We arrived at the hotel, dropped off our baggage and headed out for a walk around the city. As we started off, I had done enough research ahead of time, I was recognizing buildings and spires and pointing them out to Mark as if I were some sort of native :)
We walked to the City Hall and the town square. We had hoped to climb the tower of city hall for a birds eye view of the city, but we missed the window by a few minutes. The city hall itself is adorned ornately with metals and odd statues.
Copenhagen is home to The Strøget, the main pedestrian street full of shops and restaurants, it happens to be the longest such pedestrian shopping street in Europe. We stopped at a tiny hole in the wall place for refueling having crepes and belgian waffles.
As we walked along we approached Kongens Nytorv (The Kings New Square), a town square at one end of the Strøget, which was encircled with ice for ice skating. The square was designed by King Christian V in 1670 and contains of an equestrian statue of him. Christian and Frederick are apparently the alternating King names in Denmark for the past few centuries. You get a little inundated with statues and monuments to either a Christian or a Frederick.
Continuing on, we walked along the Nyhavn (New Harbor), the "new" dock area that was also built by Christian V, this harbor is lined with colorful buildings containing restaurants on the ground levels and within a few feet there are dozens of schooners docked in the water. Our photos of this area look exactly like a postcard we mailed out.
Amelienborg slot, the four identical corner palaces that border the royal square. At the center of which was a statue of King Frederick V. A bell rang and the black feather topped guards in all their regalia, started their march and patrol around the square. We decided to take the palace tour, it was a pleasant indoor diversion that let us warm up a bit as well as admire the lush interior.
Just outside the square, visible between two of the palace buildings is the Marmorkirken, the large marble domed church. This church was also built by Frederick V, its dome, which the largest church dome in Scandinavia, is a landmark of the Copenhagen skyline.
Kastellet, one of the best preserved fortifications in Northern Europe built in the 1620's (or start of the construction) by King Christian IV (have I mentioned the Kings of Denmark have been named either Christian or Frederick for the past few centuries?). This is an interesting star shaped moat surrounded fort, we deemed it far to cold and windy to walk the upper perimeter, but you can trust us that it was neat.
Den Lille Havfrue, "the little mermaid" statue in the water. Although it was fridgedly cold with the wind right near the water, we persevered to make it to this iconic statue. Hans Christian Anderson lived in Copenhagen and he is celebrated all over the city, including this statue that was erected in the early 1900's. She has suffered the abuse of vandalism on multiple occasions, including having her head removed and being spray painted. She remains, waiting in the water.
Rather than walking back to the hotel we took advantage of the public transportation by boat. It was a nice way to see another side of the city, and it was warm. For the record, an outdoor thermometer informed us that it was -2 Celsius but it felt so much colder with a stiff wind coming in off the Baltic Sea.
We stopped in the Glyptotek, an art museum with free admission on Sundays so it was surprisingly packed. We made our way through the ancient Greek and Roman sculpture halls before we decided to move on and grab some dinner. It's a huge museum and would be worth a repeat visit on a subsequent trip, as we passed by all the more modern art.
Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe. I know. I have never been to one as a matter of principle. When traveling, we try not to go to chains or places we easily find in Pgh/U.S. (the exception being while on the road and trying to make time), why go to those places when there's so much more out there to try? But one of Mark's coworkers was with us in from the States and this was his thing. It was funny though, we get there, we're told there's a forty minute wait, his coworker asks, "would having an All Access Card help?" the hostess replies, "Yes. Yes it does. The next table that's cleared is yours."
After dinner we hit the road and drove across the Oresund, a 16km bridge between Denmark and Sweden. Just driving into another country, but that also means I do not have a Sweden stamp in my passport.
The complete photo set