“To Beer or not to Beer”, that is the question in the
homeland of Hamlet, the Danish Prince made famous through Shakespeare’s play
about madness, homicide and tragedy. If one travels to Kronberg to Elsenor
Castle, one may step onto the same cobblestoned courtyards where Hamlet used to
tread.
The Danes still have a King, quite sane, mind you. Pictures
of the Family are on sale at every post card stand…
Coming back to beer…Carlsberg, fourth largest brewer of beer
worldwide, offers 500 different varieties. Most of them never cross the border;
the Danes drink the good stuff themselves.
Copenhagen’s written records date back to the 1043. Due to
its strategic position at the pass between the North Sea and the Baltic, it had
superior defences and an advantageous position for taxing merchant ship
traffic. The Danes warred with the Hanseatic League, which was the most
powerful North European Trade Association of the time. Taxing of cargo was done
by weight. Incorrect reporting of weight resulted in handing over the entire
cargo to the Danish King, at a price he set.
Much earlier however, before 790 AD the Vikings had a
settlement here, which makes Denmark allegedly the oldest Kingdom in the world,
a claim which may be contested by Incans, Chinese, Assyrians, Greeks and a host
of other ancient nations. These Vikings, apart from discovering North America
600 years before Columbus claimed the pleasure, conducted killing sprees into
Europe and England, decimating the population on a large scale. Monks, nuns and
cleric were not exempt from this, as the Vikings had particular respect for
Christianity. After ravaging those countries, they settled in many of them
including Greenland, Iceland, France, Normandy and more.
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| Prinsendam at dock |
There are extensive cruise docking facilities. If a ship is
docked first in line at the pier, one is almost next door to the Little Mermaid,
Hans Christian Anderson’s heroine in a tale of unrequited love between human
(yet another Danish Prince) and nymph. The little bronze statue has the body of
a ballerina and the head of the sculptor’s wife (she did not want to be exposed
to the public naked even in bronze replica shape). Vandals (not the historic
ones, but the modern type) have decapitated her twice. Once her severed head
was delivered to a TV station, but the thief escaped before being captured.
Luckily, the bronze cast of the original head exists, and Little Mermaid
receives a newly head after each beheading. She is tiny for a statue, just over
1.25 meters high and 170 kilograms of bronze.
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| Twice removed, and still there... |
I am of the European inclination to ask: why drive if one
can walk, so eschewed the Hop On Hop Off option. I walked along beautiful sea
shore promenades through the Kastellet (well preserved fortified castle of the
17th century) towards Amalienborg Palace. A moat and embankment
surround the castle, cyclists and runners use the paths for their sport.
Swans
and ducks have an easy passage along a system of parks all the way to Rosenborg
Castle, originally a ‘summer house’ built in Dutch Renaissance style and
cushioned from the city by shady avenues and pleasant parks, rose gardens and
statues.
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| Rosenborg Castle |
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| Lion Attacking a Horse |
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| Snake attacking a Horse |
For some reason, the latter seem to concentrate on horses in distress.
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| The Guards are getting prepared... |
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| To march through the Stroget in Copenhagen |
Amalienborg, one of the Royal Palaces in Copenhagen, conducts
a changing of the guard at noon. During my second visit, it appeared that the
ceremony was especially picturesque as is appeared that a film crew captured
the pageantry for possibly a documentary about Copenhagen. The guards marched
through town – before the filming – brass band and all, ignoring every traffic
sign and not even stopping for bicyclists.
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| Guards at Amalienborg |
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| Crest on Amalienborg Palace - Why the elephants?? |
30% of Danes (more than people of Amsterdam) use a bike for
transport (despite winter and rain and all that) and have done so since that
vehicle was invented. So there is no culture shock involved to wean them off
SUV’s or reconcile them with (how shocking) bicycle lanes. Car traffic
consequently is less dense than in our normal North American cities, where
bikes as routine daily transport is still a thing of the distant future – if it
ever arrives. By the way, the latter are
the only traffic hazard for visitors, not familiar with bicycle lane
identification and etiquette, as one gets into close encounters when not paying
attention. Public transport is efficient, effective and cheap!
A drawback: everything else is expensive, whether it is
housing, clothing, food or entertainment. One needs to be prepared for severe
sticker shock. Quality of most items is superior to most North American goods.
Copenhagen boasts of having one of the oldest amusement
parks in the world, the Tivoli, which served as inspiration for Disney World,
after Walt made a visit to these ‘Gardens’. The architect of Tivoli is said to
have advised the king that ‘when people are amusing themselves, they don’t think
about politics’. How current a quote that is….hockey, baseball, football,
soccer, TV, internet, Video games, texting to the rescue from those pesky
politics!
Heading to Amalienborg Palace, winter home of the Danish
Royal Family, past the Marble Church (like a mini St Peters of Rome) one
quickly reaches historic ‘downtown’. The Stroget, a series of connecting
‘gades’ (streets), the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe, winds through the historic city centre and is
home to the usual line up of international and European brand name stores.
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| Sleeping Dane |
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| Nyhaven with boats and restaurants |
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| Tall Ships at pier |
A charming and
inviting pedestrian walk lies along both shores of Nyhaven Canal, which
penetrates into the centre of town. It was dug around 1600 by Swedish Prisoners
of War, and used to be a hangout for ladies with negotiable affection. Now, open
air cafes, bars and restaurants overlook the canal where historic wooden boats are
docked, and tour boats move back and forth.
It is a great spot to sample local pickled herring or smorre brod (smorgasbord)
helped along with one of the hundreds of versions of local Carlsberg beer.
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| Danish Flag |
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| Danish Cadet |
One of the churches (Trinity) of Copenhagen has a curious
tower attached to it. Called The Round Tower it has a wide and high ceilinged paved
ramp leading up to its top in a gentle incline. It was constructed to allow
horses to carry supplies to the top of the tower. Today visitors walk up to
enjoy a birds’ eye view of the city. Once a year a unicycle race his held ‘
down slope’, which so far holds a record of 1 minute 40 seconds for the fastest
descent.
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| Interior of Round Tower |
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| Round Tower of Trinity Church |
On a more general note, Danes create much of their energy
needs right on their roof tops. Solar Panels are installed all over the
countryside and on thousands of roofs. Disproving the concern that they may deface
the beauty of residential areas, they certainly blend in nicely as opposed to
ugly forests of satellite dishes we love in other countries.
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| Fields of Solar Panels |
Electricity is also generated from land based windmills, but
there are also hundreds of them ‘planted’ in the sea, which is shallow here and
subject to frequent winds. Sailing regattas weave their racecourses through the
towering obstacles. Shipyards converted many of their processes from ship
building to construction of bases for windmills.
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| Copenhagen Resident |
Bidding Copenhagen Good Bye for the second time, I am left
with the agreeable impression, that Denmark and specifically Copenhagen is an
exciting and interesting destination. One wishes to return for more, as the
country has so much to offer and is sheer pleasure to visit.
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| Bye Bye Little Mermaid! |
