On 11/30….
Monday was my full day in Copenhagen. And again…raining. And cold. I had at least wised up a touch and added another layer to my non-winter wear, putting my black hoodie over my track jacket, over my sweater, over a long sleeved shirt. We walked through Nyhavn again and then headed out to check out the city. We walked around the harbor and saw the Opera across the water as well as the spot where the Royal ships would’ve docked to head to the Palace of the King. Turning around you could see it in a straight shot ahead so we walked over there to check it out. There was a great statue of Frederick V in the center of the Palace area and while I was taking pictures I couldn’t help notice some other tourists taking photos of the Palace guards. Those poor guys. They just have to stand there and take it. We moved on to the church laying just beyond whose name escapes me at the moment. From far away I thought it WAS the palace of the king rather than the buildings to my right and left. D’oh. Dumb American – sees a rotunda and thinks it’s where the King would live.
After the brush with royalty it was onto the military and we headed to the fortress, “Kastellet: Citadellet Frederikshavn.” The grounds for the fortress were amazing and if the weather was better I would’ve been content to wander the grounds all day. I kept thinking it would be a great place to see a historical reenactment. It belongs to the Danish Defence so we had to be on our best behavior so we wouldn’t get booted.
Next it was time to see the Danish equivalent of the “Mannekin-Pis” – the statue of the Little Mermaid by Edvard Eriksen in the harbor. Why the little mermaid? Because long before it was envisioned by Disney it w
as written by Hans Christian Andersen and served as inspiration for the statue. Eriksen wanted to use the prima ballerina Ellen Price who had been in the ballet version of the story at the Royal Theatre as a model for the statue but she didn’t want to pose nude for him. Instead he used his wife’s body as the model and Price’s face for the head. I’d heard that like the Pissing Boy of Belgium it is one of those statues where you think “really? This is it?” It’s diminutive in size, especially in contrast to the rest of the harbor area. But it’s still a “must see” and I was fortunate enough to catch her when I did. She’s apparently about to go on tour in China so not only did I get to see her but I also got to see another statue that will take her place while she’s on tour. There will be a few actually but there was only one up at the moment and I just loved it. It was a statue of a very obese naked woman sitting on the shoulders of a lanky, skinny African man and the fat woman was holding the scales of justice in his hand. The statue is called “Survival of the Fattest," was done by a Danish sculptor and represents the wealth of nations resting on the backs of those that are usurped.
“I’m sitting on the back of a man.
He is sinking under the burden.
I would do anything to help him.
Except stepping down from his back”
Justitia (western goddess of justice)
It was brilliant, part of the sevenmeters.net project (check it out) and made the trek in the rain totally worth it. I liked the Little Mermaid too!
We stopped into a café called “Delish” to warm up and when I saw the prices I was bummed we were too cold
and wet to set out to find the coffee place Wim suggested where you get free pastry with your coffee. My pants were wet from dragging on the ground and I was sure I’d end up with a cold by the time the day was over. But we pushed on anyway and headed next to the cemetery. I had mentioned to Chris when he was in Malta that I’d like to see one so he indulged me. Unfortunately I didn’t think ahead enough to try to find the one Hans Christian Andersen is buried at, so we ended up at the closest one instead. I must say, it was gorgeous and looked more like a park than a cemetery. Each family plot area was sectioned off with greenery and the emphasis throughout was on a natural look. Many of the stones were rough looking as if they hadn’t even been finished but rather just fished out of a pond somewhere. I found several tombstones that bore my mother’s maiden name – Dahl – so I made sure to take photos of those despite knowing that I probably had no connection to them. Our family story is that the name was shortened at Ellis island when my grandfather’s family came over from Sweden. But then again…you never know.
My favorite inscription at the cemetery was,
“Grant me a sense of humor Lord, give me the grace to see a joke.
To get some happiness from life and pass it on to other folk.”
Next it was on to the National Museum because I wanted to see their ethnographic collection. On the way we stopped to get take-away food because it was the cheapest thing to do. I should probably mention that the exchange rate is currently at about 5 to 1 in Denmark and everything is more expensive than it was in Belgium. Something at home that would cost around $5 costs about $8 there. Kinda like those $10 beers – granted they were .5 litre glasses but at home I think I would’ve paid about $8 for that – including tip. I don’t want to complain about it too much but it certainly changed the scope of the trip having to think about what I would spend and how much money I’d have left for when I return to Malta and then back in Milwaukee. Thankfully Chris is such a low key guy and couldn’t care less that we weren’t going out for fancy dinners all the time. He gladly got a hot dog from a stand and I found a place that sold pizza by the slice. Unfortunately when we arrived at the museum we found out that it was closed – despite the fact that the website said they were open on Mondays from October through April or something like that. I was pretty bummed because I wanted to see that exhibit and the museum was free.
We turned instead and headed to another spot that looked important, which ended up being Christansborgs Slot, which has been the location of a castle since the late twelfth century, though the one that stands there now was built in the early 1900s. With an equestrian statue of Frederick VII in the center of the court, the palace now houses administrative offices and several little museums that were also closed, like the royal stables and coaches museum. While we were there some sort of convention seemed to be taking place in the centre involving “smart cars” and we wondered if it was tied to the Green convention as well or just a coincidence. We couldn’t tell if they were being test driven, marketed, shown off, sold or what. Oddly, there ended up being an article about smart cars in Copenhagen in the International Herald on my flight back, but it didn’t mention the event.
We kept walking and saw the building with a spire known as “Borsen’s Spire”. It’s a 17th century piece done on copper and designed with the tails of 4 intertwined dragons. The building was part of the design to make CPH the center of trade in the Baltic during Christian IV’s reign and once housed the stock exchange. It’s now owned by the Chamber of Commerce and not open to the public. Boo.
By then the
sun was setting so I asked if we could take another walk through the shopping street near Nyhavn. As we did so we ended up seeing a film set. We had no clue what it was for – movie, TV show…but there was a whole street scene done up outside one of the corner cafes in the area with lots of extras acting as carolers and street vendors. The main focus of the shot was a family of three – mom, dad, daughter and the female seemed to be the lead. They entered the shot from around the corner with the vendors, laughing delightedly at the picturesque winter scene and as they approached the main entrance to the café the female got a phone call. She excused herself, kissing the man on the cheek and turned off in the direction they’d come from with the man and daughter continuing on their way. They were all speaking Danish and we definitely didn’t recognize anyone there but it was fun to see nonetheless. Especially considering that they were just blocks from the real Christmas bazaar in Nyhavn.
At this point Chris and I decided we were freezing and giving up for the day. I was soaked through from the rain and the wind was picking up. We took the train back to his dorm and checked our email. While we were online we noticed Areyl was as well so we ended up getting to chat with her on FB for a while. We asked Chris’ roommate, Rahul, if he would mind if we watched a movie and popped in “I Love You Man” because I hadn’t seen it yet. Good movie!
Monday was my full day in Copenhagen. And again…raining. And cold. I had at least wised up a touch and added another layer to my non-winter wear, putting my black hoodie over my track jacket, over my sweater, over a long sleeved shirt. We walked through Nyhavn again and then headed out to check out the city. We walked around the harbor and saw the Opera across the water as well as the spot where the Royal ships would’ve docked to head to the Palace of the King. Turning around you could see it in a straight shot ahead so we walked over there to check it out. There was a great statue of Frederick V in the center of the Palace area and while I was taking pictures I couldn’t help notice some other tourists taking photos of the Palace guards. Those poor guys. They just have to stand there and take it. We moved on to the church laying just beyond whose name escapes me at the moment. From far away I thought it WAS the palace of the king rather than the buildings to my right and left. D’oh. Dumb American – sees a rotunda and thinks it’s where the King would live.
After the brush with royalty it was onto the military and we headed to the fortress, “Kastellet: Citadellet Frederikshavn.” The grounds for the fortress were amazing and if the weather was better I would’ve been content to wander the grounds all day. I kept thinking it would be a great place to see a historical reenactment. It belongs to the Danish Defence so we had to be on our best behavior so we wouldn’t get booted.
Next it was time to see the Danish equivalent of the “Mannekin-Pis” – the statue of the Little Mermaid by Edvard Eriksen in the harbor. Why the little mermaid? Because long before it was envisioned by Disney it w
as written by Hans Christian Andersen and served as inspiration for the statue. Eriksen wanted to use the prima ballerina Ellen Price who had been in the ballet version of the story at the Royal Theatre as a model for the statue but she didn’t want to pose nude for him. Instead he used his wife’s body as the model and Price’s face for the head. I’d heard that like the Pissing Boy of Belgium it is one of those statues where you think “really? This is it?” It’s diminutive in size, especially in contrast to the rest of the harbor area. But it’s still a “must see” and I was fortunate enough to catch her when I did. She’s apparently about to go on tour in China so not only did I get to see her but I also got to see another statue that will take her place while she’s on tour. There will be a few actually but there was only one up at the moment and I just loved it. It was a statue of a very obese naked woman sitting on the shoulders of a lanky, skinny African man and the fat woman was holding the scales of justice in his hand. The statue is called “Survival of the Fattest," was done by a Danish sculptor and represents the wealth of nations resting on the backs of those that are usurped.“I’m sitting on the back of a man.
He is sinking under the burden.
I would do anything to help him.
Except stepping down from his back”
Justitia (western goddess of justice)
It was brilliant, part of the sevenmeters.net project (check it out) and made the trek in the rain totally worth it. I liked the Little Mermaid too!
We stopped into a café called “Delish” to warm up and when I saw the prices I was bummed we were too cold
and wet to set out to find the coffee place Wim suggested where you get free pastry with your coffee. My pants were wet from dragging on the ground and I was sure I’d end up with a cold by the time the day was over. But we pushed on anyway and headed next to the cemetery. I had mentioned to Chris when he was in Malta that I’d like to see one so he indulged me. Unfortunately I didn’t think ahead enough to try to find the one Hans Christian Andersen is buried at, so we ended up at the closest one instead. I must say, it was gorgeous and looked more like a park than a cemetery. Each family plot area was sectioned off with greenery and the emphasis throughout was on a natural look. Many of the stones were rough looking as if they hadn’t even been finished but rather just fished out of a pond somewhere. I found several tombstones that bore my mother’s maiden name – Dahl – so I made sure to take photos of those despite knowing that I probably had no connection to them. Our family story is that the name was shortened at Ellis island when my grandfather’s family came over from Sweden. But then again…you never know.My favorite inscription at the cemetery was,
“Grant me a sense of humor Lord, give me the grace to see a joke.
To get some happiness from life and pass it on to other folk.”
Next it was on to the National Museum because I wanted to see their ethnographic collection. On the way we stopped to get take-away food because it was the cheapest thing to do. I should probably mention that the exchange rate is currently at about 5 to 1 in Denmark and everything is more expensive than it was in Belgium. Something at home that would cost around $5 costs about $8 there. Kinda like those $10 beers – granted they were .5 litre glasses but at home I think I would’ve paid about $8 for that – including tip. I don’t want to complain about it too much but it certainly changed the scope of the trip having to think about what I would spend and how much money I’d have left for when I return to Malta and then back in Milwaukee. Thankfully Chris is such a low key guy and couldn’t care less that we weren’t going out for fancy dinners all the time. He gladly got a hot dog from a stand and I found a place that sold pizza by the slice. Unfortunately when we arrived at the museum we found out that it was closed – despite the fact that the website said they were open on Mondays from October through April or something like that. I was pretty bummed because I wanted to see that exhibit and the museum was free.
We turned instead and headed to another spot that looked important, which ended up being Christansborgs Slot, which has been the location of a castle since the late twelfth century, though the one that stands there now was built in the early 1900s. With an equestrian statue of Frederick VII in the center of the court, the palace now houses administrative offices and several little museums that were also closed, like the royal stables and coaches museum. While we were there some sort of convention seemed to be taking place in the centre involving “smart cars” and we wondered if it was tied to the Green convention as well or just a coincidence. We couldn’t tell if they were being test driven, marketed, shown off, sold or what. Oddly, there ended up being an article about smart cars in Copenhagen in the International Herald on my flight back, but it didn’t mention the event.
We kept walking and saw the building with a spire known as “Borsen’s Spire”. It’s a 17th century piece done on copper and designed with the tails of 4 intertwined dragons. The building was part of the design to make CPH the center of trade in the Baltic during Christian IV’s reign and once housed the stock exchange. It’s now owned by the Chamber of Commerce and not open to the public. Boo.
By then the
sun was setting so I asked if we could take another walk through the shopping street near Nyhavn. As we did so we ended up seeing a film set. We had no clue what it was for – movie, TV show…but there was a whole street scene done up outside one of the corner cafes in the area with lots of extras acting as carolers and street vendors. The main focus of the shot was a family of three – mom, dad, daughter and the female seemed to be the lead. They entered the shot from around the corner with the vendors, laughing delightedly at the picturesque winter scene and as they approached the main entrance to the café the female got a phone call. She excused herself, kissing the man on the cheek and turned off in the direction they’d come from with the man and daughter continuing on their way. They were all speaking Danish and we definitely didn’t recognize anyone there but it was fun to see nonetheless. Especially considering that they were just blocks from the real Christmas bazaar in Nyhavn.At this point Chris and I decided we were freezing and giving up for the day. I was soaked through from the rain and the wind was picking up. We took the train back to his dorm and checked our email. While we were online we noticed Areyl was as well so we ended up getting to chat with her on FB for a while. We asked Chris’ roommate, Rahul, if he would mind if we watched a movie and popped in “I Love You Man” because I hadn’t seen it yet. Good movie!
I thought I love you man was a good movie, too. I'm back from Hawaii, and reading my little (slanty) eye-balls off trying to catch up. Love it! And you'll be home, soon, too!
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