Monday June 29, 2009
Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen
Friendly old girl of a town
‘Neath her tavern light
On this merry night
Let us clink and drink one down
To wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen
Salty old queen of the sea
Once I sailed away
But I’m home today
Singing Copenhagen
Wonderful, wonderful
Copenhagen for me!
Even though it was cooler and a little cloudy today, the city’s history and charm were reflected everywhere we looked. First port-of-call on our whistle-stop tour was the (surprisingly little) statue, the Little Mermaid – Copenhagen’s world-famous symbol. Then it was on to Amalienborg Palace (winter residence of the Royal Family) and the city centre with its museums and stately old buildings … bronze statues to burn … pedestrianised shopping streets … and church steeples thrusting skyward at every turn.
Next, on our list was the city’s amusement park and romantic hang-out, the colourful Tivoli Gardens, where we had time for a refreshment-stop, flowers and fun.
And then we crossed to the island of Amager and the beautiful little village (and one-time herring marketplace) of Dragoer (pronounced ‘Trou-yer’) for a stroll down cobbled lanes amongst yellow-painted houses (some still sporting thick thatched roofs) and gorgeous postcard-size gardens (with hollyhocks galore).
Sounds appealing? Copenhagen is, for sure!
TOMORROW: We’ve got our last Scandinavian port-of-call (sob!) on this grand Baltic adventure – Oslo, Norway’s capital – where we’ll go sailing in a tall ship on the Oslofjord, and visit a Viking ship museum. So stay tuned …
Yours bloggedly – JOHN
P.S. If you want to leave a message for someone in our group, just click on ‘COMMENTS’ (or ‘NO COMMENTS’) under the title for the day’s blog, and type away! Make sure you say who it’s for and who it’s from – and keep it brief. And don’t worry: we’ll make sure they get these messages. Also, if you want a better look at our route map and some of the photos here, just click on them and they’ll enlarge – magic!