Copenhagen

April 21, 2023

Hans Christian Anderson lived most of his life in Copenhagen. He is famous for his fairy tales like "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Steadfast Tin Soldier". His well-known "Little Mermaid" became a beloved Disney movie. One of the popular tourist attractions we saw when riding on the Hop On Hop Off bus was a statue of the Little Mermaid by Edvard Eriksen. She has had many adventures of her own. She is a popular target for vandals and has been painted, written on, and even had her head removed (twice!). She visited Shanghai, China in 2010 for the Danish exhibit at the World Expo (Brent, Jordan and I were there!).

We took the Hop On Hop Off bus to explore the city. We rode the bus the entire circuit to see all the sites.

Some of the notable places we passed by were: the Statens Museum for Kunst, the national art gallery of Denmark,

the Copenhagen University,

statues of the river gods Tiberen (Tiber River of Rome) and Nilen (Nile River of Egypt),

the Palads Cinema which has 17 different auditoriums for showing movies,

the distinctive spire of the Church of Our Savior,

the colorful waterfront district of Nyhavn, known as the "Gateway to the Sea".

a statue of Niels Juel, the admiral who created the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy and led many sea battles against Sweden,

the French embassy,

a statue of Christian IV, a past king of Denmark and Norway,

the glass house of the botanic gardens,

and finally the Langelinie, our last stop before we got off in the shopping district.

The park and pier area features the Gefion Fountain, a popular wishing fountain showing the Norse goddess Gefion plowing the island of Zealand out of Sweden,

the Maritime Monument with the angelic representation of Memory honoring the Danish sailors who lost their lives during World War I,

and the famous Little Mermaid statue on the pier.

At the next stop, we got out and walked along the Stroget, the main shopping street in Copenhagen. We had some delicious pastry at St. Peter's Bakery. It was so good that we ended up buying more to take with us. If you are ever in Copenhagen, I highly recommend this bakery. Its cinnamon pastries were by far the best I have ever had. As we neared the end of the street, we passed by some underwater statues that were fascinating.