Copenhagen, Denmark post-cruise Day 3

On Sunday, May 25 we were in Copenhagen, Denmark post-cruise Day 3

Since we felt we pretty much covered the city of Copenhagen on foot, subway, bus, and canal boat the past two days, we decided to venture out of Copenhagen and take the train to Roskilde.  

Roskilde is on the Roskilde Fjord and was the capital city of Denmark from the 10^th century until 1443, and was the king’s residence until the 15^th century.  In Roskilde we will visit the Viking Ship Museum and the Domkirke (Cathedral).

For us, it was a simple 30 mile train trip, using our Copenhagen Card once again.  

The countryside

It’s Sunday morning and the main pedestrian street of Roskilde running down the center of the town is pretty much deserted.  After all the crowds in Copenhagen, this was quite nice!  The street is filled with many shops and cafes.

The former City Hall of Roskilde was completed in 1884.

We pass the Roskilde Domkirke (Cathedral), which was built in the 12^th and 13^th centuries.  Later we will go inside.  It was the first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick and its construction encouraged the spread of this style throughout northern Europe.

We head down through a park to the Viking Ship Museum to see five ancient ships that were raised from Roskilde Fjord in 1962.

The centerpieces of its collection are the well-preserved remains of five Viking ships that were purposely sunk in the 11^th century to block a navigation channel, protecting the city from attack.

These five ships represent several distinct classes of Viking ships, such as the Longship, the Warship, and smaller fishing and ferry boats.

How the ships were positioned when sunk

How the sunken ships blocked the navigational channel.
Only the local fisherman
knew how to sail around them.

The story

Our guide explained in great detail how the ships were raised and preserved so they could be displayed.

What the warship probably looked like

The Viking garments

After our tour inside, we walked around outside the museum and saw a replica of one of the ships.

And there were booths set up to demonstrate the various skills used back in the day of the Vikings.

Next we headed back up the hill to the cathedral.

The king’s door was used as the entrance for only the king and royal guests, but is used as an exit after weddings, funerals and confirmations.  There is no door handle on the outside.

As we entered the cathedral, we took notice of the inside of the king’s door.  It is made of polished and patinated bronze.

High above our heads is the clock from the 1400s.  Each hour Saint George kills the dragon and it lets out a frightful wail.    The face of the clock shows all 24 hours.

The organ is one of the finest historical organs in Denmark; the oldest part is from around 1425. It is still used at all church services.

The alter piece was made in 1560.

Towards the end of the 1600s, King Christian V decided the cathedral would be used as the official royal burial place for kings and queens.  There are tombs throughout the cathedral and date from 986 - 1972 

Queen Margrethe I (1375-1412)

Even one under construction for the current Queen Margrethe II.

There is a photo alongside depicting how it will look when the time comes.

Some tombs occupy an entire chapel.

Soon it was time to head back to the train station and catch a train back to Copenhagen.

As we headed back up The Stroget to our hotel, we saw people flipping colored plastic flaps on a wall, making words. 

We particularly liked this one and it sums up our day and our entire vacation. 

Then it was back to our hotel to pack the suitcases for the flight home the next day filled with memories of a most wonderful trip.

 And that's all folks!

Copenhagen, Denmark post-cruise, Day 2

On Saturday, May 24 we are in Copenhagen, Denmark – post-cruise Day 2

We enjoy breakfast in our hotel on Nyhavn.  Breakfast is included in the cost of the room.  There is a nice display of breads, cheeses, fruit, cereal, and the best Danish coffee.

Then we are off to explore Copenhagen on our own today.  We head down the street along the canal in Nyhavn.    Nyhavn is a picturesque canal with atmosphere, many colorful old houses and sailships. It is one of the oldest parts of the Copenhagen harbor and dates back to 1673.

At the end of Nyhavn there is the Amber Museum, and since we have plenty of time, we stop in for a look.

Then we come upon a craft market and browse a bit.  We end up buying 2 glass Christmas ornaments.

Close up of insect trapped in resin and becomes amber

Instead of walking to Rosenborg Slot (castle) we decide to try out the Metro as we will be using the Metro when we head to the airport on Monday.  It was a quick ride to the Norreport station, where we get off and walk a couple blocks to Rosenborg Castle. Our Copenhagen Card covers all our admission and transportation costs for our 72-hour time slot.  Very handy!

This castle was built by King Christian IV in the early 1600s as a summer residence. 

It houses the Danish crown jewels and 500 years of royal knickknacks. 

We start our self-guided tour in the Winter Room.  There is a bust of Christian IV.  During his reign 

Copenhagen doubled in size.

In a case there is a golden astronomical clock with musical works and moving figures.

The Marble Room has an impressive inlaid marble floor.

The family tree is displayed on this wall.  It is labeled in German, the second language of the realm.

The Throne Room and Long Hall is considered to be one of the best-preserved Baroque rooms in Europe.

The king’s throne was made of “unicorn horn”, which is actually narwhal tusk from Greenland.  It is believed to bring protection from evil and poison.  The queen’s throne is made of hammered silver.  The 150-pound lions are 300 years old.

The small mirror room was where the king used mirrors on the floor to see what was under the women’s hoop skirts!  In hidden cupboards, he had a fold-out bed and a hand escape staircase. Hmmm!

We then headed to the Royal Danish Treasury, located in the castle basement.

There were diamond and pearl studded saddles.

And, a big jeweled sword.  It was the 16^th century coronation sword.  The king would cut crosses in the air in four directions, symbolically promising to defend the realm from all attacks.

This is Christian IV’s coronation crown from 1596, with 7 pounds of gold and precious stones.  It is considered to be the finest Renaissance crown in Europe.

These two crowns are more modern, from 1670.  The king’s crown is only 4 pounds, the queen’s, 2 pounds.

We leave the castle and walk through the Rosenborg Gardens on our way to Amalienborg Palace.

This is where Queen Margrethe II and her husband live.

Guards change with royal fanfare at noon only when the queen is in residence.  She was not here so there was not much to watch as they changed position.

We toured through the Amalienborg Palace Museum, which offers the chance to see how the royals live.  Since it was included in the Copenhagen Card, we went in for a look.

Booties were required at one point

When we finished touring Amalienborg Palace area, we headed toward the canal for a nice view of the castle and the Marble Church behind it.

On the water’s edge there was a hotdog stand.  Eating hotdogs in Copenhagen is as popular as eating hotdogs on the street in NYC.  We gave it a try.

Then we headed toward Christianshavn, which is across the harbor from the old town.  Our first stop is at Our Savior’s Church (Vor Freisers Kirke).

This is of special interest to me as my great-grandmother was baptized here and her family members married here.

There is a unique spiral spire with an outdoor staircase winding up to its top; 400 steps with the last 150 all outside. 

Of course we climbed up the spire.  The views of the city were wonderful.

I took a photo of the very last step.  It was one person at a time for the last dozen steps.

Step number 400

Looking up at the dome from the very top step

The neighborhood below is where my Danish relatives lived.  I have census records from 1850 that give street addresses.  They are all within a couple blocks of the church.

The neighborhood my ancestors lived in.

We hoped to go inside the church, but the sign on the door said it was closed to siteseers due to a wedding that afternoon.

So, instead we headed toward the streets that were listed on the census and found several of them.  Many of the buildings looked newer than 1850, but on the corner of Sofiegade and Prinsessegade there was a building that looked old.  This could be were my great-great grandparents lived. At least I would like to think so.

Nobody home

Next we crossed over the canal and returned to Christianborg Palace where we had walked by yesterday so we could tour the Castle ruins.  Beneath the current buildings are the scant remains of the first fortress built in the 12^th century and ruins from the 14^th century Copenhagen Castle.

The medieval ruins

This was actually the secret royal toilet

A limestone relief from the 12th century

We walked by the boat stop for a canal tour.  We thought it would take us direct to the Nyhavn stop right by our hotel and save us a bit of walking.  Instead, this boat took a different route and we had another one hour canal tour, dropping us right back where we started.

The Little Mermaid statue was very crowded with tourists
each wanting their photo next to the mermaid.

Replica of Michaelangelo's David statue

Amalienborg Palace and Marble Church

Kayakers on the canal

The "Black Diamond" building

Again, it was a nice ride on the canals with views of many of the buildings we had seen today.

After a nice dinner in a restaurant near our hotel we walked down The Stroget to Tivoli to check it out.  Story is that Walt Disney visited Tivoli and was inspired by it to create Disneyland.  We did a walk through and looked at the beautiful gardens and some of the amusement rides.  It’s a very popular spot for families on a nice warm weekend evening!

As we exited Tivoli, we were across from City Hall and finally spotted the Hans Christian Andersen statue. 

He lived and wrote his first fairy tale books here at 20 Nyhavn, the red double-gabled building right next to our hotel.

Tomorrow, our last day in Copenhagen, we will venture out of Copenhagen on the train to Roskilde.