Blogs from Copenhagen, Region Hovedstaden, Denmark, Europe - page 13

Copenhagen, Denmark--Tuesday, June 3rd After Valerie took some pictures of the Langelinie port and the pier this morning, we caught a shuttle bus into downtown Copenhagen. The shuttle drove from the wharf area past new housing, various buildings, a large park, a Museum under repairs and then into the main part of the City. It let us off on a street that runs between the Tivoli Gardens and the ornate multi-towered City Hall. We crossed the road keeping a careful eye out for the multitude of bikers , and onto the plaza in front of it, known as City Hall Square. The square was filled with statues and a very interesting fountain. One statue on the side of the plaza is of Hans Christian Anderson and looks toward the Tivoli Gardens. A group of Asian tourist ... read more

I left Amsterdam early and had to board a train back to Eindhoven to catch my flight to Denmark. Uncle Ronny lived in Copenhagen and it had been about 17 years since I last visited him there. He was waiting for me at the arrival gate. It was good to see him. We rode the train from the airport into the heart of CPH. Ronny lived only a few blocks from the central station, in an area that had once been heavily industrialized but was now booming with cafes and bars strewn about. The apartment was on the sixth floor and I remembered his place well but not much else about the city. I met his two cats and we had a bite to eat before embarking on a leisurely ride to the neighborhood of Christiania ... read more

This morning we caught the train to Østerport Station so that we could see the statue of The Little Mermaid. Based on the character from the story by Hans Christian Andersen the statue is considered to be symbolic of Copenhagen. I'm sure the area where The Little Mermaid is located must be lovely in the spring and summer, but in winter it is was rather grey and desolate. The other major detraction is the factory (power station?) across the water belching plumes of smoke into the air. As we left The Little Mermaid the weather turned from bad to worse. Already cold and grey and windy it started to rain! Having bought a puffer jacket without a hood I dragged my waterproof shell, with its hood, out of my bag and struggled into it. We were ... read more

Greenland has strong historical ties with the Kingdom of Denmark, originally becoming a Danish colony in 1814, and later a part of the Danish Realm in 1953. It was only in 1978 the world's largest island was granted home rule by Denmark, acknowledging the wishes of the people. The ties that bind are strong and the Danish influence, including the language and the currency are still the norm throughout Greenland. The flag of Greenland has the Danish colours of red and white, however I'm quite sure there's no chance of a polar bear making an appearance on the Danish coat of arms. The world's largest land based predator is not known for strolling around the streets of Copenhagen, as far as I am aware. Flights are also closely coordinated between the two countries, hence the reason ... read more

Began this morning a little later than usual - with breakfast at 8 and our concert at 10, it was worth sleeping in as late as possible, especially given that our room at the hostel overlooks the (rather noisy) street - people gather out there to smoke, chat, and just generally be noisy when staggering back from bars at 3 in the morning and such. We sang a concert at Vor Frue Kirke (which I believe is Danish for the church of Our Lady... Which seems odd for a Lutheran church, which apparently this was, but I'm guessing it probably has a longer history and that the name is a remnant of that) at noon. The acoustic was incredible. The sound lingered audibly for a stunning amount of time before dissipating, and I sincerely hope that ... read more