Aug 21 – Copenhagen

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As the old Danny Kaye song goes:

“Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen,

Friendly old girl of a town,

'Neath her tavern light

On this merry night
Let us clink and drink one down.
To wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen
Salty old queen of the sea
Once I sailed away
But I'm home today
Singing Copenhagen, wonderful, wonderful
Copenhagen for me. “

Anyway, we’re here in wonderful Copenhagen today. We sailed in and docked about 8:00. One of the first things we noticed as we entered the port were a whole series of wind turbines standing out in the water – apparently generating electricity. We had had a good night’s sleep and we went up to the buffet for breakfast before docking. One of these days, we may try to sit-down breakfast, but this is easier and much quicker, and certainly just as tasty. Meanwhile we had a view from high up as we watched the captain back the ship into the harbor and park behind another cruise ship – better him than us trying that trick.



We reported to the Princess Theater and they called our tour to disembark at 8:15. Today was only a 3-hour tour with a couple of hours driving around town and an hour on a canal boat. We boarded the tour bus and found 3 of 5 people who had been on our Hampton Court tour back in London.



Our first stop was a photo opportunity at the Little Mermaid statue. Apparently we were lucky to because in 2010 it had been on tour in China all summer, and around the turn of the century it had been vandalized at least twice. Today it was waiting for us in the usual pose and without any damage apparent. We were told that on Friday they will celebrate her 100 anniversary with a band playing songs and 100 virgins swimming in the water behind her (we’re a little skeptical about that second part). Friday is also going to be our anniversary, but we aren’t planning quite such an elaborate festivity.



We were soon back on the bus for a short ride to the next photo-op at Gefion Fountain, the Albans Church, and a bust of Winston Churchill.. Five minutes there, and then we boarded the bus again for a short ride over the Amalienborg Palace. This is actually four residences facing a central square. The queen lives in one of the Rococo building, the queen’s mother in another, her son (the king in waiting) in a third, and the fourth is for royal visitors. Each of the four building are essentially the same 100+ room residences (gives a whole new meaning to the term “cookie-cutter subdivision”). We had a few minutes to shop in nearby souvenir stores, but then we were ushered back onto the bus. We think the guide was trying to beat the crowds because there were multiple copies of our tour arriving behind us and also a Royal Caribbean ship discharging their people onto the streets too – as it was we almost got blocked into the bus parking lot by the other tour buses.



We drove through the town, seeing such places as the Christianborg Palace (originally the King’s Palace but it has been the seat of Danish Parliament since 1918), the Danish Stock Exchange, several impressive churches and fountains. We saw the outside of the Royal Theater, the City Hall, the National Museum, and many stores, restaurants, and hotels. Basically everywhere look tidy and clean, and most everything reflected old-style architecture. If it weren’t for the buses and cars, it would have been like driving through a Hans Christian Anderson story. By the way, there are bicycles everywhere (the guide said that 30% of the people ride bike to/from work every day (regardless of weather) instead of cars.



We eventually boarded a canal boat to see the city from a different perspective. Janet sat inside under the glass-topped cover while David sat up front to get better picture opportunities. A couple of times the guide had to caution people not to stand up while to boat went under bridges, one of which was an especially tight squeeze. We alternated between going through canals and various parts of the port. We saw their new Opera Theater, many residential neighborhoods on the canals (kind of like Venice) and many small boats moored along the canals. There were some stretches where the guide could not provide narration because the boats had to be quiet to keep from upsetting the residences – these are very pricey places and apparently have a lot of clout. We also saw spire of Our Savior Church, which has a 430 foot staircase leading up to the top on the outside of the shire – supposed to provide a spectacular view for those strong enough to make it to the top.



The boat let us off within a short walk of our ship. We stopped in a couple of shops before boarding the Crown Princess again about 11:30. Then we went up to lunch and had a nice quiet time – many of the folks seemed to still be on shore.



After lunch, Janet regretted not having purchased a particular souvenir she has seen near the Amalienborg Palace. Since we had gotten a good map of the city, David set off on foot to find his way there and back. Along the way he kept his eyes open for somewhere to get a genuine Danish pastry but surprisingly there were none to be found – maybe further over by the Tivoli Gardens. Anyway, he made it back in plenty of time (guess all those hours on the treadmill this Spring are paying some benefits now).



We settled down this afternoon for a few hours to rest. Janet took a little nap on the bed and David snoozed on the balcony. Tomorrow is another Sea Day where we will have time to rest, so we have planned several activities for this evening. Anyway, a little nap this afternoon seemed like a good idea.



This evening we went to dinner at 6:00 and both of our neighbors were there. We both ordered the crab cake appetizer and the Strawberry Smoothie as our cold soup. For her Entrée, Janet had the Sea Scallops and David had the Cowboy Steak. For dessert Janet had hot fudge brownie with ice cream and David had the butterscotch pecan torte. Service was a little slower this evening (our waiter Renaldo has 6 tables and sometimes we get served quickly and sometimes slower). But the food has been good every time, and we aren’t really in a hurry.



After dinner we went to the theater for the 8:00 show. This was a lady magician who had an entertaining act. It was part magic and part comedy. She didn’t do anything too unusual but it was entertaining to watch. We didn’t sit so close to the stage that we’d be called upon the go on stage, but we were close enough to try to see how she did the tricks – but her slight og hand was too good for us to spot the tricks. Anyway, it was fun.



After watching the show, we went to the Movies Under the Stars for a 9:00 show called SkyFall. This is the latest James Bond movie. We will not spoil the plot for anyone, but it was a typical Bond movie with him overcoming the villain at the end of the show. The screen is very large with pretty good clarity, so it was easy to recline in a deck chair and watch the show. The staff came around and brought bags of popcorn for everyone at the beginning and later they brought chocolate chip cookies and glasses of milk if you wanted them. It was over about 11:30 and then we headed back to the cabin for a good night’s sleep.



The weather on our trip has been pretty good so far on our vacation. We are going further north so it might cool down more, but as long as it stays dry we will be happy. The seas have been very smooth and we rarely feel any motion from the ship. Today in Copenhagen was mostly overcast, which might diminish the colors in the photos, but it was dry all day. The temperature during the day today seemed a little cool and Janet wore her sweater part of the time, but it was OK for David during the day. This evening “under the stars” we needed the blankets they furnished with the deck chairs. Also, it sprinkled lightly (about 3 times) during the movie, but not enough to make us leave.



Here's a kind of Where's Wzaldo question. Can you find Janet in the picture of the ship? Search for the red bag.

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Photos

Little Mermaid Statue
Copenhagen Denmark

Janet with Mermaid
Copenhagen

Amalienborg Palace
One of 4 building - Copenhagen

External Spire of
Our Savior Church - Copenhagen

Canal View
Copenhagen

Going under a Bridge
from Canal Boat in Copenhagen

Janet
exiting canal boat

Opera House
Copenhagen

Janet on our Balcony
Copenhagen

Look for the red bag
our ship in COpenhagen