Denmark trip report, Day 1: Copenhagen

In June 2015, we had a 17 day vacation in Europe, starting in Paris for logistic reasons.

The Paris part is here:

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/05/paris-trip-report-2015-day-1-cluny.html

Our main focus on this vacation was Norway but when analyzing logistics of getting there from Paris, Copenhagen loomed up as being too good not to accommodate. So after 2 days in Paris we flew into Copenhagen before taking an overnight cruise to Oslo, Norway.

Here’s a report of our visit to the lovely city of Copenhagen…The Danish København derives from Køpmannæhafn, which roughly translates to 'merchant's harbor', 'Hafn' or 'Havn' being 'harbour' in Danish

June 22, 2015: 

Rosenborg castle (the interior, treasury and the gardens), Vor Frelsers Kirke (Christ the Savior church, climbing its towers) and canal cruise late evening…

We arrived by the Easyjet from Paris at 1pm on June 22nd.

Copenhagen card

After collecting the bags, and withdrawing minimum Danish krones from the ATM, we bought the 48 hour Copenhagen card for 499dkk at the DSB counter near the train station in the airport.

http://www.copenhagencard.com/?ld=0&_ga=1.71483413.740303822.1470801943&currency=eur

gives all info about the card.

The lady activated it by writing the time 14.10 on the card. we wrote our full name as well. Our Copenhagen card paid for everything outlined below (4 palaces, museum, Tivoli visit, canal tours, day trip to Frederiskborg, church tower climb, all transport, airport and cruise terminal included) and we were so glad for the convenience and the value!

Train to city center

 There are trains every 10 minutes from the airport to Copenhagen central from track 2. We took the train direction Helsingor and got down at the central station, Kobenhavn H. The train aligns with the platform, so easy to roll out bags… no need to mind the steps!! There are uniformed officials checking that all passengers are in/out before they close doors at each station.

Our hotel Cabinn city is at a short distance to the train station.

This map with all bus, metro, train routes along with attractions was a huge help in our planning:

http://www.dinoffentligetransport.dk/service/for-tourists/

is the official site with all info

 After checkin, we took buss 6A from the bus stop just opposite the train station and reached Rosenborg slot.

The whole castle dates back to 1600's and was pretty good to tour around.

Rosenborg Slot

 Rosenborg Castle is located in the King's Gardens 200 meters from Nørreport Station.

Rosenborg Castle was built by one of the most famous Scandinavian kings, Christian IV, in the early 17th century. Christian IV's reign from 1588 to 1648 (59 years) is the longest of all Danish monarchs.  He was the most proactive Danish king, having initiated many reforms and projects. Christian IV obtained for his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe.

The Winter Room is the best preserved room from the original Castle, and it was the most important of the King’s three private chambers. The bays are from 1758; in front of the bay to the right stood Christian IV’s mechanical arrangement for raising and lowering the drawbridge. Christian IV lay in state here and the exhibits are mostly from his time. Note the rich panelling, inlaid paintings.

Christian IV had 7 children in 14 years of marriage till his 1st queen died, had 12 children with 2nd queen till she was found to be adulterous and banished, He then had 5 more children with his mistresses.

The interiors are well-preserved and invite us to take a journey in time.

Among the main attractions is the Knights’ Hall with the coronation thrones and three life-size silver lions standing guard. Tapestries on the walls commemorate battles between Denmark and Sweden. 

This set is made of solid silver...

We saw the king’s private writing cabinet, his bathroom, and wax figures of former royal inhabitants.

The stucco ceiling was installed in the later years of Christian IV, and is a typical baroque trend...Stucco work...Typically consisting of crushed or burned lime or gypsum and sometimes fine marble powder mixed with sand and water, stucco can be easily molded or modeled into relief decoration for walls, ceilings.

Christian IV’s Bedroom Ceiling paintings below...The three ceiling paintings show the gods of earth, the heavens and the sea.

The centre piece is of particular interest, since Hera the Queen of the Gods shows similarities to Frederik III’s Queen Sophie Amalie, a beautiful yet power hungry Queen, who supposedly posed to the picture...

Rosenborg also houses an exquisite collection of Flora Danica and one of the world’s finest Venetian glass collections, both set in tower chambers.

Awesome treasury with the crown jewels… The crowns of the Danish kings and queens are kept in special vaults and are embellished with table-cut stones, enamel and gold ornamentation. 

The crown jewels primarily consist of four garnitures: a diamond set, a ruby set, a pearl set, and an emerald set – the emeralds being among the world’s finest.

The Queen is allowed to wear them only within the country as they are national treasures and can’t be taken out of the country.

Crystal...

Mother of Pearl...

Ivory...

Coral artefacts...

Kongens Have (King's gardens)

We got out at 5pm, walked around the gardens for some 10 minutes...

Then we tried to find our way to the locker where we had to keep our small day pack (only very small purses are allowed in, everything else has to be checked in). A guard said the locker closes at 5 pm too… thankfully he consented to our request, telephoned his colleague who was just leaving and got the room opened so that we could collect our bag!

We had some packed food at the lovely Botanical garden... no time to see the gardens though as the main part had closed.

Vor Frelsers Kirke (Church of Our Savior) 

 Our next target was the Church of Our Saviour (Danish: Vor Frelsers Kirke) is a baroque church famous for its helix spire with an external winding staircase. From Norresport metro near the Rosenborg castle we took metroM2 toward Lufthavn for Christianshavn St. (Metro); 5min metro ride, and 200m walk got us to church Vor Frelsers Kirke

The black and golden spire reaches a height of 90 m and the external staircase turns four times anticlockwise around it.

The tower consists of 48 bronze carillon bells that have a musical range of four octaves, which makes it the largest carillon system in North Europe. The largest bells weigh over 2,000 kilo and the smallest 10 kilos. Totally the Carillon instrument weighs almost 12 tonnes and chimes every hour over Christianshavn with different hymn compositions.

There is a total number of 400 steps to the top of the spire, the last 150 being outside….

We enjoyed the magnificent views after climbing its 400 odd steps.

Canal cruise

Then we took bus 9A towards Glostrup St, got off at 2nd stop Børsen, walked 200 m to Holmens Kirke for taking Netto cruise on the canal

We were on the last cruise for the day and enjoyed the commentary and the accompanying sights...

One has to "mind the head" while passing through low bridges...

Here's the famous little Mermaid!

 It was a great introduction to this lovely city!

http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/08/denmark-trip-report-day-2-day-trip-to.html
covers our day trip to Frederiskborg... Versailles of the North!

Our Videos:

https://goo.gl/photos/hL6HsZmPmuKhPUHq7

covers Rosenborgslot

https://goo.gl/photos/bXyWT3yMP4NiDjMi6

covers Copenhagen: Marble church, Amalienborg, Gefion fountain, St Alban's church, Little Mermaid, Christianborg, Vor Frelsers kirke, canal tour, Tivoli