A LITTLE MORE OF COPENHAGEN

We were up and at'em, out the door and headed to the nearest bus stop to learn more about this city of Danes.  The rainbow the day before was a sure sign that today things were going to go well.  The bus was at the stop and we boarded and we waited.  Well a ten minute wait was in order since we had arrived at 9:30 so departure would be at 9:40.  We did not leave - I think they wanted a full bus before they left but finally without the full bus we daparted.  Today we learned that because of the Ironman competition in the city a lot of the roads usually used on the tour would not be open so we would be taking a different rouote and would not go  to some areas. Oh well, we would get to see the little mermaid and that was on our agenda.  We went about  3 stops and pulled up to the Marriott Hotel and sat there for a half an hour waiting for people from the hotel to join the bus tour.  We were not happy campers.  Two other bus companies had come and gone.  Finally we departed and again the 

ccommentary on the bus did not sync with the sites we were seeing.  Of course we had the Ironman competition to thank for that but still the commentary had a way of starting with a thought and shifting to another one. ( When I think about it it was a lot like my conversation - I bet the commentary was just old.) We finally made it to our destination - The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid statue was a present from brewer Carl Jacobsen  (( The Carlsberg Breweries) to the city of Copenhagen, made by a then little known sculptor called Edvard Erichsen.  The statue was unveiled in 1913 as part of a general trend in those days, selecting classic and historical figures to be used as decorations in the city parks and public areas. Carl was so taken with the dancer Ellen Price that he asked her to pose for the statue.  She agreed but was not very intrested posing without her clothes when she found out how public the statue was going to be.  Edvard Erihsen's wife stepped in and modeled for the body.  The little mermaid symbolizes the fairy tale by Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen, the story of a young mermaid who fell in love with a prince who liveed on land, and often came up to the water's edge to look for her love.

After our look and picture taking at the statue we headed for the bus stop hoping that it would not be an hour before we got picked up.  It wasn't and we were off once again.  We decided to go visit the Amalienborg Palace and started to walk in the general direction.  Not being entirely sure what direction to proceed I decided to ask for directions.  I stopped a very nice woman who was most helpful and also informed me that the crown prince was probably participating in the Ironman competition.  

As we were walking we saw a building that we thought was the Parliament and so decided to take a closer look.  It was indeed the government building but was also the former home of the royal family and the rooms that are used for state functions were open to the public.  We decided to save some shoe leather and just stay and view the rooms in what is known as the Christiansborg Palace.    The royal family had lived there until 1794 when a fire broke out. 

The queen was attending an event at the palace the next day and they had the guard "huts' out for herarrival  so I just popped in for aminute.

We proceeded inside and I have to say that the room are quite impressive.  This was the grand staircase and me feeling grand in my littl blue shoe covers.

 

 Unbelievable chandaliers.Pictures can't capture their beauty.

The ceiling of the library.

The libary's decorations was originally financed through a collection on the Danish Island of Funen and for that reason only caraftsmans from Funen worked on its interior.The library contains over 90,000 books and about 10.000 are kept in Christiansbourg, while the rest are in Amalienborg Palace.

The pink room.  Redone for the 

Queen's 60th birthday.

                     

The State Dinning room.  The chandeliers originally were used in the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway but were sold when electric lights were installed in 1903.  When Norway celebrated the 100 anniversary of its independence the Norwegian royal house had copies made of the original chandaliers and they are used today in the Great Hall in the Royal Palace in Oslo.

This is The 

Great Hall which is used by the queen for state dinners, banquets, and the New Year Levee.  The room can hold 400 guests.  

                        

The throne Room.The Monarch receives guests in this room.  Today the Queen no longer sits on the throne but stands to receive guests.

I want to point out that I was not invited to either of these events at the palace.  

As I go through these magnificent buildings I am always so impressed with the chandeliers, the tapestries, paintings, and the doors.  Yup, I really love the treatment on the various doors.

Aren't they beautiful!

We left the palace and walked into the royal chapel for a quick glance.

After leaving the palace there was just time to catch a quick lunch and grab our bags and and get ready for the cab to pick us up and take us to the boat terminal for our trip to Oslo.  While sitting waiting for the cab to arrive we met some lovely ladies from Malaysia and found out they too were heading for the boat and on to Oslo.  Sharon and I both looked at their suitcases - they each had a big one and a little one and we just looked at each other and thought - no way.  They were traveling for a couple  of weeks also and had to move every few days and catch different kinds of transportation.   Better them than us.

We arrived at the terminal.

and once onbaoard waited for the elevator along with hundreds of other passangers.

We finally got to our room which wasn't too large but we did have a seaview.  After settling in, which took all of 5 minutes we were out the door exploring the ship.  

We found the lounge on floor 7 and decided to get a seat by the window and watch from there as the ship departed the city.

                

And we left the city and the rain behind.

That night onboard we enjoyed a casual dinner in one of several restaurants and than walked around and ended up sitting in a lounge area listening to a great piano player and singer.  His repertoire included great songs from my generation.  Songs you could actually sing a long to.  After his first set he came over, pulled up a chair and started a conversation.  This was his first week on the ship.

We sat there for a long time and just listened until some people came and interrupted the music with loud chatter.  We went to the big entertainment area and listened to that band for awhile and than decided it was time to turn in for the night.  The ship wouldn't get into Oslo until 9:45 so we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast onboard and finish throwing our things into the suitcase.