November 27, 2008: Copenhagen (Day 2)
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Getting to Copenhagen

On the afternoon of November 25th, Greg Fred and I arrived at Newark International Airport. When we got to the terminal, we checked in for our Scandanavian Airlines flight. Greg had upgraded to business class, but Fred and I didn't think that $100 an hour was a reasonable amount to pay for a bigger seat/bed and a nicer meal. The boarding occurred right on time, and, although coach is always a bit crowded, we had decent seats. At first I thought that I'd be lost without a seat power outlet for my laptop, but as it turned out the entertainment system had plenty of movies and games, so we were never bored. Add to that the fact that they served actual meals, and we were all set. All in all it was a very pleasant flight over to Copenhagen.

When we arrived, we found that Customs was extremely easy; we were barely glanced at. Quite different than in the United States. We collected our luggage and changed some currency and then went outside to the taxi stand. It was seven in the morning but it was pitch dark, and so we didn't see a great deal on the taxi ride into town.

I don't suppose that the route we took into town will matter much; when I am riding I don't fix routes in my mind all that well, and besides it was pretty dark. But I think I've remembered the route pretty closely here.

We were staying at a hotel called The Strand, and it was right on one of the main waterways in the center city. Below is an aerial view of the immediate vicinity of the hotel, and I have marked it on the view:

A Morning Walk

When we arrived at the Strand Hotel, we found that our rooms were not ready, so we stored our bags and went out for an early morning walk around the neighborhood. The pictures below were taken on this early morning walk around a very cold, very drizzly Copenhagen. We were all layered up and bundled up, and Fred and I were wearing the rain suits we'd bought just before we left. Stores were just opening up, and there weren't too many people out and about.

Early Morning in Copenhagen

Although it was cold and drizzly, it was very interesting to walk around Copenhagen. We walked along the canal in front of The Strand to the next major street, and then headed generally north until we came to a large square that has a subway stop and a large department store (one of the pictures you will see below). Then we crossed alongside the square and turned down one of the narrow pedestrian streets that led generally west, until we came to the area quite near Tivoli. Here there is a large square and the Copenhagen City Hall.

At Copenhagen City Hall

Along this walk, we took quite a number of pictures, and so we have included many of them here. All were taken along our walking route, although the exact location of each one would not be important to know. You can click on any of the thumbnail images below to look at these various pictures that we took:

In the set of pictures above, you'll notice one of an old church that we found just off the pedestrian street we were walking.

A Copenhagen Church

And below are some more thumbnail images that you can click on to see more of the interesting pictures we took this morning:

An Afternoon Walk / The Christiansborg Palace

When we returned to the hotel, our rooms were ready. Having been awake since Tuesday morning in New York, it was now more than 24 hours since we'd slept, so we took the opportunity to crash. After a couple of hours napping, we all bundled up again to head out for another walk. Before we left the hotel, Fred took a couple of pictures of our room. Here is the desk area (they had free wireless Internet, so I set up my laptop) and here is the sleeping area. The bath was pretty big for a room so small, but we didn't bother with a picture of it. The rain had stopped for the most part, so it was more pleasant.

We began our walk by following the canal in front of the hotel around to the Bremerholm Bridge; here is a view from the bridge looking in the direction we were walking. We crossed the bridge to Borsgade. Then we walked westward taking pictures as we went. After a block or so, we came to another bridge- the Holmens Kanal bridge- where I took this picture of Fred. Then we came to a complex that held two museums. The first was actually a former royal residence- the Christiansborg Palace. Outside, there was a row of large statues, a couple of which you can see here and here.

We entered through what used to be a huge porte d'cochere where carriages used to go to let off their royal visitors, and found ourselves in the now-enclosed entrance. We went up the same steps that visitors would have used to actually enter the palace and found ourselves in the Christiansborg Palace entrance hall. Here, there were huge sculptures seemingly holding up the ceiling (you can see some of these sculptures here and here) and there was also a small gift shop.

We took quite a few pictures from our hotel to the Christiansborg Palace, and you can click on the thumbnail images below to look at the ones that interest you:

We also took a couple of movies that you might like to watch. You can use the movie players below to have a look at them:

This movie is a panoramic view of an area near the hotel. You'll see some city buildings, the main canal near the hotel, and a lot of typical Copenhagen architecture as we walk along the canal.

In this short movie, I captured the passage of one of the tour boats that ply the Copenhagen canals. With the weather being what it was, don't expect to see a lot of tourists on the boat!

The Thorvaldsen Museum

Bertel Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen in either 1768 or 1770, the son of an Icelander who had settled in Denmark and there carried on the trade of a wood-carver. (This account is disputed by some Icelanders, who claim Thorvaldsen was born in Iceland.) Young Thorvaldsen attended Copenhagen's Royal Danish Academy of Art, winning all the prizes including the large Gold Medal. As a consequence, he was granted a Royal stipend, enabling him to complete his studies in Rome, beginning in 1797. (He celebrated this as his "Roman birthday" for the rest of his life.)

Thorvaldsen's first success was the model for a statue of Jason, which was highly praised by Antonio Canova, the most popular sculptor in Rome. In 1803 he received the commission to execute it in marble from Thomas Hope, a wealthy English art patron. From that time Thorvaldsen's success was assured, and he did not leave Italy for sixteen years. In 1819 he visited his native Denmark. Here he was commissioned to make the colossal series of statues of Christ and the twelve Apostles for the rebuilding of the Copenhagen Cathedral, after its having been destroyed in the British bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807. These were executed after his return to Rome, and were not completed till 1838, when Thorvaldsen returned to Denmark, being received as a hero.

He died suddenly in the Copenhagen Royal Theatre on 24 March 1844, and bequeathed a great part of his fortune for the building and endowment of a museum in Copenhagen, and also left to fill it all his collection of works of art and the models for all his sculptures very large collection, exhibited to the greatest possible advantage. Thorvaldsen is buried in the courtyard of this museum, under a bed of roses, by his own special wish.

Thorvaldsens Museum is a single-artist museum, dedicated to his entire body of work. The museum is situated on the small island of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen next to Christiansborg Palace. The building was erected from 1838-48 after a public collection of funds in 1937. It is heavily inspired by antique Greek architecture and built around an inner courtyard where the artist is buried. Is is particularly noted for its unique use of colours both inside and outside. On the outside is a frieze depicting Thorvaldsens homecoming from Rome in 1938.

The museum displays a comprehensive collection of the artist's works as original plaster models used in the making of the bronze and marble statues and reliefs now at display in museums, churches and at other locations. The museum also features paintings, drawings and prints that Thorvaldsen collected during his lifetime as well as a wide array of personal belongings that he used in his work and everyday life.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

So after visiting Christiansborg Palace, we crossed the brick courtyard to the Thorvaldsen Museum. As luck would have it, the Museum was free on Wednesdays, so we went in for a look. There were areas of the museum closed to flash photography, but one could photograph in some of the sculpture halls and could take movies most places.

To begin with, Thorvaldsen is of course best known as a sculptor, and the museum was full of the plaster models for the actual pieces he executed which are on display throughout Europe and America. We took lots of pictures of these sculptures= so many that I have created a slideshow of them.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

The museum had a central courtyard flanked by long halls on either side. Off of each of those halls were a series of rooms that were connected, and each showcased a particular set of works or other items of Thorvaldsen's. I made a movie of one such room and the collection of items that it contained, and you might want to watch that movie using the player below:

In the Museum

The rooms themselves were quite beautiful, from the intricate inlaid tile floors to the tiled and painted ceilings. It seemed that no two ceilings were the same, and I took pictures of a selection of them. Click on the thumbnail images below to see these beautiful, intricately painted ceilings:

Photography within the museum was limited, but it was OK to take movies that didn't need flash, and so I took a few that you might be interested in watching. You can use the movie players below to have a look at them:

This movie, taken in one of the sculpture halls, shows a variety of the large sculptures executed by Thorvaldsen. While the themes vary, most of them are classical- gods and goddesses and the like.

Thorvaldsen was not only an artist, but a collector as well, and this movie shows you one of the many rooms in which portions of his collection of paintings and other sculptures were kept. (Each of these small galleries had its own, uniquely-designed and painted ceiling.)

This movie will walk you down one of the long, narrow sculpture halls upstairs in the museum. Here, all of the sculptures are of single, classical standing figures.

Finally, before we leave the museum, let me show you a few more of the amazing sculptures of Bertel Thorvaldsen. Click on the thumbnail images below to see these beautiful works:

Copenhagen at Night

We did some more walking around after visiting the museum, although when we came out it was basically getting quite dark- and this at only 4PM! Before we stopped to have dinner in a neighborhood restaurant that offered a small buffet, we got a couple of good pictures of nighttime in Copenhagen. Click on the links below to view these pictures:

One of the nice things about movies is that they do well at night, since the camera automatically adjusts the lighting. We have two good movies that we took while we were out this evening; you can use the movie players below to have a look at them:

In this interesting movie, you'll get a feel for what Copenhagen city streets are really like. There are cars, sure, but there is also an emphasis on making it easy for bicyclists to share the roadways. In most cases, the bicyclists have their own lanes and their own traffic signals. It probably takes some getting used to; it all seems confusing.

We were walking along a shopping street when we passed in front of a large department store, and they had an extremely clever and enjoyable window display. The animatronics were simple- not overwhelming- but very entertaining to watch.

You can use the links below to go to another photograph album page.

	November 27, 2008: Copenhagen (Day 2)
	Return to the Europe/Cruise Trip Index