Really Seeing Copenhagen

Copenhagen is full of 7-Elevens. Let me get that out of my system at the start so I don't have to belabor the point. There are 7-Elevens all over the place!!

Copenhagen is also full of people riding bicycles. Everyone gets everywhere on a bicycle. Just about every street/road has a bicycle lane. Everywhere you look, there are bicycles parked. Young people, old people, men, women (pregnant women!), children . . . everyone gets around by bicycle. There are VERY few fat people in Copenhagen.

Judy had a very ambitious sightseeing schedule for us. We were supposed to hit the ground running as soon as we arrived on Wednesday. Didn't happen. We had an entire walking tour itinerary for our first full day here. Didn't happen. First of all, it's really hard getting a family of four (especially when it consists of two teenagers) ready and out the door from a hotel room with just one bathroom. So we're getting started waaaay later than Judy had planned. That's fine with us. We're old and our feet hurt.

So we started the day by meeting in Town Hall Square right in the center of Copenhagen. Each of our hotels is about a 20 minute walk from there (from opposite directions). Not bad. We weren't really sure how the day would start because it was pouring rain when we first got up. But we got lucky. The sun was shining by the time we were ready to get underway and it pretty much stayed sunny most of the day. There were some showers here and there but we were well prepared with umbrellas for everyone.

Since we were at Town Hall Square, we decided to meander around the town hall. What a concept!! It's a fascinating building (see photo above). I actually spent most of the time sitting on my cane/chair (thank heaven for Jan Roth!!) while the rest of our entourage climbed a very long marble staircase to check out the upstairs. Can't wait to get my knee replacement so I can do it all!

Next we walked over to the Round Tower, which is the oldest continuously operating observatory in Europe. The foundation stone was laid in 1637 at the order of King Christian IV. It was built for the scholars and students of Copenhagen's University after the destruction of the first observatories which had been built in the 1500's. There's a spiral ramp to the top because the king wanted to be driven up in a horse and carriage rather than having to walk. Well, when you're the king . . . .

In 1716, Russian Czar Peter the Great rode to the top of the Tower on horseback. The first motorized vehicle to make it up the winding ramp was a German Beaufort in 1902. It was driven by a German tourist who was determined to make history. He did.

After leaving the Round Tower, we walked to the Canal and headed to Christiansborg Palace. It houses the Danish Parliament and is used by the royal family for State events. Over the centuries, there have been many palaces built on this site. The current palace was built very recently -- at the beginning of the 20th century. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures during the fascinating hour-long guided tour. That's a shame because there are incredible tapestries, paintings and furnishings inside.

In the throne room, which is used by the royals to greet important guests, the king's and queen's thrones date back centuries. They're no longer used because there is something about their design that harkens back to the days of absolute power for the monarchy. Since the royals are simply figureheads now, they can't sit in thrones that were designed for monarchs with absolute power. Poor babies!

One of the most beautiful rooms contained 11 tapestries that were commissioned in 1990 by the Danish business community to mark the 50th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. Since I couldn't take pictures of the tapestries, I snagged one off the internet and it's posted on this page. Breathtaking!!

By the time we finished the Palace tour, it was after 5 and we were exhausted!! We walked back to the Marriott, refreshed our toes and planned out the next day's itinerary. Thankfully, Judy had completely given up on her original ambitious plans and we settled on Rosenborg Palace, the Danish Jewish Museum and Tivoli Gardens. After walking for miles and miles and miles and miles, that was happy news for my tootsies.

Oh, and a note to my Rome comrades. Copenhagen is FLAT! What a relief . . . .

Jul 23, 2009

Show all 19 photos