Copenhagen Denmark

We did a quick trip to Copenhagen, Denmark last weekend and we had the pleasure of staying with the Vistrup family: Nektarios’ Thea Angela, her husband Bjarne, their daughters Ellen & Mia, their very cute grandson Oliver, the cat, the rabbit and the deer!

Thank you for your generous hospitality and for being our personal tour guides for the whole weekend!

Copenhagen is the capital city of Denmark and is currently the largest city in Scandinavia. Copenhagen got its name from the word kobenhaven, which means merchants harbour as it was once the main area for trade. Copenhagen is very close to Sweden… in fact you can see Sweeden across the sea in the picture below. The two countries are joined together by a crossing bridge called the Oresund Bridge.

We were lucky enough to see most of the touristy sites including: The Amalienborg Palace, The Tivoli Gardens, The Little Mermaid, Rundertarn (Round Tower), Vor Frue Kirke (Copenhagen Cathedral). We drank Copenhagen beer in Nyhavn, took a ride up the cannals, watched all the danish people ride bikes everywhere, ate a traditional hot dog with the bread seperate to the sausage and of course we had some Copenhagen ice cream. Here are some quick pics:

This is the home of the well respected Royal family including Prince Fredrick and Princess Mary; and the Queen of Denmark who apparently smokes illegal Greek ciggaretts. What amazed us was that the entrance to the palace was completley open for anyone to visit. There were no big gates or guards like there are surrounding Buckingham Palace. The Danish Royals are seen to be ‘down to earth’ people and are often spotted shopping in town or eating lunch in local restaurants. You can even see them sometimes in the window waving hello to the people. We didn’t actually see any Royals but we were keen to knock on Princess Mary’s door to say hello and invite her over for a cuppa.

This is the church that Princess Mary and Prince Fredrick were married in.

Apparently there are no Greek Orthodox Churches in Denmark as most people are Lutheren. If you need a Greek Priest for a wedding or christening service, you can invite one over from Sweden.

Hans Christian Anderson is a famous Danish author who wrote many fairy tales including The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling. We took some pics of the ‘real’ little mermaid who rests on the rocks along the cannal. In H.C.A’s version of the story, the little mermaid actually dies, unlike Disneys version… how sad.

Everyone rides bikes in Denmark. It is the easiest mode of transport. Thea Angela and Bjan have a two seater bike which would have been fun to take out for a ride, but we didn’t get time to do that. Maybe next time.

This is Tivoli Gardens, it was a fantacy wonderland. Tivoli is an amusement part in the center of Copenhagen which opens only in the summer and for Christmas. There are rides, sideshow alleys, concert halls, music and entertainment, flowers, lights and lots of creative restaurants. Look one way and you see china town, then look the other way and you feel like you are on the magic carpet ride from Aladin. Amazing. We loved it!