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Nyhavn
Located near the port. I just love these brightly colored houses...they just look so Danish! Okay, so my train ride up wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I actually slept most of the way through it…I fell asleep somewhere north of Vienna and woke up around Hanover in Northern Germany. In Hamburg I switched trains for Copenhagen for another 4-hour ride. At the 2-hour mark we hit the border or should I say the water. Instead of going by land, they put our train on the ferry and floated us over. It was great because during the crossing we got to get out and stretch our legs, they even had duty free shopping onboard. Once we got into Denmark the train ride was quite pleasant, because the Danish countryside was very beautiful. It is very rural so we went pass thick forests, green pastures, freshly tilled fields, and meadows full of bright yellow flowers. The meadows were the best, as the bright yellow flowers and the deep green grass was a striking combination. I don’t think I was the only one who appreciated the countryside; because I saw some huge rabbits as well…one I thought at first was a baby deer.
I knew I would instantly like Copenhagen because they had
One of the mansions that make up Amalienborg Palace
Where Queen Margrethe II and the rest of the royal crowd call home two things that I have missed very much in my travels: Dr. Pepper and Take-Away coffee. It did take me a while to get used to Copenhagen’s architecture; it is a mix of classical European buildings with Scandinavian flavor thrown in. It is very clean city and pedestrian friendly and especially bicycle friendly. I read somewhere that Bicycles actually outnumber Danes in Copenhagen and I can see where that might be true. Bicycles have their own lanes and sometimes even their own separate paths and their own stoplights. They are also very courteous too, always signaling and dismounting in pedestrian areas. The Danes I have met have been very friendly and helpful, and all of them speak wonderful English.
Denmark is Europe’s oldest monarchy, going back 1,000 years. Today the Danish still love their royal family, which I think may have something to do with the fact they tend to behave themselves a lot better than their English cousins. Anyway I knew a little about the Danish monarchy from my time in Australia. Why would an American in Australia know anything about the Danish monarchy you ask? That is because the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Frederick married
Standing Guard
One of the Queen's Life Guards an Australian from Tasmania, and the Australian media had / and is still having a field day with it. I say this with love but I think that Australia, particularly the media have a bit of an inferiority complex and are happy for the global attention. (Okay Australians you can yell at me now).
My first morning I decided to see where the Queen calls home at Amalienborg Palace. Amalienborg is actually 4 almost identical mansions that curve around a square. It was quite surprising to see how open the Palace is; you can both walk and drive through the square. In fact the only thing stopping you from knocking on the door and saying hello are the soldiers in big fluffy hats with their machine guns and swords. Only 2 of the mansions are visibly connected so I wonder if there is a secret passageway between them all. I mean what if the Queen wanted to go from one mansion to the next, surely she is not expected to walk out into the square where all of us pesky tourists are lying in wait?
After my visit to Amalienborg I headed to Rosenborg Slot (castle) to see
Amalienborg Palace
Here two of the mansions connect over a road leading into the square. the crown jewels. Rosenborg Slot is actually a smaller castle that is situated in a beautiful park. Unfortunately while planning my trip I failed to respect the fact that I was going to Scandinavia which is known to be cold. I however only packed a light jacket and one sweater; this has proven to be a bit of a mistake. Since I have been here it has been cold and windy, and today it has poured down rain. After seeing the crown jewels I sloshed my way to Christianborg Slot home to the Folketing (Parliament) the Royal Stables and the Royal Reception Rooms. By the time I got there the stables had closed and I was soaked so I decided to go get some coffee instead.
Tomorrow hopefully the weather will be better. I am heading north to check out some more castles, then hopping over the Baltic Sea for dinner in Sweden.
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Kennedy
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Oh, I am so jealous...and it is made even worse b/c I was going to be w/ you....