Copenhagen, Denmark post-cruise, Day 1

On Friday, May 23, it was Copenhagen, Denmark, Day 1.

Today our cruise ends and we disembark the ship.  We will stay in Copenhagen for 3 nights, then fly Icelandic Air home on Monday, May 26.

Coming into port there are windmills everywhere.  Denmark utilizes wind generation for the majority of their energy needs.

I had purchased the Copenhagen Card for 72-hour use over the internet prior to the cruise so that we would be able to start using it as soon as we left the ship.  There was a bus stop right across the street and we boarded the #26 bus with many other passengers, all with luggage. 

When we arrived at the Kongens Nytorv bus stop, we gathered up our luggage and walked about 500 meters to our home for the next 3 days, the Hotel Bethel, located right on the Nyhavn waterfront. 

Hotel Bethel at 22 Nyhavn

The view from our hotel window

After checking in and leaving our luggage we hurry to meet our cruise friends, Michael & Ellen and Susan & Peggy for a pre-arranged guided walk with Annemette Karpen, starting at City Hall.

To get there we hurry down the Stroget, the pedestrian only shopping mall street.  It runs from Nyhavn where our hotel is straight down to City Hall.

We start the tour by going inside City Hall.  The building itself is kind of plain but the ornaments on it are very nice. 

City Hall is building on right with clock tower.

The grand hall is enormous and there are busts of four famous Danes looking over it all.  They include fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, physicist Niels Bohr, and the building’s architect, Martin Nyrop.

Our guide, Annemette Karpen

Back outside we see the “Weather Girl”.  The golden weather girls indicate the weather:  on a bike for fair weather or with an umbrella.  For years they’ve been stuck in almost sunny mode…with the bike just peeking out.

Tivoli Gardens is right across the street from City Hall.  It is the world's grand old amusement park since 1843.  We will be visiting inside it on Day 2.

We crossed over the Marble Bridge which brought us over a canal and onto the Castle Island.  This is where Copenhagen began in the 12th century.

Marble Bridge is indeed all marble

The castle is Christiansborg Palace, now home to the Parliament of Denmark, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Supreme Court, and the Royal Reception Rooms. 

Annemette tells us about the government of Denmark, the Welfare Model, the tax system which supports it, and the Royal Family.

The Royal Riding Grounds in front of the castle

King Christian IV

Walking around the garden pond, we stop by some beautiful flowers and the statue of the 19^th century existentialist philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard and Annemette tells us about his life and works.

Soren Kierkegaard

We pass by the Old Stock Exchange building.  Built to promote the mercantile ambitions of Denmark in the 1600s, it was the “World Trade Center” of Scandinavia. 

The dragon-tail spire with three crowns represents the Danish aspiration to rule a united Scandinavia. (Denmark, Sweden, Norway).

We walk along the Kobmagergade and notice these little bars in the pavement.  Annemette tells us it is Braille to guide the blind down the street.

Here we find the Round Tower Observatory and the Trinity Church, which adjoins it.  Round Tower is still a functioning observatory.  A spiral ramp inside bring you to the top, but we did not.  

I was most interested in the Trinity Church as I knew this is where my great-grandparents were married on July 9, 1854, the day before they left on a ship to immigrate to the United States. 

It was beautiful inside.  

      

                                          

Our last stop on the walking tour was to Rosenborg Castle, which once served as a royal summer residence. 

We would be touring the inside the next day so we just wandered around the beautiful gardens of the castle and then bade farewell to our friends and tour guide.

We walked back to Nyhavn and saw the canal boats in front of our hotel getting ready to leave on a tour so we utilized our Copenhagen Card and hopped on board for a relaxing cruise through the canals of Copenhagen to end our first day of siteseeing in Copenhagen.

People line the canals to relax and enjoy the perfect weather.

Copenhagen Opera House

Another site of family history and we will
be climbing up this church tower on Day 2.

The boat guide provided us with lots of information about the buildings we passed, preparing us for what we planned to see on the inside the next day in Copenhagen.