not nasty or grotty in the slightest

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...."they attacked Copenhagen and confiscated our naval fleet. So, in retaliation we built canal boats and hid them in these canal side sheds...", our guide quipped in perfect english.

Christ, only two minutes into the netto boat tour and the Brits are already getting slated. There seemed to be a heavy French contingent on board so I countered their derisory glances with a sickly grin. Looking around, it looks as though it’s all turned out for the best because the ‘canal side sheds’ have now been turned into top spec offices going for over £1m a shot.

Around the next corner and a little float towards the land, we saw the much maligned Little Mermaid. All I’d been told about this famous little statue prior to our visit was that it was highly disappointing, barely visible in fact, and as such one to avoid. Thanks to all this negative hype, I for one was rather pleased to see her. Why does everything have to be big to be worth seeing?

Anyway, you can’t help but feel for the poor lass. The daughter of kind Neptune, she fell in love with a landlubber who after she'd crawled out of the sea, rejected her, the pompous ass, so she sat on this rock and died from misery. Another heart-warming tale from the happy factory that is HC Anderson. Still, I thought she looked rather beautiful, if a tad forlorn.

As I was pondering the miserable mermaid’s fate we floated along the canal admiring the assorted houseboats. There’s nothing I like more than having a nosey in people’s houses and the Danes are, to their credit, very obliging in that department. They love big open windows and space, space, space, so there’s lots to look at from outside. There’s nothing pervy about this quirk (I don’t think) I’m just fascinated by how other people live.

Our guide chatted on, “The Royal Library extension was built in 1999 by Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen...”

And that was it, I stopped listening. I have quite honestly never experienced a building like it. They call it ‘The Black Diamond’ and from what I could tell, you don’t really see it in the same way at all from the front, but by boat the giant black mirror that forms the shell of the building sitting alongside the canal sparkles like, well, an enormous black diamond. Clad in absolute black granite and glass and polished to within an inch of its life, the lucky boat-farer gets to see himself sparkling in a sea of glitter, projected onto the side of the building. It’s the reverse to the sensation of looking down at yourself! It quite took my breath away.

Our trip here can be summed up in a similar way. Things look pretty familiar but somehow better. It is home to one of the best loved fairytale writers and the city itself is swathed in magic; a magic that reveals itself in the most unexpected of places!

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Photos

Nettotastic
Hard to believe but another passenger thought this looked like Hull