Copenhagen or Kobenhavn was our last port of call on the Baltic Cruise, and also point of disembarkation.
 |
| The Little Mermaid - sculpture inspired by HC Andersen's tale of same name. |
The Little Mermaid is at the Langelinje Pier on Copenhagen Harbor. It was created by Danish-Islandic sculptor Edvard Eriksen (1876-1959).
Bishop Absalon (1128-1201) was the founder of Copenhagen. He was a Danish archbishop, Statesman and Military commander. Absalon was the closest advisor of King Valdemar I of Denmark.
An equestrian statue of Bishop Absalon was erected in 1902 and stands in Hojbro Plads (or High Bridge Square), next to the Stolshomen Canal and canal tour jetty. On the hop-on and hop-off bus this is stop #2.
Central Rail StationThe main railway station opened in 1911 and was rebuilt in 1934. The first railway station on the site was built in 1847 but soon grew too small to serve the ever expanding train network and its passengers.
 |
| Standing in the main thoroughfare of the station. |
 |
| Looking up at the beautiful cast iron chandelier. |
 |
| Facade of the Central Train Station |
Tivoli Gardens
 |
| Entrance promenade into Tivoli Gardens. |
The founder Georg Carstensen (1812-1857) obtained a 5-year charter to create Tivoli by telling King Christian VIII that "when pople are amusing themselves, they do not thing about politics". The king granted 15 acres for an annual rent. Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park and pleasure garden.
Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843 and is the most visited theme park in Scandinavia.
 |
| Tivoli's Moorish Palace, the Nimb Hotel and Restaurant. |
 |
| Lake fountains. |
 |
| Chinese Tower |
 |
| Shops in an imaginary Orient town |
 |
| Han Christian Lumbye (1810-1874) was Tivoli's Music Director from 1843-1872. |
 |
| Primitive scenic railway ride |
Caritas Fountain
The Caritas Well also known as the Caritas Fountain is the oldest fountain in Copenhagen. It was built in 1608 by Christian IV and is located in Gammeltorv, now part of the Stroget pedestrian zone. It is known for its Golden Apples "jumping" on the Queen's birthday.
The water comes from Lake Emdrup north of the city, and with altitude difference of 9 meters, the water pressure was adequate for a fountain to flourish.
We took this photo on the route of the hop-on and hop-off bus.
Amager Bakke power plant
 |
| The power plant doubles as a ski slope and hiking trail. |
The power plant mixes the trash (biomass) it collect, dumping it in the furnace, and collecting the ash produced. Copenhagen hopes to be carbon neutral by 2025. We took this photo from our hop-on and hop-off bus.
Amalienborg Palace
 |
| The Amalie Garden is located between the waterfront and Amalienborg Palace. |
The Amalie Garden was a gift from the Moller Foundation to the citizens of Copenhagen. The Mollers are the owners of the world famous A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.
The Copenhagen Opera House which is across the waterfront, Amalienborg Palace and Frederik's Church or the Marble Church, are located on a straight line (axis).
Amalienborg Palace is home to the Danish royal family. It consist of 4 identical classical palace facades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard.
 |
| The Royal house guard. |
 |
| Equestrian statue of King Frederick V (1723-1766) in Amalienborg Square. |
King Frederick V was king of Denmark-Norway and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 1746 to 1766. He was the founder of Amalienborg Palace.
Nyhavn 20 or Boel House
Nyhavn 20 was built in 1778-79 for Andreas Bodenhoff. The house was purchased by the Boel Food Group in 1960s, hence its name.
Originally, Nyhavn was a busy port, packed with sailors, ladies of pleasure, pubs and alehouses. Now it is filled with people enjoying the relaxed atmosphere by the canal, jazz music and great food.
Hans Christian Andersen rented 2 rooms in the building from 1834-1838. His rooms faced the canal. He wrote his first fairy tales from the address. HC Andersen was a prolific writer for his many plays, travelogues, novels and poems - The Tinderbox, The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, The Little Match girl, and The Emperor's New Clothes.
The building was listed by the Danish Heritage registry of protected buildings in 1918.
 |
| HC Andersen's house is in red. |
 |
| Lovers' locks on the bridge |
 |
| Holbersgard junction crossing |
The National Museum of Denmark
As we have limited time in Cophenhagen, we chose the National Museum.
 |
| Suit of armour from the 16th century. |
 |
| St George slaying the dragon. It is done in wood. |
The Christian knight St George defeats the dragon, representing all the evils. The figure orginally stood on a tall plinth about 3 meter high in front of the east window of the north aisle in Husum church, Slesvig. The church was demolished in 1807. The carving was done c. 1520 by Han Bruggermann.
 |
| Weapons used in the 17th century. |
 |
| Ceremonial broad swords carried by town marshals of Copenhagen as insignia of the town. |
 |
| Silver relief depicting the biblical stories. |
 |
| Ancient church pews |
 |
| Font from Trinity Church in Copenhagen c. 1650 |
 |
| The baptismal plate c.1625 was made in Netherlands and depicts the Expulsion from Paradise. |
 |
| Salvaged Viking ship. Because the remaining frame so fragile, the lights are dimmed. |
The Viking ship was in the "Meet the Vikings" exhibition. We learnt that the Vikings (helmets have no horns like what we see in cartoons) are classed as warrior, berserker, volva and peasant, in their everyday lives and roles.
The Silk Road exhibition - collections from 1920s of Danish explorer to Mongolia:
 |
| Tibetan priests. |
 |
| A noble lady with her daughter |
 |
| Saddles for riding |
 |
| Sophisticateda ancient locks |
 |
| The shaman - an intermediary with the spirits. |
In an around town, I was fascinated with the iconic spire of the old Stock Exchange building.
 |
| The Copenhagen Stock Exchange building |
The Borsen or the Copenhagen Stock Exchane is in a historic building most famous for its distinctive spire - shaped as the tails of four dragons twined together, reaching a height of 56 meters. The building was built by Christian IV in 1619-1640, and considered an example of Dutch Renaissance style in Denmark. The famous spire was installed in 1625.
The building was planned as part of his plan to strengthen Copenhagen's role as a center of trade and commerce in Northern Europe. The building now serves as the headquarters of the Danish Chamber of Commerce.
Food
There are a lot of Asian and Vietnamese restaurants in Copenhagen bearing testimony to its large Asia immigrant population. We had only two days so capitalized on this Vietnamese heritage.
 |
| Vietnamese pho - my all-time favorite. |
 |
| Vietnamese roll with dip sauce |
 |
| This is a pavement stall but the restaurant is highly rated in Trip Advisor |
We initially sat inside the restaurant but it was so humid and stuffy (summer heat), we moved onto the pavement - braving the noise of traffic and loud young people screaming up and down the street!
 |
| The roast pork rice noodle in dry serving was good. |
 |
| The food was good. |
We ended our Baltic cruise in Copenhagen and
started in Stockholm.
An equestrian statue of Bishop Absalon was erected in 1902 and stands in Hojbro Plads (or High Bridge Square), next to the Stolshomen Canal and canal tour jetty. On the hop-on and hop-off bus this is stop #2.
0 Yorumlar