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COPENHAGEN

 


Along the canal

Monday, 15 August. The ship arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark, at 7:00. It was the first of the many beautiful, sunny days we experienced on the cruise. The tour we’d signed up for left at 8:30. It began with a drive through the more interesting parts of the city, including the medieval old town, Tivoli Gardens, Town Hall Square, the Glyptotek (art museum), the canals and harbor, the old Stock Exchange, the Royal Library and Parliament in what had been Christianborg Palace. (Jane and I had previously toured Copenhagen extensively, spending almost a week there back in 1971.)
 
 
 
 

 


Town hall
Christianborg Palace
Royal Library garden

 


Narrow lane with hollyhocks

Droger village harbor

The bus then took us to Amager Island, a short way out of the city, to visit Dragor (pronounced Drauer), a small village founded by Dutch settlers about 1520. It was a charming place with a picturesque little harbor, thatched roof houses, cobblestone streets, and narrow lanes lined with hollyhocks. After walking through the village, we all had strudel and tea at a café on the harbor.
 
 
 

Old tiown hall (now a museum)
Jane at the pump in the main square
Thatched roof with odd chimney

We drove back into the city to Amalienborg Palace in time for the informal changing of the guard at noon (not the elaborate formal ceremony). This Palace is made up of four identical buildings, each housing members of the royal family.

 


Amalienborg Palace
Jane sidling up to a guard
Informal changing of the guard

 


The Little Mermaid


 Modern Opera House across canal

The modern opera house was right across the harbor. The bus then took us a short way along the water where we stopped to see the Little Mermaid statue, symbol of Copenhagen. There must have been at least 20 buses there and hundreds of tourists. Our ship was just a few minutes away, and we arrived there about 1:00.


 


About 2:00, after lunch on the ship, we took the shuttle back to Kongens Square in the central city. We walked the full length of the Stroget (pedestrian street) to Tivoli Gardens (1843).

 


Strolling the Stroget
Square along the way
Another side of the square


There were no activities there at this time of day, but we wanted to see it again after 34 years, in spite of the high admission fee. There had been several additions since our 1971 visit. We were just leaving about 4:00 when the Boys’ Guard came marching down the street in their bright red coats.

 


Jane in Tivoli Gardens
Full-size frigate (restaurant)
Jane in garden

Concert Hall
Jane at Pantomime Theater (1874)
Boys Guard approaching Tivoli


We took a taxi back to Kongens Square where we caught the shuttle to the ship, arriving about 4:30. We looked through the many tourist shops on the pier before boarding.


The ship sailed at 6:00 as we sat down for dinner. Remembering Lorenzo’s promise of escargot, none of us ordered an appetizer. We got a little worried when all the other tables had their appetizers, but then our escargot was served. Lorenzo came by, boasting a bit about his influence, and we all thanked him. Again the escargot was outstanding. (Continued tomorrow.) The show at 9:00 featured a vocalist followed by a harpsichord virtuoso (Ping Xin).
 

Part I - Page   1   2   3   4   5   6   7                    Go to:  Part II   Part III   Part IV

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