June 2007This was my second trip to Copenhagen and the summer weather caught me by surprise - rain, heavy clouds, and totally unpredictable. It’s sunny when you go out, it suddenly gets dark and cloudy, then it rains (or pours) for about 10 minutes, then the sun briefly comes out again. There were so many heavy clouds that at some point I decided to photograph them because they were all I could see. And people complain about the weather in England…
The most notable symbol of Copenhagen is the statue of the Little Mermaid. It sits on a rock in the harbor and it’s small, but hordes of tourists come to see it. It’s inspired by the fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, but if you’re thinking of the Disney version, think again. The original is quite tragic: the little mermaid falls in love with a prince and decides to become human. But to gain legs, she must give up her voice, and every step she takes feels like walking on knives. The prince ends up marrying another woman, and her only chance of becoming a mermaid again is to slay the prince with a knife. She can’t bring herself to do it, so she throws herself into the sea and becomes…sea foam! The statue in Copenhagen shows the little mermaid looking out over the water and reminiscing over her lost life in the sea. It’s a nice statue, but overhyped in my opinion.
Much more interesting is the Gefion Fountain, the largest monument in Copenhagen showing the goddess Gefion fiercely driving four oxen. According to legend, Gefion was promised as much land as she could plow in a single night. She thus turned her 4 sons into oxen, plowed out a chunk of Sweden, then picked it up and tossed it into the sea – thus creating the Danish island of Zealand, where Copenhagen sits. I like this woman! You go, girl! But of course that’s not how Copenhagen came to be. The city was founded by Bishop Absalon, then Archbishop of Denmark, who was given the village of Havn on the channel that separates Denmark from Sweden. On Hojbro Plads, one of the liveliest squares in the city, there is a statue of him, supposedly on the spot where he first sighted the site of his future castle. The statue was criticized when it was unveiled in 1901 because he looks more like a warrior than a bishop, but the truth is that the bishop had a sharp military mind, came to dominate then king Valdemar the Great and drove the expansion of Denmark towards the south and the east.
Another landmark in Copenhagen is Tivoli, the city’s pleasure gardens. It’s not for thrill seekers; Tivoli is more like a place for dates, with numerous restaurants and bandstands/music halls. The Danes love it and from my hotel 2 blocks away, I could hear the shrieks of people riding the Demon, a 3-loop roller coaster. And last, but not least, another major landmark is Nyhavn, a little canal filled with restaurants, bars and cafes set in colorful Danish buildings. It’s touristy, but makes for a great stroll and from there you can take boat tours through the city’s canals.
A visit to Copenhagen wouldn’t be complete without going to one of its many castles, in the city or nearby. I chose Frederiksborg, 45 minutes from Copenhagen, one of the most impressive I’ve visited. It’s the largest Renaissance castle in Scandinavia, and the original structure was built around 1560 by King Frederik II, after whom it is named. Most of the current structure, however, was built by his son in the early seventeenth century in an unorthodox Dutch style. The chapel is one of the highlights with intricate decorations and the most interesting depiction of the life of Christ I’ve seen - 23 paintings in subtle contrasts of light and shadow. The castle now houses The Museum of National History with a vast collection of portraits and history paintings, but even if you’re not into that, it’s worth going to Frederiksborg for its sheer magnificence both inside and out.
So this second time around, I’m still impressed by how civilized Copenhagen is. People are courteous and friendly, they don’t speak loud, you don’t see any brawls, cars stop for you when they see you want to cross the street and even the drunks I met were well behaved. Many residents use bicycles, so air and noise pollution is low for a city of that size. And, most surprising of all, some people will just park their bicycles, not put a lock on it, and it will still be there when they come back! This was a shocker to me, so much so that many times I found myself staring at a bike just to make sure it didn’t really have any lock! For someone who comes from Rio de Janeiro where theft is rife, it felt like fairy tale land. And in yet another welcoming facet of Copenhagen, many cafés set outdoor tables in summer, but as it gets cold in the evening, they will give you a blanket so you can sit outside without chattering your teeth. If it weren’t for the lousy weather, this city would be the closest I’ve ever come to heaven.
The most notable symbol of Copenhagen is the statue of the Little Mermaid. It sits on a rock in the harbor and it’s small, but hordes of tourists come to see it. It’s inspired by the fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, but if you’re thinking of the Disney version, think again. The original is quite tragic: the little mermaid falls in love with a prince and decides to become human. But to gain legs, she must give up her voice, and every step she takes feels like walking on knives. The prince ends up marrying another woman, and her only chance of becoming a mermaid again is to slay the prince with a knife. She can’t bring herself to do it, so she throws herself into the sea and becomes…sea foam! The statue in Copenhagen shows the little mermaid looking out over the water and reminiscing over her lost life in the sea. It’s a nice statue, but overhyped in my opinion.
Much more interesting is the Gefion Fountain, the largest monument in Copenhagen showing the goddess Gefion fiercely driving four oxen. According to legend, Gefion was promised as much land as she could plow in a single night. She thus turned her 4 sons into oxen, plowed out a chunk of Sweden, then picked it up and tossed it into the sea – thus creating the Danish island of Zealand, where Copenhagen sits. I like this woman! You go, girl! But of course that’s not how Copenhagen came to be. The city was founded by Bishop Absalon, then Archbishop of Denmark, who was given the village of Havn on the channel that separates Denmark from Sweden. On Hojbro Plads, one of the liveliest squares in the city, there is a statue of him, supposedly on the spot where he first sighted the site of his future castle. The statue was criticized when it was unveiled in 1901 because he looks more like a warrior than a bishop, but the truth is that the bishop had a sharp military mind, came to dominate then king Valdemar the Great and drove the expansion of Denmark towards the south and the east.
Another landmark in Copenhagen is Tivoli, the city’s pleasure gardens. It’s not for thrill seekers; Tivoli is more like a place for dates, with numerous restaurants and bandstands/music halls. The Danes love it and from my hotel 2 blocks away, I could hear the shrieks of people riding the Demon, a 3-loop roller coaster. And last, but not least, another major landmark is Nyhavn, a little canal filled with restaurants, bars and cafes set in colorful Danish buildings. It’s touristy, but makes for a great stroll and from there you can take boat tours through the city’s canals.
A visit to Copenhagen wouldn’t be complete without going to one of its many castles, in the city or nearby. I chose Frederiksborg, 45 minutes from Copenhagen, one of the most impressive I’ve visited. It’s the largest Renaissance castle in Scandinavia, and the original structure was built around 1560 by King Frederik II, after whom it is named. Most of the current structure, however, was built by his son in the early seventeenth century in an unorthodox Dutch style. The chapel is one of the highlights with intricate decorations and the most interesting depiction of the life of Christ I’ve seen - 23 paintings in subtle contrasts of light and shadow. The castle now houses The Museum of National History with a vast collection of portraits and history paintings, but even if you’re not into that, it’s worth going to Frederiksborg for its sheer magnificence both inside and out.
So this second time around, I’m still impressed by how civilized Copenhagen is. People are courteous and friendly, they don’t speak loud, you don’t see any brawls, cars stop for you when they see you want to cross the street and even the drunks I met were well behaved. Many residents use bicycles, so air and noise pollution is low for a city of that size. And, most surprising of all, some people will just park their bicycles, not put a lock on it, and it will still be there when they come back! This was a shocker to me, so much so that many times I found myself staring at a bike just to make sure it didn’t really have any lock! For someone who comes from Rio de Janeiro where theft is rife, it felt like fairy tale land. And in yet another welcoming facet of Copenhagen, many cafés set outdoor tables in summer, but as it gets cold in the evening, they will give you a blanket so you can sit outside without chattering your teeth. If it weren’t for the lousy weather, this city would be the closest I’ve ever come to heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment