Take Off Wednesday 12th May

An easy trip to the Airport and a quick check in with Thai Airways, who gave us an express pass that, allowed us to by-pass the queues at Security and Immigration and if Ann hadn’t forgotten she had a little bottle of water in her hand luggage we would have been through in a minute.

Our Business Class Boarding Pass gave us access to Air New Zealand’s lounge so we able to have a snack and read the newspapers till we were called on board.

For the first time that I can remember we pushed off from the terminal five minutes before our departure time and were soon in the air heading for Bangkok. Once we were at cruising height the Thai cabin staff served a delicious five course meal and we sat back and read watched movies or listened to music, until they served a “midnight snack” shortly before our arrival in Bangkok.

We had a little over an hour between landing and boarding our Scandinavian Airlines flight to Copenhagen and as we had eaten well on the previous flight we declined the offer of more food and drink and as it was the equivalent of 2:00 am Melbourne time, settled back to attempt to sleep. Two hours before our arrival the cabin lights were switched on and breakfast was served.

A little over eleven hours after departing from Bangkok we arrived at Copenhagen at 6:30 am on Thursday 13^th May, and surprise, Immigration only looked at our passports, no forms to complete, then our cases were second and third on the carousel, the first time ever for us and no customs. We just walked out the door, purchased two train tickets and after a short train ride and a walk, we arrived at our hotel around 1½ hours from landing and we were able to access our room immediately.

The rest of the day we spent wandering around the centre of town and past the world famous Tivoli Gardens, to get our bearings and to stay awake until bed time.

Copenhagen Friday 14^th May

First stop today was the City Hall, a magnificent building with a 105 m. clock tower and although it was only completed in 1905 it is reminiscent of the many imposing Town Hall throughout Europe.

A sign on a door in the building caught our attention; I don’t think it is the Danish access to Heaven and I presume it allows access to a small lift.

Outside City Hall there is a statue of one Copenhagen’s most famous citizens, Hans Christian Anderson and Ann, keeping with tradition, joined him for a photograph.

From City Hall we walked Stroget the famous pedestrian street also known as the Spine of the City.

This street is lined with many fashion shops as well as restaurants and leads to the King’s New Square with the imposing statue of Christian V, which was cast in 1688, the first equestrian statue in Scandinavia. The Royal Danish Theatre is beside the square but these days the Opera and Ballet are performed in the modern Opera Housewhich is disliked by many Danes.

Walking on, we arrived at Amalienborg Palace, actually four palaces flanking a large square, one occupied by the Queen and another by the Crown Prince and Princess Mary and their children. This palace has recently been restored and as the work was paid for by the Danish people, the Prince and Princess decreed that it should be opened to allow people to see what they have paid for. There was a three hour wait in the queue, not a lot of fun in a temperature of 8C so we decided to miss the visit.

Outside each Palace were twin Sentry boxes and a Sentry in a very casual pose, arms folded and his rifle held between his arms, these Sentries are on duty for 24 hours, 2 hours on, four hours off. At 12 noon the new guard marched into the square and the old guard was replaced. Unlike in London, the public are allowed in the square and the Police move the crowd aside to allow the guard to march to the various Sentry points. The Police are only present during the changing so the guards carry loaded rifles in case of any problems whilst on duty.

On our last visit to Copenhagen, 24 years ago, after viewing the changing of the guard with friends, their five year old daughter asked, “But when are they going to change.” She thought they were going to change their clothes and put on pyjamas.

We ate lunch in a park at the edge of the waterway, opposite the new Opera House and we tend to agree with many locals, it is not an attractive building.

Walking along the waterway past the Royal Yacht we arrived at the Gefion Fountain, which commemorates the goddess Gefion turning her four sons into oxen and ploughing up land to form the island of Zealand. Close to the fountain is the Anglican Church of St Albans. Further along the waterway we arrived at the location where the Little Mermaid is usually located but the Danish Government has sent her to be displayed at the World Expo in Shanghai.

If she hadn’t gone on a holiday this is what we would have seen.

Continuing our walk we crossed a bridge to an artificial Island, known as the Citadel which is known by the locals as the Kastellet. Its construction was started by King Christian IV of Denmark as far back as 1626 with the building of an entrenchment in the northern part of the defence wall of Copenhagen. Kastellet was used in the defence of Copenhagen against England in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). Today the military still has living quarters and residences which once accommodated 1800 people.

From the Citadel we visited the Museum of Danish Resistance, dedicated to the resistance movement during the German occupation from 1940 - 45.

On our way back to the hotel we spent a few minutes visiting the round Frederick's Church, popularly known as the Marble Church was built to commemorate the 300 years jubilee of the first coronation of a member of the House of Oldenburg. Frederick's Church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The dome rests on 12 columns.

Copenhagen Saturday 15^th May

This morning we awoke to pouring rain which caused us to re-arrange our intended sight seeing and we set off to the National museum, along with many others who also had the same idea. The main exhibition traces Denmark from the Stone Age to around Viking times, with rooms full of artefacts recovered from all around Denmark, ranging from stone implements and weapons to many kilograms of silver and gold objects and every thing in between, a very interesting exhibit.

On leaving the museum we found it was still raining heavily so we decided that our planned visit to the Tivoli Gardens would have to be put off, hopefully to tomorrow, as we only have one more day in this lovely city before flying to Moscow.