July 4 - Around Copenhagen

Turned out to be a busy day.  Bagged two churches, listened to half of an organ concert, nice lunch, visited a castle, Botanical Gardens and part of a museum.  Here's the details.

First church:  Holmens Church.  What struck me was the wood.  Lots of it and beautiful.  As I understand it, the church was founded around  the 1600's to serve the sailors.

Note then model ship.  It was added in 1904, based on a 1697 drawing of an admiral's ship.



Second church, which is no longer a church.  This is calle dthe Rundetaarn, or Round  Tower.  The old church is behind the buildings.

The top of the tower is now used as a sightseeing point with city views.













This circular ramp makes 7 circuits around the tower before it turns into stairs for the final climb.
I wonder if anybody has ever snuck a skateboard up here.

A couple of views of the city from the top.
I believe this is the Marmorkirken, or Marble Church.














This is the steeple of the church attached to the tower.











There is an art gallery in the old church, but nothing that struck me, other than this clock.  What time is it?


Back to Holmens Church for the second half of an organ concert.  Rather nice.  Of course, I couldn't recognize any of the selections, but thew organist played his own composition at the end and it was interesting.  







I met one of the other riders at the church (Becky), so we went to lunch.

This is the classic postcard view of Copenhagen.  Since I'm saving you the price of a postcard, I think you should send me a quarter.  😀

Our lunch restaurant is the green one (I think).

All the shady seats outside were taken, so we sat inside.  Here's the view from our seat.













After lunch I headed for Rosenborg Castle.  Here's some of the gardens.  They have had so little rain recently that the lawns are suffering.











Two views of the castle.
























What impressed me inside was how ornate everything is.  The castle is Danish Renaissance, dating from 1606.

This is a view of  plaster and painted ceiling.



















A settee - imagine having to clean in here.
























A large tapestry










The coronation thrones in the Knight's hall, protected by 3 silver lions.  





There is an online tour of the castle that you can access with your smartphone during the tour (me - wot smartphone?)

Go to this link and click on the picture "Your Tour Starts Here."
http://www.kongernessamling.dk/en/rosenborg/castle-history/


For me, it was off to the Botanical Gardens.  

This area had a number of displays about beer making and the associated plants.  The details are lost on me, but I like the result.  













The Butterfly house with some greenhouses in front.  Might go into it later.

One of the very peaceful areas of the gardens.  There are benches in shady spots, many with people quietly enjoying the area.










After the gardens I dropped into a museum called the David Collection.  It is a huge display of Islamic items.  

I only made it through the top floor (beginnings of Islam to about the 10th century) before my eyes glazed over and I had to leave.










A tapestry


 







Weapons











Sculpture.

I got back to the hotel to meet a bunch of riders from 'Pub Ride 2,' the group that was 3 days behind us.

Talked to them for a while.  We (Pub Ride 1) was thanked many times for ironing out the bumps on the tour, notably that they eliminated most of the cycle convoys that proved problematic for us.  They went off for their 'Last Supper.'