Packed up the bike this morning, It managed to fit reasonably well into the box I was given. So, that officially makes the cycling portion of the trip over - unless I rent a bike 😢
I still have to make up some maps of the ride and hopefully post them.
Off for a walk to ultimately check out the Little Mermaid (can't come to Copenhagen and not do that).
On the way, walked around the Citadel, an old 'star fortress' (due the shape). The ramparts are well preserved and nice to walk around.
It is still active as a military area, but very subdued & peaceful.
Lots of these barracks style buildings.
I love these old mortars - probably more dangerous to those who were firing them than the targets.
And here she is - The Little Mermaid.
Very peaceful & serene
Until you zoom out with the camera - then chaos. Half a dozen tour buses disgorging folks, everybody getting selfies with her (you don't need a picture of me with her). I will admit it was fairly easy to get pictures of her without being photo bombed. People were being respectful.
From another angle. The little gal has been abused in her life: head cut off (three times I think), arm cut off, paint poured over and blown off the rock with explosives.
It's tough being a celebrity
The Peace Angel Statue statue nearby.
A nearby lamp standard with this guy on top!
Nearby also is St. Alban's Church with the fountain & statues in front.
Copenhagen has modern buildings as well - the Opera House.
Somebody moored nearby who couldn't get into the local yacht club. Called Avantis. 200 feet long - crew of 16 or 18 (I guess the wife doesn't have to cook).
The original owner sold this one and built one a hundred feet longer - maybe because it didn't have a helicopter pad on it.
Sheesh!
I stopped by the Marble Church on the way back. Not very old. Designed in 1749, but various (mostly financial) issues and problems kept it from being finished until 1894. It stood partially finished as a ruin for 150 years.
It is basically a round room supported by 12 pillars.
Here's a shot of the dome from inside. The lighting was not good for photos of the entire inside.
Last photo today - our restaurant for dinner.
Tony, Michele & I had fish and chips at this floating restaurant just down the way from the hotel.
A delightful evening.
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.'
A 110 km trip today for a round trip north of Copenhagen. I used F.R.E.D. (FRED for short) to plan the tracks we would follow. Now, the cynics in the crowd would probably scoff at this, but I think he did a pretty fair job, since he can't speak Danish.
Here's where we went: Started at Copenhagen (bottom), up to Fredenborg (the Summer Palace), over to Kronborg Castle (Helsingor), and back down the coast road to Copenhagen.
On the way up we went through little towns, but no industrial areas, so it was very pleasant.
Here's one idyllic house beside a pond.
The villages changed to farmland further north. The farming doesn't seem quite as intensive as the Netherlands and Germany.
I got caught on a speed sign on the way up. Honest, 'Din Fart' means 'your speed.'
I missed a photo of one earlier that showed a Smiley Face if you were under the speed limit.
We arrived in Fredenborg and immediately found a nice spot for coffee.
Here's the entrance to the palace
The statue at the entrance.
I'm guessing this is the royal pennant or ensign. We were too early for a tour, so we headed around the perimeter on our bikes.
This long lane of trees heads down to the lake on the west side.
A boathouse on the lake. It looks like they stack 2 or 3 boats inside and store more outside on a short (50 foot) canal to the lake.
This lane goes directly from the palace to the lake. I guess the Royals use this path when they want to go down to the lake to bag a fish for dinner, or take a sunset cruise.
After Fredenborg we head east to Kronberg Castle. Michel had a flat, which we fixed. FRED then found a nice unpaved lane to follow. Unfortunately, this turned out to be too much for Michel's fragile tubes & she had two more flats.
FRED then found us the way back onto the pavement.
Lunch in Helsingor & a shot of one of the restaurants. Definitely high season for vacations.
A metal sculpture plan of the castle and the surrounding battlements and moats.
This castle was immortalized as Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet. (I don't know any of this stuff, I have to look it up - thank you Wikipedia). It is an important Renaissance Castle an UNESCO World Heritage site.
The north side of the castle
The strait between here and Sweden is only 4 km wide, so this was an important strategic location.
The gun battery facing Sweden.
Now, I'm not sure why, but this beautiful part of the castle looks out on the strait towards Sweden. If I was invading, those windows would be a easy target. The Swedes did invade in 1658 and took many valuables as war booty.
The south side of the castle. We were now running short of time, so we didn't tour inside. Besides, most of us are castled out.
A closeup of a couple of the cannons - first time I've seen wooden carriages for the guns
A family vacationing in the moat.
We stop for an ice cream cone (licorice, yum) and then head out. As we head out of town we find a bike shop and stock up on tubes, no doubt guaranteeing no more problems.
Nice commuter bike. The price (6500 Kr) is about $1300 in Canadian Pesos.
A boat harbour on the way down. We stopped here for a cold drink (to paraphrase Napoleon, armies & cyclists travel on their stomachs)
I noticed this beautiful set of similar designed sloops. Probably local racers.
The water from the road. Lots of beaches and people on them. The water seemed warm and there were lots of swimmers.
As usual, when we scoot into a town, I'm too busy staring at FRED and other cyclists to take photos. No problems getting back to the hotel.
We had a couple of beer in the hotel, a snack for dinner and crashed.
It's a beautiful morning again, so I'm off to WALK around.
TTFN
