This is our third visit to Copenhagen and we decided to purchase
the Red Bus Hop on Hop Off tickets as our shuttle from Oceankaj to the city.
Weatherwise, the day did not start out that well, heavy mist, fog and a steady
rain for the morning but we made the most of it and went to a venue that was
open early and promised to be very interesting and the Kastellet fit the bill.
The bus let us off at The Swedish Church adjacent to the Kastellet, a pentagram-shaped
fortress was constructed as protection against the Swedes...we walked the
grounds of the fortress seeing the Citadel, Windmill, barracks and the church.
Leaving the Kastellet grounds we made our way to St. Albans Church and the
dramatic Gefion Fountain, a bronze statue of the goddess depicting Gefion
ploughing land to create Copenhagen. Next, we headed for Alexander Nevsky
Cathedral, a beautiful Russian Orthodox Church with stunning gold onion domes.
Not far down the street is the beautiful St. Mary’s Cathedral or the Marble
Church, known for being one of the largest domes in Europe and the setting for
royal ceremonies. The cathedral overlooks the circular Amalienborg Palace, the
home of Queen Margrethe...the Royal family was in residence today so no tours
permitted. We stopped for a morning break and had delicious Danish pastry...big
change in the weather, the sun broke through and the clouds disappeared...what
a difference the sun makes! We made our way to Rosenberg Palace grounds, the former
royal residence is now a museum for the Crown Jewels, and we walked through
Kings Garden, a pretty park surrounding the palace. Our next stop was the
Trinity Church Round Tower built in 1642 as an observatory, it is 114 feet high
and I climbed the internal ramp that spirals to the top affording good views of
the old town. On our last visit to Copenhagen we were unable to climb the
Christianborg Palace Tower so we decided to take a short walk through old town
to the Palace to go to the Tower...the wait to ascend the tower was too long
and we had to be back to the ship in time for sailing...maybe on our next visit
to Copenhagen. The Christianborg Palace is located on an island which was the
original village of Copenhagen, today this palace is home to the Danish
Parliament, the Jewish Museum and the Palace Church. We made our way back to
the ship and did get a quick glance of the Nyhavn canal on our way by. Another nice
day in Copenhagen...we will have to do some planning for what to see on our
next stop in this beautiful city. Life
is great onboard the Zuiderdam….
