Hej from Sweden and Denmark Part II!Brent is writing the blog this week and will not come close to the quality of Becky’s submissions.
We will begin this posting with a picture of Becky in front of her favorite guy at our Copenhagen hotel "Kong Artur." This picture is taken at the start of our trip to Malmö, Sweden.
On Frédag, September 30, we traveled from København (Copenhagen) to Malmö, Sweden via the Oresund Bridge (Malmö and Copenhagen make up the center of the so-called Oresund Region ). We hopped a train in Copenhagen and arrived in Malmö about 40 minutes later. After acquiring yet another currency on our trip at the train station (as with Denmark, Sweden does not use the Euro and has kept the kroner), we began our first visit to Sweden. As with Denmark, we experienced a little culture shock from our base in Bulgaria--pedestrian crosswalks are truly pedestrian. Car and bus drivers expect you to cross when the light is green and it is your turn. In fact, they will honk their horns at you if there is any hesitation. Crosswalks in Bulgaria are more "theoretical" from our experience. Often drivers speed up when they see you want to cross the street during a greenlight! I usually feel more like a moving target than a pedestrian. OK, back to Malmö.
Once leaving the central train station, we found ouselves in Gamla Staden, the old town, which forms the center of the city. The picture on the left is one of the several beautiful squares in the city center where there are many shops, restaurants, etc.
The picture on the left is one of the many canals surrounding Gamela Staden. There are many walking paths and parks surrounding the area and the preferred mode of travel appears to be walking, but with a lot of bikes as well.
On the western side of Gamela Staden we found the castle called "Malmöhus." The castle is considered one of the oldest Renaissance castles in northern Europe (circa 1434) and houses several museums including natural history and regional museums. Of particular interest to us were the living quarters on the top floor where we found many pictures and furniture of many Danish kings who from the time when the area was part of Denmark.
Toward the end of our day we walked to a new building called the Turning Torso, which is located near the bay facing Copenhagen. This building with 90 degrees of “twisting” is about 190 meters tall (623 feet or so) with 54 floors. It is quite bizarre looking and dominates the skyline of Malmö. The building is based on a sculpture by Santiago Calatrava called the “Twisting Torso.” The building will house some office space and about 149 luxury apartments (they called the building a “cooperative living arrangment” on one of the information signs. What a co-op!). The company maintains a website with some additional pictures at: www.turningtorso.com
BACK TO COPENHAGEN [Final Day in Viking Land]
On our last day in Copenhagen we decided to visit the Slotsholmen area where Christianborg Palace is located. The weather this day took a turn for the worse with much rain and cold, cold wind. The Palace is now home to the national government, a museum of ancient ruins, and the Royal Reception Rooms, used by the Danish royal family for official receptions. Because we could not tour the reception rooms until 3:00 pm, we decided to tour the ruins underneath the palace. There were several sets of ruins dating back from 1300 where they have built and rebuilt the palace several times. Of particular interest were the old preserved hollowed-out logs they used for water pipes and the various (still functional wells) from 1300. The current Christiansborg Palace is the fourth palace in Slotsholm and was built between 1907 and 1928. The second and third palaces were both destroyed by fire (1794 and 1884 respectively).
When we returned in the rain for our 3:00 pm tour of the Royal Reception Rooms and were most interested in the unusual tapestries hanging in the reception room. The tapestries are of modern design and are called the “History of Denmark.” There are wild colors and unusual themes such as a tapestry of the current queen and her husband standing in a Danish Garden of Even in an Adam and Eve (with clothes on however). There was also an interesting tapestry with pictures/figures from the world wars, modern popular culture (e.g., the Beatles), famous scientists (e.g., Einstein), etc. The tapestries took many years to consruct and were not finished until the Queen’s 60th birthday.
After touring the ruins we decided to visit a very odd looking church we had been admiring in the Christianshavn area. The Church is called Vor Fresers Kirke Church (The Church of Our Savior). The building was first erected in 1682 and an interesting tower and spire (cork screw shaped with stairs on the outside) was added in 1752. There are approximately 400 steps to the top with 150 steps outside the building. They allow people to climb the steps for a few kroner, so we eagerly started our ascent.
As I mentioned above it was cold and very windy with very, very strong wind gusts. After climbing wooden steps for a while we exited outside to finish our climb. The wind was so strong it was hard to stand up. Suffice to say that it was a little “narly” up there any way without the wind. After drawing straws Becky went first to "test" the wind for me. When we got to the top the view was absolutely spectacular, but we decided to sit while we took in the sites. Because the entire spire is framed with wood, it moved several inches with each wind gust.
Here is a picture I snapped on the way down the stairs. Thankfully it wasn't raining at the time. Looks like it would be a little slippery to me on the copper stairs!
Finally, here is one of the many spectacular views of Copenhagen you can see from the top of Vor Fresers Kirke Church.
Hej då! Brent and Becky
