Copenhagen - Part 2
Copenhagen – 18th May
Today we went back to Copenhagen central to complete our self-guided walking tour. There were the normal tourists in town, plus the Saturday tourists and then the long weekend tourists as it is Whit Sunday and Monday in Europe. Although that would normally be too many tourists for me and something to avoid, it actually worked in our favour because there were more activities on in the city centre.
On the way to the royal family’s house we stopped to see why all the tourists were lining up and peering through a fence. It was only the Royal Guards leaving Rosenborg Castle to go to Amalienborg Castle as they do every day for the changing of the guards at 12.00pm.
We walked through the King’s gardens, spotted a wedding or christening (not very private) and out onto the street where we came upon a large building called ‘The Odd Fellows Palace’, I had to take a photo just for the name.
Another distraction on the way to the palace was Marmorkirken, or the Mable church or Frederiks church, many names but no tour as there was an event there.
Finally we got to Amalienborg Palace, you can’t get lost as there were thousands of people out front. We joined them and finally made our way to the front, no ropes, just three policemen making sure you don’t go over the imaginary line. What was there to see, nothing but the Royal Guards. We waited for 15 minutes, but none of the bearskin hat wearing guards keeled over in the heat, so we lost interest. Amalienborg Palace is actually made up of 4 palaces, the reigning monarch lives in one (part of the year), two are open to the paying public and one is for the queen who retired. Each has its own balcony for royal hand waving, but today only one palace had a flag flying, not sure if that was a sign.
We made a quick exit from the queuing tourists to walk via the harbour to Nyhavn, the historic wharf area of Copenhagen. Fact time: #1. Nudity in public places is not prohibited in Denmark, #2. People live in small apartments less than 50sqm, #3. Procreation is encouraged to increase the population. The terraces all around the harbour area are covered in barely clad bodies escaping their small apartments. Who needs Tinder? just come to Copenhagen. No privacy breaches so the photo is taken from a distance.
We left here and went to another island in Copenhagen via the Inderhavns Broen, otherwise known as the kissing bridge. Not because of all those loved up Danes, but because the bridge goes up in the middle to let ships through and then comes down kissing/touching in the middle. A photo would be boring so here is a canal shot with the little motorboats chartered by visiting Europeans to sit in and drink expensive champagne.
Feeling hungry we went to Broens Gadekokken, translates to the bridge’s street chef. It is an outdoor food hall, lots of chatty people enjoying beer and food in the sun.
We managed to find a stall that didn’t have queues and had seats in the shade. NZ$25 gets you a chicken kebab in a soft pita wrap, lettuce and pomegranate seeds, its and extra NZ$2.50 for chilli sauce.
The next photo is the Church of our Savour Tower. You probably can’t see from the photo but there is a staircase around the outside that slowly winds up to the top of the spiral.
Too much on a full stomach, or that’s my excuse.
Our last stop for the day is Freetown Christiania for a troll hunt and a look at the murals/graffiti. It was once a bad area, and may still well be. The gates to the town say not to deal in drugs, have respect, and enjoy yourself. CBD oil is freely available at many shops and there is a strong police presence. We found a number of murals, Troll No.50 known as Green George, Pusher Street, plenty of market stalls, a beer garden that sells iced coffee and mango lassi and a live band.
Today’s ABBA tribute is ‘Dance while the music still goes on’ (1974) for the band in Freetown Christiania. They were an eclectic bunch of guys, very entertaining, singing ‘play that funky music white boy’ in a neighbourhood that had a strong West Indian feel.
Dance while the music still goes on
Don’t think about tomorrow
Dance and forget our time is gone
Tonight’s a night we borrow
Let’s make it a memory, a night of our own
A thing to remember when we’re all alone