Tuesday July 18 – In Copenhagen, Denmark. After an early breakfast in the room, we boarded our (Right hand drive) coach for Tour 9 – Complete Copenhagen. Our guide today was an Island native who grew up in Denmark – Thor who did an excellent job. The ship’s representative today Judy was a guest lecturer. This city was initially a small Viking fishing village and in 1160 was managed by Valdemar the Great Bishop Absalon of Roskilde. Over the next 200 years it grew in importance and became known as the Merchant’s Harbour (translation of Kopenhagen). The first King to make Copenhagen the Capital was Christopher of Bavaria in 1443. The country grew in importance under a series of successful monarchs constantly waging war with Sweden and other regional powers. Other than the 18th century where plagues, fire and war decimated the country, Denmark was a world power with colonies around the world, like the Virgin Islands which were Danish. Today the city has a population of 1.5MM and the country, consisting of some 400 Islands and a peninsula, has a population of 5MM. It claims to be one of the oldest Monarchy’s, The oldest flag in the world (white cross on a red background) dating to 1219 and a navy established in the 1500’s.
Our first stop at 8:15AM was the famous statue by the Danish artist Edvard Eriksen given by the Carlsberg brewing company to the city in 1913 – The little Mermaid. She was inspired by a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. He was from another island, son of a tailor who wanted to be a ballet dancer and / or Opera singer. He arrived in Copenhagen and did well in his studies until puberty set in when he started writing stories. We boarded a river boat to get a better glimpse of the city with it’s various islands, canals, palaces, churches, the Opera house, Stock Exchange, Town Hall and other impressive buildings and neighborhoods. We had to stay low going under the bridges and barely cleared one by 3 inches (anyone standing would surely have been decapitated – A fate brought to the little mermaid twice in recent decades (by vandals, not bridges)!!! We ended our journey at Christiansborg Palace which serves not only as the seat of parliamentary government, but also the Supreme Court and the place where the monarch – currently Queen Margaret received foresight heads of state and dignitaries.
We then made our way by coach to Dragar, part of the old town, where we wandered the narrow streets, filled with hollyhocks and kept, by law, in their original style. These homes are sought after and the waiting list to purchase these properties is over 10 years. From here we were able to see the tunnel (4 Kilometers) / bridge (8 Kilometers) leading from this Amar Island to Sweden. The Maulebu area near Dagmar was waterlogged, so Dutch settlers were indicted into coming to deal with this and converted the area into productive farmland which produces much of the grain and vegetables consumed in Copenhagen. Also another feature always in sight was a very large almost triangular building with smoke stacks which is the incinerator of the town, but they are in the process of making the sloping roof into an artificial alpine ski slope. When fully completed the smoke stacks will blow out smoke rings to add to the whimsical nature of the structure. While on miscellaneous facts, it was interesting to hear that automobiles are expensive due to a 150% tax imposed, thus over half the population use bicycles and public transport with a view to being carbon neutral by 2025. We certainly saw many windmill farms for creating electricity.
Our next stop was the Carlsberg Brewery named after the son of the founder Carl and as it is on a slight hill – Berg. The founder J.C. Jacobsen went to Germany and brought back yeast which he then used to make the first lot of beer in 1847 and is sold to other pilsner producing breweries. It is now a vast corporation employing some 40,000 workers with brewery’s in 35 countries and exported to 140 countries, making it the 4th largest brewing company in the world. At one point father and son disagreed on the company philosophy so the son formed the New Carlsberg Brewery, next to his father’s (Old Carlsberg Brewery) which merged only after his father”s death. At this location the specialty beers are made with the majority of the beer being brewed in Jutland for local consumption. After visiting the museum, stables and shop, we were treated to a nice lunch and beer of pickled herring, smoked salmon, port terrine, chicken salad and local cheeses with delicious bread.
Our last brief stop before returning to the ship was at the royal palace, a complex of four buildings that were once four private houses around a square opposite the opera house on the other side of the river. The Amalienborg Palace and square has the four rococo palaces around an octagonal square with a central king on a horse statue at it’s center. A fun day ending in a special Captain’s cocktail party, dinner and a brilliant show by the guitarist – Byron Johnson.
Wednesday July 19 – At Sea en Route to Stockholm, Sweden – A quiet day on the ship with Anita and Diana heading off to the Spa while Nelson and Roger went to the port lecture on Skagen (pronounced Skein), Denmark and Wernemunde Germany as well as a fascinating talk on Pinehurst Studios where the James Bond, Superman and many other films were made. The British film industry bring in £10MM an hour into the British economy!! We re-grouped for lunch, an interesting lecture on Matryoshka dolls (Russian nesting dolls) – Originally developed by Savva Mamontov the toy maker and his artists – Sergey and Vasily. The afternoon was followed by three arduous sets of paddle tennis!!! A 3 hour delicious dinner was at the French restaurant The Verandah capped off the evening. Early bed to be prepared for tomorrow’s adventure in Stockholm, Sweden.
Roger & Anne Travels 