Rick Steves Tour of Scandinavia - Part 6: A Day in Copenhagen

 June 8 - A Full Day in Copenhagen

Walking Tour of Copenhagen

Today was our full day in Copenhagen. We woke to a lovely day and set out on a walking tour of the city with our great guide, Benny, who entertained us with stories about the city. Across the harbor, we could see the new Opera House, criticized by many for its modern appearance. In another direction was Christiania, a community of free-living "hippies" and others living an alternative lifestyle. We strolled through the King's Square, surrounded by buildings of white meant to reflect his love of France. (The French Embassy is one of these pretty buildings.) I enjoyed another walk up Strøget, the world's longest pedestrian street. Benny pointed out various places of interest - the churches, University, National Museum. We walked at a pretty brisk pace, so I wasn't able to note the names of some of the sites, but I'll identify as many as I can in the photos below.

Benny, our guide, telling us about the harbor area.

A drawbridge went up as we were about to cross the canal in Nyhavn. 
Ships with tall masts cannot move up the canal without raising the drawbridge.

A look back at the Hotel Bethel from the other side of the canal

From the old buildings of Copenhagen...

...to the new architecture of the new city.

Behind these buildings lies the commune of Christiania,

I was intrigued by this spiral staircase up a tower in the distance.
It is the spire of the Church of Our Saviour (Vor Frelsers Kirke).

The controversial new Opera House.

A pretty building along the harbor.

A convenient bench for a Giant!

Our group follows Benny into the courtyard of Amalienborg Palace,
still the home of the Danish royal family.

The backside of a statue of Frederik V in the courtyard of Amalienborg Palace.

Palace Guard at Amalienborg Palace

Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann was a Danish composer of the 19th century.

Copenhagen is known for its interesting towers and spires, 
but I could not find an identification on this one.

The King's Square

Some of the lovely white buildings that stand around the King's Square

The Royal Theater (on the left)

Just a cute little sculpture along the walk.

A tiny square with old half-timbered buildings

A covered gallery in a shopping mall.

Copenhagen Town Hall Clock Tower

Statue of Bishop Absalon, the legendary founder of Copenhagen in the late 1100s.

There are almost as many bikes in Copenhagen as in Amsterdam!

University in Copenhagen

Church of Our Lady - the Copenhagen Cathedral

Interior of Church of Our Lady

Statues of the Disciples in Church of Our Lady

Unidentified modern sculpture of the city on the facade of a building.

Our group enters the courtyard of Christiansborg Palace, which is now a government building.
It is the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister's Office,
and the Supreme Court of Denmark.

Christiansborg Palace

Detail from the top of the gates into Christiansborg Palace

Unidentified building...but I loved this sculpture.

Flowerpot in a courtyard.

Clock Tower on the City Hall and Equestrian Statue of Frederik VII

Unidentified church spire.

Rosenborg Castle - and an unexpected chance to try out the Danish medical system

(Or - the best laid plans of mice and tourists often go awry.)

After our morning tour, we had the rest of the day to explore on our own. So many choices! The National Museum, Rosenborg Castle, Tivoli, Amalienborg Palace, Christiansborg Palace, and the Little Mermaid statue. I decided to try to fit in both Rosenborg Castle and a quick zip through Tivoli just to see the gardens there, and I made reservations to join Carla and Mary for an evening canal cruise. I was really excited about the afternoon...but things did not go as planned.

On my way to Rosenborg Palace, I stumbled on a step jutting out from the front of a building and went down HARD on both hands. It was terribly embarrassing - and painful - but a lovely woman stopped to help me. Shaken and bruised, I got up and told her I would be fine - and I really thought I would - so I continued to the palace, which was lovely. In the older section, the rooms were quite dark - paneled in dark wood with small windows, with walls of dark marble, and filled with antique curios, furniture, and portraits of Danish kings and queens.

Rosenborg Castle sits behind a large green park.  The castle was built by Christiam IV as a country summer house in 1606 in the Dutch Renaissance style.  

The castle was used as a royal residence until 1710, and then used periodically after that time.

The Rosenborg Palace gardens

The moat surrounding Rosenborg Castle

Ancient clock

Carving in the dark wood of Rosenborg Castle

Ceiling tile

Ceramic wall tiles

Cherubs and goddesses look down from the crown molding

Articles on a dressing table

Masked revelers

A jewel box or reliquary?

Ornate fireplace and portrait of a Danish king

Wall tapestry

Portrait of a Queen...

...and a King.

And more kings.
(I think they should have looked for a new artist.  Most of the portraits were quite unflattering!)

The rooms in another wing of the palace were lighter and slightly more modern.

Chandelier of Amber

And Chandelier of crystal

The royal portraits begin to look more modern, as well.

Another marvelous clock

The Long Hall

At the other end of the Long Hall was the Throne Room

Tapestries celebrating the naval power of Denmark.

Beneath the castle is the Treasury, which holds the crown jewels and an extensive collection of carved ivory and amber, along with many other interesting treasures. While not as extensive as the crown jewels of England in the Tower of London, it was still impressive.

Crowns and Crown Jewels of the Danish Royal Families

Rosenborg Castle holds a large collection of carved ivory that spans almost 300 years,
with a focus on the 1700s. 
All kings from Frederik II to Frederik V employed ivory carvers and turners.  
Ivory turning also became popular with some members of the royal family. 
The tall pieces in the lower left photo were carved by Danish princes and princesses.

Amber was known as "Nordic Gold" as it was found in large quantities in the Baltic region. 
The amber pieces in this collection dates from the 1600s and 1700s.  

Ship carved from ivory

And other treasures from the Treasury

I finished my tour of Rosenborg Castle about two hours after my fall, and it became clear that I had a wee problem. My left thumb could bend forward at the knuckle, but I couldn't lift it back! I could push it up with my other hand, but I just couldn't lift it on my own. I had to laugh. I would bend and straighten my right thumb and think, "Well, this is easy; Come on, left thumb, let's get with the program!" I finally decided I really had better get this checked out. Thank goodness, I ran into Linda Stubinski, one of my tour mates, in the castle and she had Laurel's phone number. So I called Laurel, and she looked up the number to call for a medical issue. My cell phone could not make the call, as it was a Danish special 4-digit number, so a lovely woman at the ticket office of the castle let me use her cell phone. After a computer menu, and a very long wait, I finally got through to someone who set me up with an appointment at the ER a couple of hours later. So, I walked back to the hotel, rested a bit, then took a taxi to the ER on the far other side of the city. During my three-hour wait at the hospital, I had a nice chat with a Danish man. It was interesting to hear that he won't visit America, because, in his words, it is "too risky." We have heard this on our travel before. I wish more people at home understood that our gun culture and our current political disfunction are really changing our position in the world. There is a lot of mistrust in Europe about our country right now.

I finally saw the doctor, who looked like a mad scientist with his scruffy hair sticking out in every direction. He ordered several x-rays on my left thumb, but also my right hand, wrist, and arm, which were severely bruised and very painful. The good news was - no fractures, but I had a ruptured tendon in my thumb and would have to keep it in a splint for six weeks. I finally returned to the hotel around 8:30 p.m. My tour companions were so kind. I had several offers to help me pack for our early departure the next morning.

Of course, the most disappointing part of this was that I missed all the other places I had planned to visit in Copenhagen. I guess I'll just have to come back!