Kobenhavn

Our first port of call was the striking Danish port capital of Copenhagen.  Originally a Viking fishing village, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark at the beginning of the 15^th century.  We had only a short 6 hours in the city or else the boat would leave us there, so we had to be quite organised in our sightseeing plans.

We started with a walking tour of the city.  I loved that so much of the city had the beautiful patina caused from many years of salty sea air against all the metals.

It wouldn’t be a European capital without a good obelisk or two.  Copenhagen’s celebrates Denmark’s transition to Lutheranism in 1536.  The reliefs around the base are all Danish reformers.  Much in the same way that Henry VIII famously decided there were advantages to being the head of his church, King Christian III of Denmark decided that he’d like some independence from the Pope.

In the centre of the old town, is the Fountain of Charity.  Considered highly risqué in the 1600’s when it was originally installed (certain private parts were used as the spouts) so they nearly immediately corked it and it wasn’t fully used until the early 1900’s.  Now fully functioning, locals are still allowed to come take water from the fountain for drinking.  Um, I might just stick to my sink...

Just as we started to head out of the Old Town, we were stopped by the parading Royal Guard.  We didn’t see anyone we thought were Royal with them so we assumed they were just stretching their legs a bit.  We had read in a guide book before we came that often the guards often have a police escort when they march through town leading locals to joke that they have the only army in the world that needs police protection.  We laughed even more when we did in fact see police flanking the guards as the processed.

We headed past the processional towards the new town.  The brightly coloured buildings along the canals were packed with people spilling out of the restaurants and cafes to enjoy the last of the summer sunshine.

You could also tell we’d left the old town with buildings like this one.

This building is actually their Opera House opened in 2005.  Over half of it is underground.  It was donated to the city by a wealthy oil-shipping magnate.  Some politicians were offended by the private donation, in part because the full cost of the project would be tax deductible.  Our guide said that eventually some palms were greased and the politicians objected less.

From the Opera House we started heading towards the icon of Copenhagen : The Little Mermaid Statue.  On our way we came across the Gefion Fountain.

The fountain illustrates the myth of the goddess who was given one night to carve a chunk out of Sweden to make Denmark.  According to the tale, Gefion transformed her four sons to do the job, and the chunk she removed from Sweden is supposedly Vanern (Sweden’s largest lake).

Finally we made it over to The Little Mermaid.

The cliff notes version (because I had to read it before I could go see the statue)… One day, a young mermaid spies a passing ship and fall in love with a handsome human prince.  The ship is wrecked in a storm, and she saves the prince’s life.  To be with the prince, the mermaid asks a sea witch to give her human legs.  In exchange, she agrees to give up her voice and the chance of ever returning to the sea.  When the prince did not return her love she prepared to die heartbroken and alone.  She was given one final chance to live if she would kill the prince she loved on his wedding night.  But she couldn’t.  The mermaid threw herself into the sea to die.  Suddenly, she’s miraculously carried up by the mermaids on air, who give her an immortal soul as a reward for her long-suffering love.

The statue is actually smaller than it looks in the photos, but as they’ve cleverly put it on a podium in the middle of the sea, you never have perspective on it.

For those wondering, we made it back to the ship with 20 minutes to spare before departure; just enough time to prepare for Germany the next day.