Copenhagen, sore feet, snow, LEGO and royalty – what an eclectic day

Wonderful wonderful Copenhagen…

That is the opening line to a song from a very old movie from my childhood starring Danny Kaye, who also portrayed the character of Hans Christian Anderson. This is the image that I have while I am seeing Copenhagen. Danny Kaye singing this song and his portrayal of the famous children’s fairy tales. For those who do not know who this person was, Hans Christian Anderson from Copenhagen Denmark – was responsible for many fairy tales such as “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Nightingale”, “The Snow Queen”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “Thumbelina” and many more. Interestingly, they have been translated into more than 125 languages! We are actually staying in the area where Hans Christian Anderson lived and worked and wrote. How exciting- for me anyway with great recollections of the famous fairy tales and movie classics with its numerous children’s songs that I have used with previous schools- so this meant a lot to me .“ Inch worm inch worm…, there once was a ugly duckling….”oh so many songs come to mind…. Hum hum hum.I could go on and on…..”

So today on our arrival in our last city in our Nordic tour, a combination of songs, films and real live viewing of Copenhagen have been meshed together today!

After a very early start (2am for me) for our Helsinki to Copenhagen flight we spent the first day of our last few days left of our holiday exploring the city. Of course, as we walked the city centre (which is huge) I asked Marc did he know where he was going…and the answer, “No- but let’s find out,” was given. I have quite decided this is most definitely the saying I am putting on his epitaph!

We walked and we walked and we walked exploring this old city and then when there was not enough walk in the walk anymore we decided to take the canal tour for an hour as it gave our feet a rest from the cobblestones. (somehow walking on cobblestones is more wearying to the feet then even more then, for a man, walking around a shopping centre following his ‘other half’)

The canal boats in Copenhagen are particularly low to get under the low bridges. They have the usual under cover seating and the outside seating. It was cold with a light sprinkling of snow falling, so where did Marc and I sit? You guessed it, outside in the bow. Marc’s argument was that it had a better view point, closer to our very informative and entertaining guide and not really ‘that cold’. Not until the boat started to beat into the wind on the main harbour with the cold spray coming over the bow onto our seating area. Now that was cold!  Cold being the minor word….it was freezing. Typically for us, we stuck it out for the entire one hour round trip and, although we had planned to stay on the boat until it reached its second stop close to our hotel, we HAD to get off just to move and defrost. I was so stiff and had to thaw out my body and it took quite a few blocks to get feeling back in my feet! Even Marc was chilled to the bone since we were wet and were not wearing all our cold and wet weather gear. Beeline to our accommodation, check in and defrost. It was freezing conditions …and we were frozen!
Back out again to explore Copenhagen including finding the Little Mermaid statue.

Now tell me, what visit to Copenhagen would be complete without visiting the statue.
Rather diminutive in statue and not particularly ‘pretty’, the history behind the statue is probably more interesting than the statue.
How Hans Christian Anderson fairy-tale first influenced it.
How the founder of Carlsberg beer financed it;
How the singer who posed for the statue would not pose nude so the statue’s face belongs to the singer, the body is modelled on the sculptor’s wife;
How she has been decapitated twice; how she was even blown up once – paint sprayed on her…
Boy for a little statue, she has had quite a life!!!!

We also found the main street mall – full of expensive shops interspersed with occasional cheap souvenir stores. A bit like Brisbane’s Queen St mall but with an important difference, there is the official Copenhagen’s LEGO there. Well, Marc’s eyes lit up and in we went.
For those who do not know, LEGO is made in Denmark and this is the home of Lego Land. Architects have even modelled one of the newest buildings in Copenhagen on Lego. Grandchildren and not so small children presents purchased- I mean you cannot visit the original place of Lego without buying something…that’s my excuse anyway!

The Round Tower was an excuse for Marc to ‘get high’…. literally and we walked up to the top of the round tower. Oh, yes it was round and high and very much like the Notre Dame steepness but this was round. Think of rope coiled up in a mat shape and just keep coiling….up up up up up up up and to the top. Absolutely freezing as we ventured outside with the snowflakes falling gently Of course we had to come down again the same way! Fitness plus!

Then off to a restaurant specialising in traditional Danish food..(.ok there goes my fitness!) Most enjoyable as it had lovely ambience, great filling meal that did not leave you feeling bloated .From the waiter,we gained some feedback on the people’s opinion about their Royal family (our Australian Mary and Prince Frederick are well liked, the rest of the royals are considered a bit snobbish). Oh I must tell you that earlier in the day we noticed some ‘official commotion’ as we passed one of the royal palaces and had a glimpse of Queen Margaret arriving in her chauffeured car).Ooh we were close to royalty! I am not sure she smiled at us but we could see clearly within the car and picked the royal!

A lovely first day but leaving us with sore feet from the cobblestones and a wariness for bicycles. Copenhagen is boasted as the largest bicycle city in the world- and today we saw some of them! They have their own lane designated and you do not dare walk in it! There are a LOT of them in Copenhagen and although they do ‘follow’ the road rules and have their own section of roadway to ride on, it would not be hard to get hit by one as a pedestrian. We nearly found that one out personally! Bikes everywhere!

And of course we are staying at the new harbour (new in 1600’s I must add ) so to end the blog….here are some lyrics of the famous song noted above! Enjoy!
I sailed up the Skagerrak
And sailed down the Kattegat
Through the harbour and up to the quay
And there she stands waiting for me
With a welcome so warm and so gay
Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen