Copenhagen

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Hi all
We arrived in Denmark yesterday crossing from Rostock in Germany to Gedsard in Denmark by car ferry. A 1 hr 45 min crossing. We are staying in Copenhagan with Pete's brother, Darren who works here and his wife Karen and kids Matthew and Alyssa.
Darren and Karen took us into the city to the harbour. We saw The little mermaid....a statue on the shoreline in honour of Hans Christian Andersen. It is quite small and is frequently vandalised. It has been decapitated twice in the past and now the haed is filled with concrete. We walked to the royal palace and saw the changing of the guard at midday. I believe it is only a simple version of the British event at Buckingham Palace.
After lunch we took a cruise along the canals and into the harbour. Copenhagan has a very strong Dutch influence and was designed to look like Amsterdam with man-made canals and islands. The souvenir shops are also filled with typical Dutch-like souvenirs only with Denmark written on them.
On our way back to the station we strolled along the world's longest paedestrian mall and stopped by the church where Mary became Crown-Princess. It was not at all what I expected...very simple inside and out.
The following day we drove out to Helsingor to visit a 16th century castle known as Kronborg. It once was a royal castle and a striking military fortress complete with moat. It is Denmark's most renowned castle made famous by Shakespeare's Hamlet and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We were able to see the 60 metre ballroom'the well-preserved chapel and the castle dungeons.
Lunch in the town centre and a stroll back to the car then home along the exclusive harbourside streets back to Copenhagan.
It has been great to catch up with family that we don't often get to see. Karen has gone out of her way to make us feel welcome and the kids are getting used to us. We'll miss them all when we leave.

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Photos

One View of the Royal Palace
Much more open than the Brits!

Royal Yacht
Yep - the Dutch royals still have one

Harbour has old and New
This is the theatre

Imposing Castle
The Danes required ships to pay a tax before they could sale through the passage - the cannons helped ensure they paid on time!!

Dungeons
They were dark and cold - very dark and very cold

Comments

[lisa]

Homeward
Hi guys Have been keeping up with the blogg. When do you come home? Lisax