In June 2011, I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Europe with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, Brad.  Over the course of 2 weeks, we would be spending time in Italy, Sweden and Denmark.  It would be the first time either of us had been to Italy, however, hubba had a brief business trip to Denmark 2 years prior.   He was definitely excited to be going back, to be able to spend more time there, and to share it with me.

My knowledge of Denmark was limited to Hans Christian Andersen and The Little Mermaid, and while photographs showed incredibly beautiful surroundings, I was unsure whether one could find enough activity in the relatively small country to occupy a week’s visit.  I hadn’t need worry as this “small country” is packed with amazing places to see, things to do, and food to eat.  I quickly fell in love with Denmark, and by week’s end, was wishing we had much more time to spend exploring the country.

What follows is a “photographic tour” of the special places we visited while in the Kingdom of Denmark.   I hope you enjoy the virtual journey we will take over my next few blog entries.

Since this was, technically, a business trip for hubba, our accommodations were arranged by his company’s travel department and I had zero complaints with the lovely hotel they chose.  We stayed at The Copenhagen Admiral Hotel, housed in an historic waterfront building located between Nyhaven district and Amalienborg Palace.  Our twin room (yes-twin beds) was water-side, we had incredible views of the wooden schooners in harbor, the modern Copenhagen Opera House and the Royal Playhouse.

According to Wikipedia, the building was originally two separate warehouses which were commissioned in 1781, completed in 1787 and taken over by the Crown in 1788 for use as grainaries.  The two buildings were connected in 1885, creating the long building in use today.  The building stored up to 30,000 barrels of grain.  The site was acquired by private investors in 1973 for redevelopment as a hotel, which opened in January 1978.   It was then refurbished in 2004.

No two rooms in the Admiral hotel are alike; the only consistent element being the original wood beams throughout the buildings.  Until recently, the hotel was not air conditioned, which is not uncommon in the environmentally conscious country.  We visited in June and were able to keep our room comfortably cool by opening the doors overlooking the harbor and were able to keep the doors open overnight without worry.

In Europe,  it’s normal to see two twins pushed together to form a larger bed, which we discovered in Italy doesn’t work well.  I suppose there could be many reasons for using twins over larger sized bed; one being room sizes are smaller and another being flexibility and cost of the smaller size mattresses.

Copenhagen is an incredible city, with so many of it’s amazing landmarks around the city-center and easy to tour on foot.  Denmark is an environmentally-conscious country, and most residents, especially in Copenhagen, bicycle to their destinations.  I worried more about being forced off the sidewalk by a cyclist, than being hit by a car in the street.  I bought a new pair of walking shoes prior to our trip and I retired them shortly after returning home.  I wish I had an activity tracker back in those days to record just how many miles we covered on foot.   Each of the places in this article were within walking distance of The Admiral Hotel, and each other, so let’s walk along Toldbodgade, a street that runs parallel to the harbor, and begin with the closest and most distinguished landmark in the city.

Amalienborg Palace

In my opinion, this is one of the most impressive sights in Copenhagen.  It was amazing to me to walk (or drive) into a palace complex, in the city center, and be able to touch the buildings.  Amalienborg Palace is the winter home of the Danish royal family; the palace complex consists of 4 buildings, built around an octagonal courtyard in the center of which is am equestrian statue of Frederik V, the founder of Amalienborg Palace.

Amalienborg was originally built for 4 different noble families, but after Christiansborg Palace burned down in February 1794, the royal family purchased and moved into the 4 palaces, and has since used the complex as a royal residence.  Each of the 4 palaces is named after a different Danish king; Christian VII, Christian VIII, Frederick VIII and Christian IX; Christian VII and Christian VIII are open to the public.

Amalienborg is guarded 24/7 by the Royal Life Guards, who march daily, leaving Rosenborg Castle at 11:30AM to execute the changing of the guard in front of Amalienborg at noon.   They also conduct post replacement every two hours.  No members of the royal family were in the palace while we were in Copenhagen, so the guard was under Palace Watch, which is the smallest of the guard watches.

Gefion Fountain

Heading north from the palace on Toldbodgade, near the Kastellat, there is a large fountain featuring the Norse goddess, Gefion, driving her oxen sons.  The fountain was donated to the city of Copenhagen by the Carlsberg Foundation (Carlsberg Brewery), and was first activated in 1908.

Kastellet – The Citadel

It is a short walk from the fountain to the walkway that crosses the moat surrounding the Kastellet, which is one of Northern Europe’s best preserved star-shaped fortresses.  Even though there is an active military presence, the Kastellet is peaceful and lovely; it is a protected area, public park and historical monument.

Currently belonging to the Danish Defense Ministry, the military activity includes use by the Chief of Staff, the Danish Home Guard, Military Intelligence, the Judge Advocate Corps and the Royal Garrison Library.  Two moats, separated by a line of outworks, surround the Citadel, there are gates, flanked by guardhouses, on the north (Norway Gate) and south (King’s Gate) sides of the site.  Within the walls of the Citadel stand multiple buildings, including the Commander’s House, The Rows, Southern and Northern Storehouses, Powderhouse, Church and Prison, Windmill and Central Guard House, as well as 5 bastions, named as follows: The King’s Bastion, The Queen’s Bastion, The Count’s Bastion, the Princess’s Bastion and the Prince’s Bastion.

The Little Mermaid

One of the most famous sights in Copenhagen is the Little Mermaid statue.  Based on the fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the bronze statue, displayed on a large rock along the shore, has been a treasured Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction since it was gifted to the city in 1913.

I must admit that I was surprised by her location and size.  I expected a more official exhibit, a larger statue farther from the shore, with some sort of protection.  In reality, she is very accessible, especially when the tide recedes to reveal additional rocky shore leading directly to her.  Posted around the area are signs imploring visitors to stay off the statue, but, as usual, not everyone feels that applies to them.

In 1909, the statue was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen, who fell in love with the character in the Royal Danish Theater ballet production of Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.  The statue was created by Edvard Eriksen; she is approximately 4 feet tall, weighs approximately 386 pounds and has fallen victim to a number of vandal attacks over her 100+ years at Langelinie promenade.

That brings us to the end of today’s virtual tour of Copenhagen, Denmark.   I hope you enjoyed the photos and information I provided here.   We’ll continue our tour with my next entry, where I’ll share information about Rosenborg and Fredensborg, the Royal yacht and the Louisiana Museum.