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Josh and Jenny’s European Adventure 2009 – Day 6 Copenhagen, Denmark

I woke up this  morning feeling pretty good after a night of fairly heavy drinking.  Jenny and I got up at 9 since the free buffet breakfast ran from 7-10AM and we definitely wanted to get some food before our long day ahead of sightseeing.  We got some breakfast and planned out the day.  I decided that we would take the public buses today around parts of the city to reduce the amount of walking we were doing.  Walking is fairly strenuous in this city since a lot of the roads are made of cobblestone which puts added pressure on the legs, especial the knees and also the back.
After we went back upstairs to change and get ready, we asked the receptionist how the buses ran.  She pointed out a black building across the street which happened to be the building of the bus company.  When we got to the bus company we went to the counter and the girl was extremely helpful and friendly.  I asked her how the system worked and she explained it to me in detail.  After figuring out we wouldn’t need to take nearly as many buses as I initially thought Jenny and I settled on just buying point to point individual bus tickets and not a 10 pass or an all day bus ticket.
Next was the bus stop for bus 1A which would take us to Amalienborg, which is where the Queen resides during the fall and winter months or when her presence is needed in Copenhagen.  On the way to the bus stop Jenny says “isn’t that the bus we need?”  I said “yes” and then said that at least we knew where to get the bus from.  Just as I said that I saw bus 1A turn the corner and I shouted “There is bus 1A lets go Jenny.”  I took off, running across the street and Jenny followed.  Just as I said that the light turned green and I heard Jenny shriek a little bit, thinking that she would get hit by a car.  I ended up flagging the bus down, and after some communication difficulties with the bus driver we bought two tickets and sat down.  Right before the stop we were trying to get too a very nice Danish girl said that Odd Fellow street would be the next stop and that once she got off the bus I should hit the stop button.  So I did and she was right.  Boy the people of Denmark are extremely friendly, patient people and they all speak English.  Apparently this is commonplace throughout Scandinavia since each of the country’s that make up this area of Europe speak such difficult languages they are all taught English in school at a fairly early age (grade 3 or 4).  So getting around and communicating has been fairly easy during our brief stay in Copenhagen.
When we got off of the bus we were headed to Amalienborg but before we turned down the street we noticed a beautiful marble church across the street.  The name of the church was Frederiks Church aka the Marble Church.  When we went inside it was dark but had a beautiful domed ceiling.  Yes everything was made out of marble as I said before and Jenny and I just walked around and absorbed all the history the church could give us.  Jenny and I have quickly realized that we both like old churches and cathedrals.  After spending a few minutes walking around the church we walked down Frederiksgade which took us to Amalienborg.  When we got into the square I immediately noticed a large group of people lined up in a row.  I then noticed several television trucks and cameras being set up.  At first Jenny and I didn’t think much of it and we walked around and saw the guards in front of a different building in the square.
As I looked up I noticed that the flag was raised in front of the building.  I then looked around to the other buildings and noticed that the flag was raised in front of the building where all the people were lined up.  The other two buildings in the square didn’t have a flag raised.  I then said to Jenny “I know that at Buckingham Palace another Palace’s around the world, when the flag is raised that usually means the King and/Queen are in residence.  I bet the Queen is here.”  We then walked over to the corner of the square where all the people were lined up.  When we got there this local woman asked us where we were from and what we were doing.  We told her we were visiting Copenhagen and then moving on Stockholm.  We then asked her why everyone was gathered.  She explained to us that the Queen was needed here in Copenhagen because three new ministers were elected into Parliament and so she would be leaving the Palace and going off to her spring/summer residence.  That meant that we would get to see the Queen of Denmark!!!
Now we weren’t sure if the Queen would be walking or driving, but approximately one minute after the lady was finished talking the gates opened and a caravan started towards us.  I immediately began snapping photos and the lady pointed out that the car with the crown next to the license plate was the Queen’s Car!  As soon as I looked up the car passed by and I caught a glimpse of the Queen.  Jenny and I both looked at each other and said “that was so cool!”
After the Queen left and the crowd subsided a bit, Jenny and I stayed at Amalienborg to watch the changing of the guards.  The precession would last about fifteen or twenty minutes and the police lined us up along the black cobblestones surrounding the square.  Jenny and I didn’t stay for the whole precession but we got the crux of what was happening.
From Amalienborg Jenny and I walked towards the water and sat down to relax for a bit.  We had been standing for a while and the cobblestone streets had started to take a toll on my back and legs.  Once we got to the water there was a nice park called Amalienhaven.  From there we took Larsens Plads along the marina until we got to St Alban Church which is a very old Angelican church located in front of Kastellet which is a very nice preserved fortress that is currently used as a military base.  Once we got to St. Albans church we kept walking through the grounds until we got to the entrance of the Castle.  Once through the Kastellet (which was really not worth it as there was not much to see), we headed up the road towards famous Little Mermaid, a sculpture commemorating Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale story.
Before we got to the sculpture in the water, Jenny and I stopped for a soft serve icec cream.  Since the wind was blowing so strongly, some of the soft serve ended up on jenny’s face and hair.  When we finally got up to where the Little Mermaid was located in the water there were so many tourists around we could barely get a photo of the Little Mermaid and/or ourselves in front of it.  By this time Jenny and I were tired.  We had been walking all day the past two days.  After the Little Mermaid we walked down Langelinie Alle to where the 26 bus would take us back to the hotel.  When we got to the bus stop we noticed that we would have to wait about twenty minutes until the next one would come.  Once on the 26, the twenty to twenty five minute journey would give us a nice view of a part of the city we hadn’t seen yet.  We got off at City Hall and then went to get a bite to eat.  We stopped at this Italian restaurant Vesuvio of Copenhagen.  This was just another overpriced restaurant in Copenhagen.  Jenny and I each ordered individual pizzas, large sodas and an appetizer and all for 65 USD!  Copenhagen has been pricey to say the least, but it is understood considering the standard of living, wages and income tax are all high.  All needed to support their socialist government, education, healthcare and welfare programs like mostly all if not all of the Scandinavians countries have in common.
After lunch, Jenny and I headed back to the hotel where I proceeded to take a two hour nap.  I hadn’t napped in years yet I had taken a nap twice since my trip to Europe began.  After my lovely two hour nap, Jenny and I got ready to go out again.  We decided to get some souvenirs from Stroget.  We walked up and down it several times and finally settled on a shop or two.  I picked up a few things, namely a country patch of Denmark to add to the collection on my bag.  Denmark is country 43 for those keeping track at home.  After shopping on Stroget, Jenny and I called it a night.  We were both knackered and wanted to get to bed early since we didn’t expect to sleep much tomorrow.  Tomorrow we would be taking a 1030PM train first to Malmo, Sweden connecting through to Stockholm where we should arrive roughly at 6AM.



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