Copenhagen

Hej,

Don't worry, I haven't violated the lockdown, it is just the perfect opportunity to catch up with the delay, and to travel a little watching old pictures.

So let's move back in time, until September 2019, and travel to Denmark.

Copenhagen is a rather small town, but you can find royal castles at every corner of the street.
Let's start with Christianborg.

And then, barely one kilometer away, a totally different world, in Christiana, also called Freetown Christiana. The former military barracks now hosts a flower power haven, where the people have developed their own set of rules, independent of the Danish government. The rules forbid stealing, violence, guns, knives, bulletproof vests, hard drugs, but hash and skunk weed is sold openly from permanent stands.

Here is the famous Little Mermaid, the symbol of the capital city, based on the fairy tale of the same name by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

This statue has been damaged and defaced many times since the mid-1960s for various reasons, but has been restored each time.

In 1964, the statue's head was sawn off and stolen by politically oriented artists. The head was never recovered and a new head was produced and placed on the statue.In 1984, the right arm was sawn off and returned two days later. In 1990, an attempt to sever the statue's head left an 18 centimeters deep cut in the neck.
In 1998, the statue was decapitated again; the culprits were never found, but the head was returned anonymously, and reattached. In 2003, the statue was knocked off its base with explosives and later found in the harbour's waters. Holes had been blasted in the mermaid's wrist and knee.

Paint has also been poured on the statue several times, but it is there to welcome the visitors.

Short break for the changing of the guard in Amalienborg, with a lot fewer tourists than in London.

The next royal castle is Rosenborg.

A few minutes away from the city, here is the Roskilde Cathedral, the official royal burial church of the Danish monarchs.

The neighourhood also hosts a open-air museum, where carpenters have decided to rebuild Viking ships with the same techiques as the ones which were used as 1000 years ago.

Back to Copengahen, it's time to head to Tivoli Gardens, a famous amusement park and pleasure garden, where you can travel all around the world in just a few minutes.

In case you have swans in your garden and are afraid of automatic lawnmowers, don't worry, they don't seem to be bothered...

 

On the following day, the plan is to visit a place I have dreamt of since I was a kid, Kronborg, the castle where Hamlet takes place.

I was lucky enough to be able to join a tour, guided by Horatio himself (well,his ghost, in fact).

Back to Copenhagen and to Christianborg, to visit the royal kitchen and mews.

From there, back to the round Tower, to climb to the top and have a look at the city from above.

Before leaving the country, I board a cruise, in order to have a different view on what has already been seen.

Mind your head, the bridges are not far from your head!

So many things to see in just a couple of days, don't hesitate, Copenhagen is definitely worth the trip!