Copenhagen 2018

Let's get this out of the way right now.

no caption needed

There is so much more to Copenhagen than the mermaid.  We were there for a day and saw a lot.  

Another "welfare" state.  This is what social welfare looks like.  Having tme to raise your kids.

Denmark pays stupid high taxes.  Denmark is the happiest country on earth.  These may be related facts.  I'll tell you, it's not the climate.  Are the streets clean?  Yep. Homeless? Nope.  Cars?  Yep.  Good transit?  Yep.  Nice public spaces?  Yep.  New construction?  Yep.  It's hard to find a down side to the way they do things. It's a common thread among the Scandinavian countries.

Would it fly in the US?  Probably not.  There's no right or wrong here, just different points of view on how to organize society.

The first thing you notice arriving Copenhagen is the wind farm.  Wind turbines are everywhere.  There are days when Denmark generates more power than they can consume.

Navy? Check.  A small frigate.

Old Copenhagen defense

A monument to a maritime disaster.  Unlike a lot of other countries.  Denmark doesn't have a WWI or WWII memorial.  They weren't involved in the first and offered only underground resistance in the second.

 Kastellet.  The Citadel that protected the city.

Fort.  Still used by their military.

A Lutheran church inside the fort perimeter

Behind the church, a jail.  Condemned prisoners could participate in the church services by listening through these  portholes.

Our guide describing the advantage of the angled star redoubts.  They allow more forces to be brought to bear against the attackers without repositioning.

Gold onion domes?  Where have I seen those before?  Yep.  Russian orthodox church.

Royal palaces

Elephants?  Denmark?  Order of the Elephant.  Like being a Knight.

Royal guards

Michel Angelo.  Really. That's what it says.

New statue.  Acknowledgment for the evils of colonialism.

The old customs house has a bell on it.

I don't remember what the bell is for, but it sure is shiny.

Hermes - god of commerce.  Now appearing at the port.

Gefion Fountain.  Explains how Denmark got there and is the size of a lake in Sweden.  You could look it up!

Any good city with canals needs a canal boat tour.  Here we go.

Opera house.  I told you every city has one.  This one has been disowned by it's architect because of considerable meddling by the project sponsor.

A royal yacht, an old shipyard crane and some retired navy ships.

Danish military

Old wharf storehouse

Palaces and Frederick's Church

A tight fit!

Architecture Center

Church of our Savior.  You can go up the steeple.  We didn't

The right side of the tracks.  Nice apartments and boats.

The wrong side of the tracks.  Sort of hippie floating house islands.

Some city sights

Was a church.  Now Nicholas Art Gallery

Former stock exchange...

....with cool steeple.  Four dragons, tails up.

Christiansborg Palace - The seat of government for Denmark

Residential street

Alleyway showing a wide variety of buildings.

Royal Danish  Theater

 Ny Havn (New harbor)

A Danish! A Copenhagener!  Not quite, but close!

A walk out to The Kings Garden

Don't ask.  Don't tell.

Back to the ship

We watched the tender for the Royal Yacht shuttle over to the palace area, earlier...

Now we see the Royal Yacht depart the harbor

We watched a regatta in the harbor from our cabin on the ship

Copenhagen.  Another city that needs a return visit. (I didn't get to the train station....)

Next, a trip up the narrows between the Baltic and North Sea.  This area, where Denmark meets Sweden, was the gateway to and from the Baltic Sea.  It was hotly contested for centuries.  For us, it was smooth sailing all the way to our next port, a town in northern Denmark, Alborg.