Return to Copenhagen

After aborting the attempt to head to Compenhagen on Saturday we decided to try again on Sunday.  This time we set the alarms early and made sure the kids had a good night sleep. We left the house just after 9 and caught a bus to Malmö Central Station and then the train across the bridge to Copenhagen and through to Österport.

The plan of attack would be:
 

We would take the train from Malmö Central Station to Österport in Copenhagen (marked with the Triangle at the top).  From there we would walk to Kastallet (1) then down to Amalienborg (2) to watch the changing of the guard.  After that we could head out to Rosenborg castle or more likely down to Kongens Nytorv (3) – Kings New Market/New Square.  I’d expected there to be grass or a park that we could have a picnic for lunch.  From there we followed the main mall Strøget past the Disney and Lego shops (4) down to Tivoli Gardens (5) where we could see the Christmas displays.

For once things went pretty much to plan.

Our first stop was Kastallet which is a star fortress.  It is still used for military purposes so access was a little limited but we were able to walk through the main street.  Originally it was part of the walls that went the entire way around Copenhagen, but very little remain of the walls today.

Kastallet gates

Building started in 1626 under King Christian IV of Denmark to protect the entrance to the port.  It was completed in the mid 1640s under King Fredrick III. Sweden attacked and set a siege on Copenhagen in 1658-1660, so the fortification was extended and Kastellet (the citadel) was completed.  It played a key part in the Battle of Copenhagen against in England in 1807. Unfortunately it was captured by the Germans in 1940 who landed in a nearby harbor and Denmark was forced to surrender.

The main road with barracks to the sides

Plaque showing the layout of Katellet

 Outside the Kastallet we walked through Churchillparken (Churchill’s Park) named after Winston Churchill to commemorate British assistance in liberating Denmark in World War II.  St Alban’s Church is also located there and was quite impressive, especially with the bells ringing for morning mass.

St Albin's Chruch

Memorial to fallen soldiers - outside Katallet

Memorial to Churchill

Full view of St Albins

  

Fountain outside Kastallet

Fountain outside Kastallet

Statue outside Kastallet /  Churchill Park

Dragon on the lamp post outside Churchill Park

The "Zincer" a statue made from metal parts by the Zinc companies, made to mimic "The Thinker"

We still had a little time until we had to be at Amalienborg so we wandered into the Langelinie park and saw the Ivar Huitfeldt Column, built to commemorate Admiral Ivar Huitfeldt who and his men who died in the naval battle at Stevns during the Great Northern War in 1710. The ship-of-the-line Dannebrog was set on fire fighting the Swedes and Admiral Huitfeldt ordered his men to continue fighting until the ship exploded and killed the Admiral and his 497 crew. Some remains of the ship were brought up from the wreck in the late 1800s and the memorial was built in 1886 from the ship’s cannons, cannonballs and anchor. The column is topped with a statue of Victoria (goddess of victory) and features Admiral Huitfeldt’s portrait and coat of arms.

Ivar Huitfeldt Column - wide shot

Ivar Huitfeldt Column - Plaque

Ivar Huitfeldt Column - Cannonballs

Ivar Huitfeldt Column - Cannons

 

Next we stopped by to get some better pictures of the Mermaid statue (see my first Copenhagen posts for more info on the statue) and then headed to Amalienborg.

The Copenhagen Mermaid

We still had a little time before the changing of the guard so we had a look around and took some photos. The kids were a little tired from walking so we didn’t go too far and we didn’t go into the museum as we didn’t have enough time before the changing of the guard.

As I mentioned in my first Copenhagen posts, Amalienborg was built as housing for four noble families but become the temporary home for the Danish royal family after Christianborg Palace burnt down in 1794.  When  Christianborg was rebuilt, the royal family decided to stay in the four palaces that made up Amalienborg rather than move back.

Arial shot of Amalienborg Palace from Fredriks Chuch

Arial shot of Amalienborg showing the four palaces (courtesy of Wikipedia, as I didn’t have access to my helicopter):

The palace is named after Queen Sophie Amalie (borg meaning palace so it is essentially named Amalie’s Palace).  Down the road from the Palace is Frederik’s Church (I believe the photo above was taken from the church) which sports a very impressive domed roof:

Frederik's Church Dome

 The four palaces of Amalienborg are Levetzau’s/Christian VIII’s Palace (NW corner - which was open as a museum), Brockdorff’s/Frederik VIII’s Palace (NE) and Moltke’s/Christian VII’s Palace (SW) - both closed when we were there, and Schack’s/Christian IX’s Palace (SE) which was undergoing repairs and covered in scaffolds.  The palaces surround a statue of King Frederik V on his horse.  The double names of the palace refer to the fact the palaces were initially constructed for the royal families. Molke’s Palace was originally constructed for Adam Gottlob Moltke (Lord High Steward) but was renamed when the royal family purchased the palace.

Christian IX’s palace is the home of the Danish royal family.  Crown Princess Mary and Crown Pricne Frederick reside in Frederick VIII’s Palace.

360 degree panaramic view of the palace - 360 degrees from the centre.

Christian VIII’s Palace

Brockdorff’s/Frederik VIII’s Palace 

Statue of King Fredrik V

The kids got a little tired waiting for the changing of the guard

The palace is guarded by Den Kongelige Livgarde (The Royal Life Guards) who look similar to the English Beefeaters.  They march through Copenhagen at 11:30 and execute the changing of the guard at Amalienborg at noon.  There are three different watches – King’s Watch (when the Queen is in residence), Lieutenant Watch (when Crown Prince Frederick or Prince Joachim or Princess Benedikte are taking place a reagent) and the Palace Watch (when no member of the royal family is in residence.  We witnessed the Palace Watch.

The guard approaching

Changing of the guard

The guards facing off as part of the changing of the guard

Frederik’s Church is located at the end of the road due west of Amalienborg.  It was designed in 1740 and has the largest church dome in Scandinavia (31m). Construction started in 1749 but was slowed by budget cuts and the death of the architect so it was left abandoned and was sold in 1874.  It was finally completed in 1894.

The words aboved the door say HERRENS ORD BLIVER EVINDELIG “The Word of the Lord endureth forever.”

Frederik's Church

Statues on the dome.

After Amalienborg we headed to Kongens Nytorv and promised the kids a picnic lunch.  This was where we hit a snag.  The area was under construction and fenced off.  Not a blade of grass to be seen.  I suggested we walk past and continue to Strøget, but Kris wanted to check out a sculpture, so we walked around the fencing and came across a big Christmas market.  They sold decorations, glögg (mulled wine), salami’s, crafts and lots of other Christmas themed items.  We found ourselves a table and had our picnic outside the market.

Copenhagen Christmas Market

  

Copenhagen Christmas Market

Display on a hotel overlooking the market

Christmas Market

The we headed into Strøget.

The mall is (according to Wikipedia) one of the longest  and oldest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe (1.1km) (though not taking either crown).  It is located in the centre of old Copenhagen.   Some of the most expensive stores are located on the street including Illums Bolighus (Danish living and homewares store), Magasin Du Nord (Danish equivalent of Harrods) and Royal Copenhagen Porcelian Factory.  It also houses the Disney Store and the kids favourite – the lego store with some impressive statues.  Cameron was also amazed that they had a scanner/camera that you could stand in front of with a lego box and it would project an image of the assembled kit above the picture of the box, so you could see what the finished product would look like.  I was very happy to find a pirate lego chess set (I’ve collected lego pirate since I was little) so that got purchased for Christmas.  We also managed to get a limited edition Christmas Lego Gingerbread house for spending over 500 dkk (Danish Kroner).

The kids with a statue of the wolds tallest man, outside the Guiness World Record Museum on Strøget.

Lego dragon - Lego Shop on Strøget.

Lego dragon - Lego Shop on Strøget.

Lego model of Nyhavn (New Harbour) an icon street-frontage in Copenhagen - Lego Shop on Strøget.

Alana being swallowed by a lego lion

Tomas being swallowed by a lego lion

Lifesize lego models in the Lego shop.  behind is a mural of Copenhagen's streets made of lego blocks

Posing by a lego model of the Kings Guard

Me with my pirate lego chess set

Once we finished up at the lego shop we headed to Tivoli where we decided to buy a season pass for 1200 dkk (about $250) which gave us a year of free entry (rides not included) instead of paying about 500 dkk per visit.

Tivoli had a Christmas theme this time and looked pretty awesome at night with all of the Christmas lights lit up.  It’s amazing the difference between the way it looked for Halloween.

360 panoramic view of some of the Tivoli displays

The main Tivoli display outside the hotel (this was the pumpkin judging area for Halloween)

The lights over the lake at Tivoli

Looking over the lake

Christmas trees at the entrance

Main street

Igloos at Tivoli

Igloos at Tivoli

Igloos at Tivoli

Reindeer display - Trojan Reindeer?

Kids on a sleigh

After a few hours at Tivoli we were exhausted and headed to Copenhagen Central to catch the train home.  The train was packed and the kids were tired and grumpy – particularly Cameron.  When the conductor got on he noticed this and offered to let Cam sit in the special conductor room, which is where the conductor usually sits.  Tomas joined him for a while and it made their day as they watched him mark up the forms and phone the driver.  We also got chatting to a lady and her mother who sat across from us and they offered the kids some Christmas candies and Alana and I got talking to a traveler who was taking the 3 hour train ride home.  All-in-all it turned what looked to be a terrible train ride into a lot of fun. 

Tomas in the conductors room

Cameron in the conductors room