Denmark: By Land and By Sea

Again, I have to apologize for another extended absence. I don`t always have the opportunity to catch up on my blog while traveling. I have returned to France, so if there are any odd typos in this entry, it`s because of the French keyboard, which is arranged a little differently than the American one. I will post up the rest of the photos on facebook eventually; hopefully these will suffice for the moment.

My cousins live about five minutes away from a place called Den Gamle By or "Old Town," which is a collection of houses from all over Denmark. They`ve also arranged them to look like the homes of craftsmen, so you can see what the workshop of a dress maker or book binder would have liked in the 19th century. There were also assorted animals and people in period costumes to give the place more of an authentic feel. There was one house where my cousin opened the door only to find three women in 19th century dresses sitting in a living room sewing and speaking Danish. We had to sweep by them to view the rest of the house and it felt a bit like we were intruding in their lives.


Last Tuesday, I got to have a special treat. Thanks to a friend of my cousin, I got to take a boat ride along the Danish coast between Jutland and Fyn. The Danish coastline, like the countryside along the highways, is open and verdant. There are islands with only one family that have a tiny little ferry to take them to the mainland. This is me proudly displaying a teacup with the Queen`s crest in the control room of the boat. Below, our boat (in the foreground) pulls away from the dock.

Towards the end of my stay, I finally made it to Copenhagen, Denmark`s largest city. Unlike the other major cities I`ve visited, Copenhagen isn`t very touristic. Even around the well-known monuments, I didn`t find the vendors selling bells or painted plates. I got the sense that not as many people make it this far north, although there were still tourists. Copenhagen is still a very beautiful city. It has a canal running through its heart that boats still traverse. There are plenty of beautiful old buildings--castles and churches for the most part. I visited Christianborg Palace; which is in the picture below. This is the palace where the Queen recieves important visitors: There`s a seperate palace where the royal family lives that is also in Copenhagen.


The story of how the Danes received their flag is painted on the roof of the throne room. Apparently, they have the oldest flag in Europe. A Danish king was off crusading against the Estonians when according the legend, the flag fell to Earth from God. As the tour guide said, the Danes believe this story and while one is in Denmark, one had best believe the story as well.

While in Copenhagen, I also went to the Danish National Museum, which is one of the best places to learn about Danish history. I got a chance to look at objects from the Danish churches of the Middle Ages to posters Beatles`concerts in Copenhagen.

At the end of the day, I made a pilgrimage to the statue of the Little Mermaid. Han Christen Anderson is one of the national heroes, in fact, his house is now a muesum. It took me an hour of wandering to find her, but in doing so, I was able to go by many of the city`s landmarks, including the "Most Beuatiful Fountain in Copenhagen." I`m not sure if there are that many to start with, but this one is certainly striking: