Denmark

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DENMARK

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Copenhagen-------city of my youth, mistress of my soul

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JUNE 1989 TRIP TO

DENMARK

Paul at Christiansborg Palace

We arrived at Copenhagen’s Kastrup Lufthavn at the Donna on Raadshuspladsen (Town Hall Square)

Donna in front of “Børsen”, the beautiful Renaissance Stock Exchange building

crack of dawn and had a taxi take us to the Hotel Opera, which was beautifully located right off Kongens Nytorv, but had nothing else pleasing about it with its ugly and noisy accommodations. After switching rooms we soon embarked on a thorough walking tour of the familiar heart of Old Copenhagen which is a veritable maze of pedestrian streets. Running east from Town Hall Square to Kongens Nytorv is Strøget, five streets - Frederiksberggade, Nygade, Vimmelskaftet, Amagertorv and Østergade - one continuous pedestrian precinct. Strøget is the world’s longest pedestrian street with a busy charm all of its own - and shops of every conceivable type with sidewalk cafés in the summer. On Højbro Plads we checked out the statue of Bishop Absalon, the founder of København. Legend has it that it was at this very spot that Absalon tethered his horse, and, gazing across the little harbor, founded the city in 1167. On then to Slotsholmen, the island dominated by Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament and Børsen, the Danish Stock Exchange building, a magnificent piece of Dutch renaissance architecture, built by King Christian IV in 1640 featuring a spire of four intertwined dragontails. In old sailor’s quarter Nyhavn, a canal running down towards the port with 18th century houses on both sides, we discovered Cafe Sars for lunch on Danish “Smørrebrød” washed down with “Snaps”. Later we took an old fashioned stroll through Rosenborg Gardens and gazed upon the lovely statue of Denmark’s favorite son Hans Christian Andersen there and the tranquil setting of the Rosenborg Castle, with ducks and swans gliding on its moat.

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Copenhagen Excursions We spent considerable time perusing the

Midnight fireworks in Tivoli Gardens

magnificent art collection at Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket followed by lunch at a fairy-tale lake in lovely Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli is to Copenhagen, what Disneyland is to southern California. Each year millions of people visit this flower-filled amusement park, right in the heart of the city. It is an institution loved by “children and adults of all ages” the world over. All dreams are fulfilled in this 1001 nights world of festivity and pleasure dating back to 1843. We spent a delightful few hours visiting Frederiksberg Have where we observed, among other things, Danish girls penchant for top-less sunbathing and where we lunched at the very Danish Krøger’s Have, while listening to old-fashioned songs and music played on the accordion. One whole day was devoted to a splendid side trip via ferry boat to Malmø, Sweden and an interesting evening was spent for dinner at daughter Yvonne’s apartment in Copenhagen, in the company of her daughters and future husband John.

On Chinese bridge in Frederiksberg Gardens

At Yvonne’s for dinner

In Malmø, Sweden

Along the Danish Riviera

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Time came to rent a car and take a trip along the

The little picturesque port of Dragør

“Danish Riviera” that began in the little picturesque port of Dragør and continued north along the coast of Øresundet to Klampenborg. I was amazed at how quickly by car, we passed through all the little communities along the way, stretches that I remember as a youth on bicycle, taking forever. At Klampenborg we parked the car and hailed a horse and carriage to take us through Dyrehaven, the enchanting Deer Park beechwood forest that is also home to the 400 year old amusement park, Dyrehavsbakken, and the Royal Hunting Lodge, the Hermitage. From here one could glimpse Bellevue Strand (Beach) with its pier that used to boast a gigantic waterslide in its 1935 heydays, that I so dearly loved. Further on we visited the 800 year old market town of Helsingør with Hamlet’s somber Kronborg Castle and further still, the lovely beach town of Hornbæk and Gilleleje Strandbakker where people, much to our amusement, picnicked in the rain under umbrella

Bellevue Strand pier

Paul at the Hermitage Royal Hunting Lodge

Donna in Deer Park’s beechwood forest

Helsingør, Hillerød and Roskilde

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Turning south towards Copenhagen we headed for Frederiksborg Castle (1560) in Hillerød which is northern Europe’s most notable Renaissance castle and a “Danish Versailles”. Finally we wound up in the royal town of Roskilde and tried to enter the impressive Domkirke (Cathedral), but as His Holiness the Pope happened to be visiting that day, the place was made off limits to common folk like us. Instead we checked out the equally impressive Vikingeskibshallen (Viking ship Museum) and after a happy lunch in a cozy restaurant in the town’s city hall square, we left Roskilde quite content. Back in Copenhagen we had occasion to attend an evening’s performance of the famed Benneweis Circus and just marveled at the whimsy and gentleness of the acts put on by a troupe of visiting Russians. To cap off this 1989 trip to Denmark in style, we treated ourselves to a sumptuous dinner at historic Hotel D’Angleterre’s splendid Palm Court but left the city of my difficult youth thinking that perhaps we should have taken in more of greater Denmark on our visit there. Kronborg Castle in Helsingør

Frederiksborg castle courtyard in Hillerød

Roskilde Domkirke (Cathedral)