Denmark, Copenhagen

This is the traditional view of Copenhagen which you will find on all of the post cards. Lovely, colorful buildings along the canal and old ships to complete the look.

This port was, in fact, new sometime in the 1600’s (I think). It is a lovely spot where many water tours begin and there are lots of cafes to sit and take in the scenery.

Denmark is the proud home of Lego, and you find Lego stores wherever you go. Steve is hanging out with a couple of tourists made entirely of Legos in this picture.

I love the wall of legos….this is just a small portion of it…seems like you could find any pieces you lost here or create your own design!

Little playground behind one of the downtown churches. I thought it was adorable, even the little owl on the left-hand side.

This is the nicest looking kiosk I have ever seen.

This windmill was in the old fort which still acts as an army barracks today.

Fantastic old church, supposed to be even more amazing inside, unfortunately under construction so you could only enter 2x per day and once on the day we were there (we missed it by 10 minutes).

This castle was in a park in the middle of the city and came with a lovely park and the crown jewels of Denmark.

It is true that nowhere have we seen more of an active biking poplation than in Copenhagen, they even have two-story bike parking in some places.

The locals know what to do on a hot day, get their bathing suits on and head out to this “beach bar” which is actually situated on concrete at the edge of the river…….I admire their attitude!

Once again, Copenhagen does not have a beach, but finds ways to bring the beach to them, like this sand sculpture contest!

Heading out to a little island with a fort that used to protect the fleet

Whimsical mural at the entrance to this controversial neighborhood.

Crazy clock tower with spiral staircase on outside of spire

Can you see someone leaning out with a white shirt on one level down from the top? That is Steve! I went up, too, but didn’t fancy spending too much time up there so ran down to take a pic….crazy…..

The residents don’t like it if you take pictures once you enter the main “commercial” area, this was a scene right inside the entrance to the neighborhood, which is mostly in a park.

Among others, this brew put offered microbrews from Kuhnenn Brew Pub, located in Warren, Michigan, right next door to where I went to grade school – crazy!

Copenhagen, Denmark; July 26th-29th, 2013

Copenhagen is a delightful city and full of energy in the summer tourist season. The old town area is extensive and the miriad of waterways crisscrossing the town make it easy to get around. Someone had recommeded that we take the boat tour of the city, which is a hop-on, hop-off, sight-seeing boat that does a circle of the canals, river, and various sights in the town. We had a very warm late-July day there and this seemed like fun as well as potentially the coolest way to get around, so we bought our tickets and jumped aboard. We learned that Denmark had a pretty long history of attempting to stay neutral in most wars, while ultimately getting dragged into their fair share. We also learned that most of the Kings of Denmark seemed to be named either Frederick or Christian the something or other and we actually saw a pretty neat summer palace that was inhabited by three or four successions of kings and had a very nice museum and some wonderful paintings of the royal line as well as a hoard of crown jewels, including some of the most amazing emeralds I have ever seen. We went to a fort where Cptn. Blythe of Mutiny on the Bounty fame was once stationed, out in the harbor on a small island. It wasn’t much to see but their cafe had a surprisingly delightful lunch spread, and we whiled away a happy hour or so there. Later we climbed a church tower that actually had steps on the outside of the steeple (extremely cool but a bit scary for anyone with the slightest hights impediment-see pics). Last but not least, we wandered around Christiania, a somewhat controversial area where authorities let the hippies live as well as enjoy and sell otherwise illegal recreational substances. We have read that many attempts have been made to shut down this park which is also home to some 850ish persons, but it is such a firm part of the city’s history that locals always protest any action against the inhabitants.

In essence, we found Copenhagen to be a bustling city, the most bike friendly and bike intensive city that we have probably seen, and another city that seems to be completely under construction. Unlike Oslo, which seemed to be randomly under contstruction, Copenhagen has a plan…they are in the middle of building the city’s first underground system, an obviously massive undertaking expected to take something like 14 years to complete. We applaud their enthusiasm as well their ability to fund this massive project and look forward to getting a peek of what things are like some day when the project is finished.

We really enjoyed Copenhagen but were happy to be headed to a smaller city and some more outdoorsie activities in Svendborg…..

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