Frederik’s Church, (The Marble Church), a congregation of the Danish State Church – Lutheran

I noticed the lights as soon as we left the Copenhagen airport–suspended canisters hanging above the center of the roads everywhere our taxi drove–no lampposts. The clean appearance mirrored the cleanliness of the city. Our Marriott was situated on an island connected with walk bridges to an area of restaurants and shopping. We were tired from a long day of traveling and were  thankful for a comfortable bed. As I dozed, I dreamed of the air flight into the city from Frankfurt, Germany. As we flew over Denmark, I noticed the many islands of this far north archipelago–green forested islands and beautiful plowed fields, each farmstead ringed with trees marking the owner’s land. Fall is in the air and temperatures are in the 70’s daytime. I noticed some yellow in the trees, and we saw vines turning magenta.

Today, a Sunday, was a wonderful day. We ventured into the central city and toured Rosenborg Castle with its beautiful turrets reaching high into the sky, home of Danish Royalty over the centuries, and now a state museum. Filled with tapestries and painted flooring, the castle sits in a grand park and botanical garden. The Great Hall features large silver lions in front of the royal thrones, and the basement contains the royal jewels, ceremonial garb and crowns of the monarchy. Rather dazzling! We walked the short distance from the Rosenborg to the Amalienborg Palace, home of today’s royal family of King Frederik X. The palace consists of four nearly identical Scandinavian Renaissance buildings surrounding an octagonal plaza with an equestrian statue of King Frederik IV in the center. Fur-capped soldiers stood at attention around the plaza, and the state flags flew indicating the monarch was in residence. It is obvious that Copenhagen is upscale in a very comfortable and livable way. Parks abound, and well laid-out bike lanes are filled with folks out to enjoy the area. We laughed when we saw a young couple–woman biking and man in a large basket in the front (just the way it should be–a male chauvinist might say). I will look for one when we return home–Kathy insists! Sea air and breezes grace the lanes of handsome Danish-designed modern buildings amidst old Scandinavian Renaissance architecture. We enjoyed walking and understood why the people of Denmark are consistently rated the happiest people on earth. 

Hungry, we found a Cambodian restaurant–our first Cambodian meal ever–in Denmark! I enjoyed my beef and rice noodle soup, even through the peppers were HOT! Kathy ate some puréed tuna with chili seasoning and rice chips. Tasty. We came back to the hotel, to chill and, God willing, have a great night’s sleep. Tomorrow, we leave for Goteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden’s second largest city. Oops, I forgot…after we landed in Copenhagen on Saturday, Kathy made a beeline for Danish pickled herring. She has some Danish heritage and loves everything Danish, food wise. She ATE IT ALL (even slapped my hand when I reached for some) with dark bread and Danish butter–need I say more? 

An Addendum–While Kathy edited our photos from today, I went for a walk outside our hotel. I’ll take her after we post this blog. The stylish apartments along the waterway have balconies with live plantings overlooking the sea and the islands beyond. A boardwalk is strewn with people sunbathing and visiting. Awesome boats ply the canals and ocean beyond. In the near distance are striking buildings and I see a raised electric metro train moving toward the central city. “Beautiful people” are swimming in the sea in areas marked off by floating pontoons while others dine in outdoor cafes. I noticed that none of the bikes in the bike parking areas had chains and padlocks! Yes, very upscale in a very livable way!