Goddag from Copenhagen.

Brent and I have come up here for six days. We are in a bit of culture shock coming from Bulgaria, but enjoying every minute. The posting today is from a walking tour called the "royal rumble." You'll see why. The opening photo is Brent in front of Rosenborg. This was origninally built by Christian IV in 1606 as a summer palace. It was used up until the time of Christian's great grandson, Frederick IV in about 1710. The entire castle was open to us and for an additional 20 DK (a little over $3) we were allowed to take photographs.

There are two entrances open to us: one was to the basement with the royal jewels. I tried to take a few pictures but the stuff was all behind glass so too much glare to bother. However, the rooms upstairs (3 floors) were all open. Because we are past the tourist season we were basically alone in the castle. Well, we were alone except for the guards that stand behind you to make sure you don't touch anything. The guards know enough that they really served as mini tour guides for us.



We learned a lot about the connections between the royal houses of Europe. Here we see King Christian VII. At 16 he was described as "gifted" but later was diagnosed as schizophrenic. He was a cousin of George III of England (also schizophrenic). He married Caroline Mathilde of England and they had one son (the next king, Frederick VII). This painting was done just for show as Christian never really ruled. Rather, his physician became Prime Minister and held considerable influence. He (the physician) is the father of the Queen's second child. Later, Christian's mother-in-law took power in a coup until Frederick VII was old enough to rule. Oh what a great soap opera that royal families can make.




There are a lot of very beautiful tapestries on display in the Long Hall. Each show victories in the Scanian War in the late 1600s. Unique detail in one tapestry shows lepers with significant facial scars, another depicts men very much engaged in using snuff. The king's throne at the far end is made of narwhale tusk and the ensemble with silver lions was modelled after the Old Testament description of Solomon's throne.


The current royal family lives at Amalienborg Slot. It is part of a group of 4 palaces (identical rococo mansions) surrounding a square with a statue of Frederick V on horseback in the center. The Queen was not in residence while we were there but we were allowed to tour the lower floor (3rd floor to us) of Prince Joachim's residence. Joachim is the Queen's younger son. He was recently divorced--a very rare thing among royals here in Denmark. Our tour guide suggested that the rather liberal ideas about relationships here result in people making marriage decisions only after they have give serious thought (read--lived together) to their relationship.


We have walked a considerable amount of central Copenhagen. It's been refreshing to have cool weather--although I could do without the periodic rain. We walked along a street on a canal (Nyhavn). It is lined with quite colorful apartment buildings and the canal is filled with various types of boats. We saw several open-air tour boats take off from here. It reminded me of the Jurassic Park ride at Universal studios. The boat was wide with benches and the people looked very cold and soaking wet. We decided to just get wet on the sidewalk instead.


Conveniently we found a stoop with an overhang at #67 Nyhavn to wait out a downpour. It just so happened it was the home of Hans Christian Andersen. A small marker on the door was all that told us where we were.

Besides the general touristy stuff here we have had a great time walking and jogging along canals and streets with some very tall (and mostly blonde) people. Bikes are definately the mode of transporation.


And since Copenhagen is relatively flat, the bikes appear to be the kind I grew up with (baskets and all). All roads have bike lanes and, believe me, if you try to walk in one you are in for at least bell ringing. Crosswalks are organized very well, and, unlike Bulgaria, when you step in one the cars will actually pause to let you by.

We will try to take the train to Malmo, Sweden tomorrow. I'm very upset about this European Union (EU) thing. Since we entered the EU via Vienna our passport stamps are from Austria. Entering the airport in Denmark was like flying from pdx to sfo. I'm sure taking the train to Sweden will be the same. I feel like I've travelled a long way to the land of my mother's family and all I have is this silly blog for my memory books (I can't afford to buy much of anything here-- coffee is about $5).

I hope to get those pictures of Plovdiv up when I return. I sure hope that its not just my Powerbook that is the problem. Brent's little Dell is working like a charm here in Denmark.


We'll leave you here with a photo of the little mermaid (Den Lille Havrue). She was a gift of the Danish beer baron Carl Jacobsen who was so moved by a ballet performance of The Little Mermaid that he had this comissioned for Copenhagen's waterfront. It survived both the Depression and WWII but has not fared so well recently. She has been decapitated twice in the last 40 years and both the head and one arm are no longer original. It is very far out from most tourist sites and our tour book says the vandalism is related to the view of "so bloody what" if we have a mermaid statue.

Farvel.