Friday, July 6, 2018

July 6 - More Copenhagen

Today was a big museum day with a bonus - free access to the Butterfly House at the Botanical Garden.

Breakfast with Tony & Michelle and say bye to them as they head to the airport.

First stop is the Geological Museum - Part of the Natural History Museum. 


 This is the Agpalilik meteorite on display at the entrance.  At 20 tons it is one of the largest meteorites to hit the earth.


A large part of the display is dinosaurs and their evolution.  This is a Protoceratops family.














This is a Tarbosaurus bataar and is closely related to Tyrannosaurus rex.












The other main feature in the museum is the rock and mineral collection.  

This critter is called a Coelestin, and is related to something colloquially called a Thunder Egg by my rockhound parents 











This is a display of rock that fluoresce under UV light. 


I wont bore you with endless mineral and rock samples. 










My ticket for the Geological Museum also got me into the Greenhouses and Butterfly House at the Botanical Gardens, so off I went.


The Succulent display












The Butterfly House was next.  Hard to get them to stay still for photos.


King Swallowtail










Not sure about this guy



















Malachite (?)










The big blue winged butterflies were the hardest to photograph.  



Peleides Blue Morpho.  The tips of many of their wings were damaged, probably from hitting the sides of the house.


Before you think I know anything about butterflies, I took a photo of the poster showing the dozen or so species they had.










The water plant house:

Giant water lilies from South America - they may grow up to 2 metres across.












Mangroves.  They can grow in water too salty for plants by utilizing various mechanisms:  excluding the salt from entering, let it accumulate in older leaves that fall off, or excreting it through glands in their leaves.












 In one of the tropical houses is a Wollemi Pine, thought to be extinct until a small patch of them were found near Sydney, Australia.











And, a couple of photos from the ever popular Carnivorous plant display.










It's unfortunate that I am so botanically challenged to not be able to fully appreciate the displays.










The sky cleared and the day turned warm, but I had another nearby museum to visit - the National Gallery of Denmark.  This is a collection of Danish and International Art.  Today the entire European wing, about 1/4 of the collection, was closed, but it still left a great deal to look at.


There is a small French Art 1900 - 1930 section to visit first.  A couple of Picasso's and various others.  



A self portrait by Matisse













Matisse's portrait of his wife.
(Oops, I'm crooked again - it wasn't the painting.)









The largest gallery I visit is Danish & Nordic Art from 1750 - 1900.  

I quite liked this work by Frederik Sedring because it is of the Marble Church when it was sitting unfinished (remember my story from yesterday)







In a Roman Osteria by Carl Bloch.


This was a period of Realism for Danish Artists.  You could get right up very close to the canvases and see the delicate brushwork.








The Lifeboat is Taken Through the Dunes by Michael Ancher














Onto the modern Danish artists exhibition. 

To be honest, the modern stuff doesn't generally turn my crank. but there were some interesting pieces.








By the time I was through the modern section and the Installation Art (which I understand even less) my eyes were pretty much crossed and it was time to go.  

As usual, this museum would take multiple visits.  I didn't even look at any of the statues on exhibit.






As I left, a nice shot of the museum pool with the Rosenborg Palace behind.  I did see somebody sitting on one of the chairs in the water earlier.


The Copenhagen Jazz Festival is starting today, so the Palace grounds were full of people listening to the group there.






Here's an entrepreneur at the festival - a cute little 3 wheeled coffee wagon with a real Cappuccino machine in the back.  Add ice cream and I'll bet she's making a killing.











Here's a question for all you female fashion types - how would you like to have to contend with cobblestones in spike heels?  It looks dangerous to me!


Off to watch the football (soccer) game.






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