Day 24 – Copenhagen

 

Day 24 – Copenhagen

We arrived in Copenhagen amid glowering skies and rain, which varied from drizzle to downpour and continued throughout the day.  This was only our second day of serious rain – the first was Geranger, Norway.  Due to completely inadequate information and no assistance from HAL, finding our way into the city was stressful, but we made it after a walk in heavy rain, followed by a bus ride, and then the metro.  Once we understood the process it was not unreasonable.  We met our former neighbor, Anita, who is Danish and now lives in the city.  She is a local tour guide and gracious enough to provide us with a tour tailored to our limited time.  Why the ship had to leave port so early is mystery.

We basically covered much of the old town and major buildings.  This included viewing the badly damaged stock exchange (fire, possibly arson), the Cristiansborg Palace, St. Nikolai church, the Frau Kirk, Copenhagen Cathedral, Amalienborg Palace, and Gammel Strand (main shopping street).  The St Nikolai church is a lovely seaman’s chapel with extensive wood pews and balconies, a magnificent pulpit, and the obligatory ship model hung from the ceiling.  As we walked further, we heard music and were very lucky to have the royal guard band march down our street as part of the changing of the guard at the palace.  The round tower, connected to the trinity church, was particularly interesting because it has a circular ramp rather than stairs, which allows wheeled trolleys (or gun mounts) to climb to the top.  Lord Nelson(?) scaled it on his horse, so they say, but the horse refused to go back down.  The interior of the church was particular beautiful (and ornate for a Protestant church).  The Frau Kirk was stunning in its white simplicity combined with many marvelous sculptures of Jesus, the gospel writers, Paul, Peter, and other notables.  These were created by a local and famous artist who studied in Rome.  It seemed to us that his style borrowed extensively from Michaelangelo.

Anita provided us with many fascinating aspects of the city’s history and the many royals that controlled the city and country.  The politics over 4+ centuries is a welter of interlocking relationships between all of the countries and royal lines throughout Europe, with much intrigue and manipulation.

Anita guided us to one of the upscale department stores in town, where we ate lunch on the lop floor.  Locally loved open Danish sandwiches were wonderful, particularly when accompanied by very good Danish beer!

After the Amalienborg Palace Anita accompanied us on the metro to make sure we made the correct transfers to get back to the ship.  It was lovely to see her and enjoy her expertise and good company!

As we sailed away from Copenhagen the clouds lifted and the rain stopped (why couldn ‘t it have cleared off earlier?).  We enjoyed a spectacular sunset as we left our last port.

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