We took a vacation! A big one, too. We spent a little more than two weeks in Scandinavia. I’d never been to Denmark, Norway, or Sweden before, and we managed to hit all three.*
I’m going to be spreading out the photos over the next couple of weeks in a series of posts, so stay tuned if there’s a particular destination/sight you’re interested in.
Today
We spent a total of about three days in Copenhagen, much of it just walking around the city. Urban hiking is the best.
StatuesÂ
There are a row of these on the balustrade outside Copenhagen’s city hall. I have no idea what animal this is. Dragon? Elephant? Serpent? Some combo of the three? (FWIW, there are lions on the city’s coat of arms. This isn’t a lion.)
The Little Mermaid, possibly the most famous statue in Copenhagen. Everyone tells you that you’re going to be disappointed when you see it – it’s smaller than you think. Hans Christian Andersen is Danish, and they’re very proud of him.
A statue in a park not too far from The Little Mermaid. I’m not sure who it is or what it’s of, but I do enjoy how much random artwork there is on the streets in Europe.
The World War II memorial. Possibly the unknown solider memorial?
Nyhaven
This is the bit of Copenhagen that’s on all the postcards. It’s like the Eiffel Tower in Paris: it’s the most touristy thing ever, but you have to go.
This boat has its own lighthouse. Nyhaven is a harbor (I *think* haven (Danish) = harbor (English); there are tons of boats. I also like the rust red of the boat with the dark blue of that house in the background.
Not the actual harbor. This was in the Copenhagen Lego store. (Remember kids, Lego is a Danish company.)
We saw this style of architecture – colorful row houses next to a harbor – all through Scandinavia. It’s what Scandinavian design used to mean before it was all clean lines and white and minimalist.
Buildings
It wouldn’t be a European city without a palace or two. This is the Christiansborg Palace; the Danish royal family uses the Amalieanborg Palace. This one has a lot of official government offices.
It also wouldn’t be a European city without a church or three. This was a lovely church near The Little Mermaid statue. I tried to get arty by putting the fountain in the foreground. I’m not sure it worked.
We’ve covered palaces and churches…. Can I interest you in a museum? This one’s the Copenhagen Jewish Museum. We didn’t go in, I just liked the building.
This crooked photo (seriously self, learn to hold the camera level) is the new Copenhagen Opera House. It’s on the main canal/river through town. If you’re thinking it looks like a giant diving platform, well, you’re not the only one. Red Bull hosted a diving competition off the roof the weekend before we were there.
And this building is the entrance to the Tivoli Gardens amusement park, which includes the highest swing ride I have ever seen. To quote my husband, “That’s high enough to make you calculate the tensile strength of those cables.” Yes, I married an engineer.
Gardens and Flowers
I was surprised through the whole trip to see an amazing number of flowers. My kid (who lives in drought-riddled California) couldn’t get over how green everything was. It made me remember how much you enjoy nature when it’s cold and white and grey for winter.
This is the garden/park across the street from the Amalieanborg Palace. It’s also across the canal/river from the Opera House. It’s a lovely pale and there were lots of locals eating lunch on its benches and low walls.
This is on Hans Christian Andersen Blvd. Permanent flowerbeds on the streets. I also like that you can see the omni-present bike lanes. (We were taking a tour bus to the port for the next stage of our trip and an older American woman couldn’t stop exclaiming [loudly, sigh] over how many bikes there were in the city. “I could never live here, I can’t ride a bike!”)I don’t remember which park this was, and I’ve no idea what that building is – but I’m pretty sure it’s offices or apartments or shops. Nothing remarkable. This one’s just pretty.
Random leftovers
These are a couple of photos that don’t really fit into categories, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave them out.
Herring for breakfast is a thing in Copenhagen. Fish is everywhere, as you might expect. (So are pickled vegetables and the food was more salted than I was used to.) An acquaintance of mine is married to a Danish man. She claims to enjoy the curry herring. I couldn’t work up my nerve to try it at 8am.
This was the fanciest light pole I’d seen in awhile. It’s got a date on it from 1676, but the lights in it are fluorescent.
Did I mention that we did a lot of walking? And we only stayed in the center (largely). I’d’ve loved to explore more. Next time!
* I should tell you: I don’t enjoy the if-this-is-Tuesday-it-must-be-Belguim cramming in of sights and stops. I would have loved to spend way more time in each city/country. Nonetheless, we got a decent overview of each place. I think. Next time, in depth!
