Day 33 - Copenhagen

We decided over breakfast to join Bob, Thelma, Eric and Lynn on an open-top bus tour of the city. Kenny and DeeAnne were undecided about staying in Copenhagen as they did not like the area surrounding our hotel. It was slightly sleazy and there had been a festival going on for a few days before we arrived and the streets were full of rubbish. We hoped it would be cleared away during the weekend, but this was not to be. We all set off, unsure of whether we would see Kenny and DeeAnne later in the day.

We boarded the bus in Town Hall Square and drove past several places of interest on our way to the waterfront and the Little Mermaid statue. This famous feature of Copenhagen was surrounded by tourists and we left the bus to take photos and have a closer look. She was smaller than we had expected but quite beautiful. We then decided to abandon the hop on/hop off bus and walk along the waterfront to the Amalienborg Palace, the royal family's winter residence. Nearby, we saw a large impressive statue of a female warrior with four oxen. It depicts the Geflon, a goddess who reputedly turned her four sons into oxen and ploughed up land in Sweden, hurling it into the sea. It became Zealand, the main island part of Denmark!


Here are the first of the photos we took on our tour.

Passing one of the palaces, we saw rows of soldiers' houses built in the 17th century.

The famous Copenhagen Mermaid, which I must say lived up to expectations. She is a very beautiful sculpture by Edvard Eriksen and erected in 1913.

Sights as we walked along the river. First, a bust of Princess Marie of Denmark.

Beautiful flower gardens with, in the background, the monument to Ivar Huitfeldt who fought in the Danish/Norwegian wars of the early 18th century..

Frederick IX, King of Denmark, who died in 1972.

The wonderful statue of the Boadicea-like Geflon, lashing her group of four oxen, above a fountain.

Wendy and Lynn in front of us as we saw the Opera House on its own island on the far side of the river.

A replica of Michelangelo's David standing outside one of the restored warehouses.

The courtyard of the Amalienborg Palace and, behind it, the Marble Church with its marvellous dome and interior.

 

 

We walked on to the colourful and very popular Nyhavn canal.

Our walk took us past many of the famous buildings and statues of Copenhagen, as well as some very pretty streets with their multi-coloured houses.

 

 

An interesting piece of modern sculpture on the pavement outside one of the grand buildings, Christiansborg Palace.

 

How about this for a spire? It is nearly 60 metres high and appeared to support the tails of four intertwined upturned crocodiles! We later discovered they were dragons and the building was the 17th century Old Stock Exchange.

 

The National Bank of Denmark.

The Royal Library.

From there, we crossed over a bridge to see the world-famous restaurant, Noma, where we had tried, unsuccessfully, to make a reservation.

We had lunch at a small cafe and then walked back to the hotel, stopping on the way to look at the statue  of Hans Christian Andersen, outside the town hall.

 

We returned to the hotel, where we met up with the others for dinner, while Bob & Thelma went to eat at one of the restaurants in Nyhavn. We had a message to say that Kenny and DeeAnne had left a day early and would meet us in Hamburg, where we will all be tomorrow.

The day after that, we will drive to the Hook of Holland to catch the overnight ferry to Harwich.