TELGEN VACATION REPORT
Copenhagen, June 2001
If it's summer vacation, that means it's time to take a loooong
trip with the family. Since we'd already spent a lot of time in southern Europe,
we thought it would be a great idea to see northern Europe, in particular
Scandinavia and the Baltic area. (It also helps that we enjoy northern climates
more in the summer.) The simplest way to get from city to city is by sea, since
the major cities are all ports. We found a cruise leaving from Copenhagen, and
thought it would be great to arrive early and explore the Danish capital more
thoroughly. "We" this time was the three of us, Diane's mom, and
Bill's mom—it's always great to have grandma along, and two is twice the fun
(and twice the people to share the attention of a chatteri—um, articulate,
seven year old). So we arrived two days before we were to set sail, ready to
explore the palaces and gardens of this lovely city. We spent our first evening
strolling through Tivoli Gardens, the famous park filled with pavilions and
attractions. It reminded me more of a carnival than an amusement park, for the
rides were rather tame. But there were some very attractive buildings, a lovely
children's marching band that paraded through the park, live music, and a
generally pleasant air. It made for a very pleasant first evening in
Copenhagen. We spent much of the next day walking about the city, visiting the
national museum and seeing some of the historic neighborhoods. The photo above
shows one of the most famous areas of the city, Nyhavn ("new
harbor"), which was dug out in 1671. (Again, "new" and
"old" mean very different things here in Europe.) Famous former
residents of this area include fairy-tale author Hans Christian Andersen and
composer D. F. R. Kuhlau. (Okay, Kuhlau's not so famous, but all my flute
friends will know who he is!)
The next
day we spent visiting the two major castles of the city. Denmark is a
constitutional monarchy, like England, and also has a queen, Margrethe II. (The
Danish royal family doesn't seem to provide as much entertainment/gossip as the
Brits, however.) Anyway, there are several castles in the city; one,
Christiansborg, is currently home of the Danish parliament, although the Queen
retains reception chambers there. The royal family resides in Amalienborg
Palace, a lovely complex of four buildings set back from the waterfront. There
is a changing of the guard every day, and a small museum showing the private
studies of past kings. The palace with the most to see, however, is Rosenborg.
It was built in 1624 for Christian IV, but no monarch has ever made it their
permanent residence. Instead, it's become a kind of royal storehouse—instead of
putting all their extra furniture in the basement, they have a castle to put it
in. Which is just as well—Rosenborg is open to the public and is lavishly
decorated (check out the inlaid marble walls). Plus, the royal treasury is
here, so we had a lovely time looking at how the other half lives.
Those slender limbs ... those gentle curves ... and the statue's
not bad, either! (Ha ha ha.) It's the famous symbol of the city, the Lille
Havfrue, or Little Mermaid. The statue has been here on the Langelinie coastal
walk since 1913, commissioned by the Carlsberg family and sculpted by Edvard
Eriksen. The mermaid in the Andersen fairy tale gave up her legs in order to
win her prince. This statue has given up her head and arm at various times to
vandals, but they kept the original molds and so are able to repair it. As you
can see from the picture, the statue really isn't that big, but it is
pleasantly situated with a lovely harbor view. There always seemed to be
throngs of tourists around it as well.
Well, we took a good long, fast walk to make sure
we got that picture of the Mermaid before the ship sailed from Copenhagen. We
left port, looking forward to six more stops, but woke up the next morning back
in Copenhagen! The ship had engine trouble and we were stuck for the next two days.
So, having already seen most of Copenhagen, we took the train to nearby
Roskilde, where there is a noted Viking ship museum with the remains of ships
dating from 1000 to 1050. The highlight of the city is the Cathedral, however,
which is the resting place of almost 40 Danish kings and queens, from Harald I
(d. 985) to Frederik IX (d. 1972). The cathedral itself is unusual, as it is
built of red brick rather than the light-colored stone you see almost
everywhere else in Europe. It makes a striking contrast to the sometimes lavish
decorations within, for example the 16th-century altar you can see in the
picture here. There is also an unusual clock with moving figures, and a
memorial statue by Edvard Eriksen that looks remarkably like his Little Mermaid
(perhaps because he used his wife as the model for both). We were glad that we
got the opportunity to take a little detour out to Roskilde—although we were
among an interesting crowd, as it was only a couple of days before a famous
European rock festival was to begin.
We were more than ready for the ship to
finally sail, however, although a second extra day in Copenhagen allowed us a
chance to tour the Carlsberg/Tuborg factory (and taste a free sample or two of
their beer). But to find out where we went next, you'll just have to wait for
the next installment...
Copyright ©
2001 by Diane Telgen. All rights reserved.