Denmark
While in Denmark, we visited Copenhagen
September 2nd and 3rd, 2002
Since I don't have pictures of this trip due to camera problems,
I have attached a website of Copenhagen Tourism Photos....
Just click here to go to the website. www.copenhagenpictures.dk
Monday evening, we arrive in Copenhagen around 8 pm and head for
the guest house that I had the insight to book ahead of time. Since
we were getting in late (had to take train to town center and then
bus to guest house), the guest house said to just let ourselves in
and there would be a note instructing us as to which room we would
occupy. Well we got into the entry way of the place and we cannot
find a note anywhere! We go upstairs and look around too, but no
note!!! As we're looking around, we notice in the entry way that
there is a chain saw and other work stuff, so of course we are joking
about it being the "Bates Motel". Anyway, we have to decide if we
are going to try to wake the housekeeper up or try some of the doors
upstairs to see which is still open (only 5 rooms upstairs). Since
we have no idea where the housekeeper is staying, my sister's fiance
tries one of the door handles "room 2" and finds it unlocked and empty. The only problem is that it's a two person room instead of a triple!
Well we figure that's better then nothing and start brushing our teeth
for bed. Suddenly, we hear some people coming up the stairs and so we
stop them to ask if they know if all the rooms are full. They tell
us that as far as they know the rooms are empty. So I tell them the
story and they start laughing. They go "ohhhh, so the note was for
you!" The note just said "Dear English People, you will be in room 4
tonight". Well the guys were English and already had room #3 and
thought the note strange, but took it with them anyway! So, we
quickly transferred our junk to room 4 and went to sleep.
Tuesday morning, the housekeeper comes up and wants to know why we
were messing around in room 2 when we were supposed to be in room 4.
We try to explain, but due to the language barrier she is confused
and we finally give up. So after a shower, we start out walking for
our first view of Copenhagen by daylight! Copenhagen is a very clean
and pretty place. The majority of people ride their bicycles to and
from work instead of driving. The bicycles actually get their own
lane on a lot of streets (like a car lane) to ride and whole hordes
of them go by at "rush hour"! As a bicycle rider, I was quite
impressed with the respect that they give bicyclers on the rode
(not like in Texas where they honk at you as they run you over).
Anyway, the first thing we came to is the major shopping street
called Stroget! Now the interesting thing about Stroget is that
it's not an actual street name, but instead a term used to describe
a long line of streets that lead through the central part of the city.
We walk down this street, restraining ourselves quite well I think,
and pick a place to stop for lunch.
I had been told that the water
tour bus is the thing to do in Copenhagen, so after lunch we set out
to find the departure point. It was definitely the "easy" way to see
the sights. On the tour we started at Nyhavn, the oldest part of the
city. This canal was dug between 1669 and 1673 in order to draw
traffic and commerce into the heart of the city and allow the
merchants to build their houses along the wharfs. There is still
a house there which displays 1681 across the front of it and is
owned by an 11th generation descendant of the Baron of Rysensteen
(builder of the canal). Most of the small houses dating from the
18th century still stand and offer bars and restaurants on the bottom
floor with outdoor tables to watch the sunset. Hans Christian
Andersen lived in three different places in Nyhavn
(1835, 1848-65, 1873-75).
Next on the tour we saw The Little
Mermaid statue which was given to the city by Carlsberg's famous
brewer Carl Jacobsen, the buildings of the old naval base (which
has a crown on top of a little spire on the building), and the Borsen
(old stock exchange building with Dragon Steeple). Several times on
the tour we could see the spire of "The Church of Our Saviour"
towering over the city. The unique thing about this spire is the
way the architect built the spiraling staircase up to the top on
the outside of the building (400 steps to top). The church was
erected in the 1680's but the tower spire was not added until the
middle of the 18th century. My sister and I both decided that we
were going to go see it as soon as the tour was over. Well we
immediately set off in the direction of the spire, half following
the map and half just following the spire in the sky. Well wouldn't
you know it, as soon as we got there it was closed!!! They are
only open 11:00 to 3:30 (pretty nice hours, huh?). So disappointed,
we went and found a little bar on the canal to relax at and have a
beer in the afternoon sun... Copenhagen is home of the Carlsburg
Brewery after all! Anyway, as evening approached we found ourselves
back at Nyhavn for a relaxing dinner on the patio.
The
End
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