Day 6: Copenhagen - Little Mermaid and Slots
I woke up when I literally fell off the bed this morning. Somehow, the bed seems narrower than a single bed, and there was hardly space for me to turn. The mattress was also very slept-in so that it seemed to slant on one side and it felt like you were sleeping on a slope.
It was barely 8am, and light was bursting through the rather thin curtains. My heart did a little dance - a lovely day to get out and about in Copenhagen! I planned my day to start at the Little Mermaid - the furthest point from the city centre, and then move inwards while stopping at various points of interest or whatever that took my fancy.
St Nikolaj Church
Heading out from Stroget, I made sure to stop at the sea-front end of Nyhavn, because then the sun would be shining on Nyhavn and that would make for great photos. The colourful Nyhavn was indeed beautiful against the calm water and blue blue skies. I stopped and paused for some moments to take in the beauty.
It's almost like a watercolour painting, isn't it?
What's with all these locks? I don't understand. My wild guess is it's some form of lovers' vows.
I hurried on in the Kastellet direction and it was a complete surprise when I came to Amalienborg suddenly. In fact, I nearly came face to face with one of the Royal Guard as I stepped off Amaliengade. He was taken aback but recomposed himself quickly. ;)
Large cranes such as these were a common sight in the city. Quite a bit of construction was on-going and it can be hard to avoid them in the photos.
Apparently, Amalienborg is the winter palace for the Danish royal family. The 'square' is octagonal, and the grand buildings surrounding it look very similar. I crossed Amalienborg, and was soon on my way to Kastellet. Tourist crowds were already forming when I reached St Albans Kirke. It's a very pretty church and looked just lovely in the sun.
As I walked past the church towards the waterfront, I still could not see moi petite mermaid. Le petite le petite mermaid, wherefore art thou? I ambled along the waterfront, and then suddenly, I saw her. From afar, tons of tourists were reaching out to her, trying to molest her. I heard a tour group coming up behind me, and I hastened my pace.
The Little Mermaid is indeed little. She's not much to look at frankly, and although she is very popular, she wears such a forlorn expression!
Kastellet is a well preserved star fortress. However, I did not find anything particularly interesting here.
My next stop was the Rosenborg Slot. Lonely Planet described it as a fairy-tale like castle, but after seeing it, I have to respectfully disagree. There is nothing fairy-tale at all about the Dutch Renaissance architecture. Well, to me at least. The castle houses the Royal collection as well as the Crown Jewels. After many visits to many royal palaces and castles in the past, I did not find the collection particularly interesting. The King's and Queen's thrones did capture my attention though.
Statue of H.C. Andersen at Rosenborg Slot gardens
The King's and Queen's thrones in the Long Room
Leaving Rosenborg Slot, I headed out to the Latin Quarter next. Enroute, I came by the russian Aleksandr Nevskij Kirke. The golden onion-shaped roofs were captivating. But I was overwhelmed with awe when I made the turn and saw the Marble Church. It is huge and massive with a copper green dome.
As I turn towards the Latin Quarter, I came across the Round Tower. It was formerly used by the University of Copenhagen as their Observatory for astronomy studies and research. This wasn't in my plan but I decided to go in away. I was expecting to climb stairs after stairs but I found myself walking up instead. There are no steps at all. Technically, you could lead a horse up the Tower! The aerial view of the city did not impress much, but you can glance at once all the interesting church steeples dotting the city skyline.
The Latin Quarter is actually just a couple of small cobbled stone streets around the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Cathedral. The most interesting thing about the Cathedral is that it has statues of the 12 apostles.
Interesting doorway opening to the basement
After a day of walking, it was time to retire back to the hostel to get some rest for tomorrow's day trip to Odense. Some further interesting objects and things I found in my ambles as follow.
Somehow, these looks like paper apartment houses to me
Carlsberg rocks! Woohoo~
I was surprised to find a Hamleys store! It's near Tivoli - and kind of makes sense for its location since Tivoli is an amusement park.
That's all today folks! :)
It was barely 8am, and light was bursting through the rather thin curtains. My heart did a little dance - a lovely day to get out and about in Copenhagen! I planned my day to start at the Little Mermaid - the furthest point from the city centre, and then move inwards while stopping at various points of interest or whatever that took my fancy.
St Nikolaj Church
Heading out from Stroget, I made sure to stop at the sea-front end of Nyhavn, because then the sun would be shining on Nyhavn and that would make for great photos. The colourful Nyhavn was indeed beautiful against the calm water and blue blue skies. I stopped and paused for some moments to take in the beauty.
It's almost like a watercolour painting, isn't it?
What's with all these locks? I don't understand. My wild guess is it's some form of lovers' vows.
I hurried on in the Kastellet direction and it was a complete surprise when I came to Amalienborg suddenly. In fact, I nearly came face to face with one of the Royal Guard as I stepped off Amaliengade. He was taken aback but recomposed himself quickly. ;)
Apparently, Amalienborg is the winter palace for the Danish royal family. The 'square' is octagonal, and the grand buildings surrounding it look very similar. I crossed Amalienborg, and was soon on my way to Kastellet. Tourist crowds were already forming when I reached St Albans Kirke. It's a very pretty church and looked just lovely in the sun.
The Little Mermaid is indeed little. She's not much to look at frankly, and although she is very popular, she wears such a forlorn expression!
Kastellet is a well preserved star fortress. However, I did not find anything particularly interesting here.
My next stop was the Rosenborg Slot. Lonely Planet described it as a fairy-tale like castle, but after seeing it, I have to respectfully disagree. There is nothing fairy-tale at all about the Dutch Renaissance architecture. Well, to me at least. The castle houses the Royal collection as well as the Crown Jewels. After many visits to many royal palaces and castles in the past, I did not find the collection particularly interesting. The King's and Queen's thrones did capture my attention though.
Statue of H.C. Andersen at Rosenborg Slot gardens
The King's and Queen's thrones in the Long Room
Leaving Rosenborg Slot, I headed out to the Latin Quarter next. Enroute, I came by the russian Aleksandr Nevskij Kirke. The golden onion-shaped roofs were captivating. But I was overwhelmed with awe when I made the turn and saw the Marble Church. It is huge and massive with a copper green dome.
As I turn towards the Latin Quarter, I came across the Round Tower. It was formerly used by the University of Copenhagen as their Observatory for astronomy studies and research. This wasn't in my plan but I decided to go in away. I was expecting to climb stairs after stairs but I found myself walking up instead. There are no steps at all. Technically, you could lead a horse up the Tower! The aerial view of the city did not impress much, but you can glance at once all the interesting church steeples dotting the city skyline.
The Latin Quarter is actually just a couple of small cobbled stone streets around the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Cathedral. The most interesting thing about the Cathedral is that it has statues of the 12 apostles.
Interesting doorway opening to the basement
After a day of walking, it was time to retire back to the hostel to get some rest for tomorrow's day trip to Odense. Some further interesting objects and things I found in my ambles as follow.
Somehow, these looks like paper apartment houses to me
Carlsberg rocks! Woohoo~
I was surprised to find a Hamleys store! It's near Tivoli - and kind of makes sense for its location since Tivoli is an amusement park.
That's all today folks! :)
posted by Lonoxon at 1:19 am
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