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Published: June 19th 2009
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Copenhagen
Wednesday 10th September (Day 16)
Today was pretty overcast, and it had been raining overnight, so we weren’t too sure what we would be able to get up to before any more rain kicked in. We headed back into central Copenhagen anyway, and walked over to Christiansborg Palace (currently the Parliament buildings). Christinsborg Palace is actually on its own island (called Slotsholmen), but the canals surrounding it are so small that you don’t even realise when you see it. We headed into the grounds and were surprised to find that there wasn’t really much to look at, although it was clear that a large construction or restoration project was taking place. There were heaps of school kids around, excited about their class trip to the palace, and all you could hear was the constant echo of laughter bouncing off all the buildings.
In a quiet moment we saw that some large doors were open to one section of the palace, and we were curious about what was inside. We did a quick covert mission through the double doors and found ourselves in the entryway of the palace horse stables. Some people were talking down the end and
we realised that we definitely weren’t allowed to be in that area. However, of course I wanted to get a few photos before leaving, and I managed to snap a couple before startling one of the horses, which made a lot of noise. The horses were so massive and really beautiful, but we knew we had created a bit of a commotion so we hot-footed it out of there and headed towards the Ruins of Absalon’s Fortress, which are the excavated foundations of the original palace (dated 1167), which is located in the basement of the current palace. When we got there however, Vaughan was a bit worried about the size of the basement, as he gets frustrated with low ceilings, so we ended up giving it a miss and walking out through the other side of the grounds and then through the gardens, which was quite pleasant. The rain was holding off at this point and it wasn’t hot, so it was pleasant enough just walking around.
Shortly after, we decided to walk over to Amalienborg Palace, to see what that was like. Amalienborg Palace is the home of the Dutch royals, and was quite different from Christiansborg
Palace - it was set in a more circular shape, with a large central cobblestone area, watched over by guards (like the British ones, only wearing blue). We sat down for a moment but got moved on by the guards - apparently there is no loitering in the area, for security reasons. We wandered down to the nearby waterfront and sat in some gardens, hiding under a tree and an umbrella while the heavens opened up and the rain poured down. It was still warm enough and fairly enjoyable to be sheltered from the rain while sitting in some lush gardens with the palace on one side and the harbour on the other.
Once the rain had subsided we walked further around the waterfront for quite some time, eventually seeing a bunch of people gathered at one point and wondering what was there. As we got closer we saw it was the statue of the Little Mermaid, which people were keen to see. The statue itself is very small, and the real story is quite sad (not like the Disney version), so many Dutch people can’t understand the fixation that foreigners have with the statue. The statue was next
to an amazing fountain that backed onto the Kastellet, a moat-surrounded fort in the shape of a pentagram, that is now home of the Danish Home Guard. We walked across the drawbridge and past the barrier arm without any problems at all - not sure whether there was meant to be any security, but we didn’t see any. There were all kinds of interesting things to see - windmills, an old jail, canons, barracks, etc, so we spent a few minutes walking around for a bit of a look. It was getting a bit cold and the rain was threatening again, so we decided to quickly head up to Kongens Have (King’s Gardens) and the 17th century Rosenburg Slot (castle). We didn’t go inside but we definitely admired the gardens, that seemed to have something special at every turn - statues, strawberry gardens, playgrounds, fountains, bridges, sun beds, and the list goes on. It was quite an enjoyable place to be, and we would have stayed much longer if not for the weather. From there we headed back towards the central city and the waterfront via the small back cobblestone lanes where we got to see heaps of small, quaint
local shops. We also stopped off for a local coffee in a tiny shop, which helped us warm up a little.
We made it back to the beautiful harbour canal area (see picture with ships and houses in previous blog entry) where we strolled along looking for a restaurant for dinner later on. I had wanted to go on a canal & harbour cruise and we were right by one of the boarding stations, so we quickly jumped on board and started the tour. The guide was really good and we learned quite a lot, stopping off at various points of interest along the way, including many of the spots we had already visited. It was excellent to learn more about them, and to hear things from a locals perspective. It got a bit cold on the boat after a short time, so we generally sat inside, but there were only about 8 of us on the whole thing, so there was still heaps of space to spread out and plenty of free windows from which to take photos. About an hour or so later we were back to where we started and we finished up with the tour.
We couldn’t decide where to go for dinner so we opted for a cheap meal from the local hot dog cart, which was just as good (if not better) than going to one of the waterfront restaurants. We went back for an extra hot dog before heading back to the B&B, as it was getting quite chilly near the water. Despite the weather we had had a good day. Tomorrow, off to Northern Denmark……
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