Thursday, May 10, 2012

a thursday

copenhagen.  we mapped out our tour last night, but ultimately, turns out, you need more than half a day to see some of the main attractions.  who ever would have thought?  in the end, we scrapped about three of our six destinations.  

we went first to the rosenborg castle.  it was built in the 17th century by what seems to be one of denmark's most revered kings-- christian iv.  he was the sort of guy who lived large-- he himself was a large man.  he drank a lot, he fought (and lost an eye during a battle with sweden, at the age of 67. jumped up, had the shrapnel removed and eventually turned into a pair of earrings for one of his mistresses).  fathered 25 children with two wives and three mistresses.  died at 70.  

rosenborg was built as his summer castle.  


christian IV...



he is also the guy in the painting from the cathedral in roskilde... here it is again:

note the wounded eye. not the wounded spirit.

as a little guy...



he spoke danish, german, latin, french, and italian.

what made this such a good tour was rick steves.  i think i'm a rick steves convert.  kathy brought the rick steves' 'scandinavia' 13th edition tour book with her.  we used it while touring through the castle and it would say things like, "walk through the door on your left and look up.  do you see this thing that you never would have noticed had i not pointed it out to you?" thank you rick steves, i see it now.

some castle fineries...

propaganda tapestries... denmark will beat sweden in this picture.


vegetable porcelains... 



he must have told all of those children not to sit on the couch...



guards...



thousand-liter barrels...



coronation crown.  7 pounds.


okay!

that's enough wealth for all of us for one day, wouldn't you agree?


so... by the time we left the castle we were all hungry enough to skip castle #2-- the current queen's palace-- and find lunch down by the harbor.

you can see from our walk there that the sun is anticipating the departure of our guests and returning to  the familiar habit of disappearing...




tables and chairs, waiting patiently for rain to stop...




a cheap lunch on the way to the harbor, for someone...


we don't stop until we reach the harbor.  we are told you go to the harbor and get "a cheap beer" but as we are also hungry we find a restaurant and do both food and drink.  we eat outside, under an awning, blankets over our shoulders-- well-- my shoulders, and kathy's shoulders.  all of the outdoor cafes seem to put blankets out on cold days.

here is our restaurant...




our danish lunch: pickled herring, remoulade, dark rye bread, roast beef with horseradish, whitefish, chicken salad with bacon, cheese, pickles, salad...  and cheap beer.



the rainy day harbor... 


at this point... after lunch... there is time left for only one more stop before we must get back on the train and retrieve the littlest ones.  la glace. known to be the oldest and best cake shop in copenhagen.

of course, it is not just cake they do...



we sit down to four different slices, warm up to coffee, and consider our route back.



a very fine way to spend four hours.

2 comments:

nina said...

Danish pastries!

(Your accounts are better than Rick Steve's...)

I have to ask... you are in Denmark because...?? I'm guessing work? Heritage exploration? I need one of those side bar explanations! :)

greg|regan said...

nina,

done!