use the ferry service.

Tivoli in Copenhagen

The canals in Copenhagen

Where the Danish Crown Jewels are kept.