We set off early this morning for a tour of inner Copenhagen. We had a great guide, Henry. He was a guy in his late 50s who is a writer but needs to guide so he can pay his bills . He was very knowledgeable and very witty.
First stop was the Christiansborg Palace where we had a tour of the state rooms
One room that took my fancy was the Queen’s reference library. Access to the balcony is via this little lift in the corner.
And for Izzy, here is a shot of the Palace’s horse training area. At the time we were there they were training up two horses to pull the Queen’s carriage. This complex also accommodates the Danish Parliament as well as their Supreme Court.
We then did a boat tour of Copenhagen’s canals and waterways. The canals in the area we set off from are lined with restaurants.
There is an island off the city that the military had abandoned and in the 1970s was occupied by leftists squatters. They are still there and today it looks like an overgrown mess of shacks and derelict boats.
We passed the Danish Royal yacht that their Queen uses to visit their island territories.
And then the backside of the famous Copenhagen Mermaid, which apparently was voted in a US magazine as the world’s most disappointing tourist attraction.
As we were heading back in our open boat, it started to rain. No worries, Jeanette, the always prepared one, had her rain jacket and I managed to score one of those plastic poncho thingys from the guide. But the rain went up a few notches to torrential. The floor was filling up with water soaking our shoes and socks but worse than that, the fibre glass seats we were sitting on were also filling up with water and because of the very low canal bridges, standing up was not an option.
By the time we escaped the boat we were saturated from the waist down. Fortunately the weather cleared and we dried somewhat over the remainder of the day, though not completely.
Last stop of the day was the Rosenborg Palace. This was a mini palace originally built on the outskirts of the old city but now of course totally surrounded by the modern city. Here we came across the story of one of their earlier monarchs, Christian the Fourth. He was somewhat of an action man.
In a sea battle with the Swedes, he was hit in his right eye with an exploding shell. All thought he had been killed. But he came to, tied his handkerchief around his damaged eye, and apparently gave a rousing speech which so inspired the sailors that they went on to victory.
He had the shrapnel from his eye set in gold and made into earrings for one of his mistresses. They preserved his uniform that he was wearing as well as the handkerchief and the earrings and you can see them here.
To finish off our day, downstairs in this Castle we saw the Swedish Crown Jewels.
Hardys’ Travels 