Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen! In my mind, I keep hearing Mario Lanza singing \u201cDrink, drink, let your hearts fly\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
First off, the art and the architecture of this city are stunning. 16th<\/sup> century stonework surrounded by some of the most amazing contemporary works I\u2019ve ever seen. When we were trying to find contemporarily-styled components for the building of Hale Nani in Phoenix, I often said it was like trying to build sand castles in the arctic\u2014there just wasn\u2019t much to be found. In Copenhagen, I\u2019m sure the problem would be quite the opposite. It is shop after shop, window after window of \u201coh wow, look at that.\u201d How could one possibly decide?<\/p>\n Our hotel breakfast included exposure to the world\u2019s coolest cheese slicer. It used two equally sized blocks of fine Dansk cheese and a spinning plate and wire arrangement that stepped down the cheese blocks to produce very uniform slices\u2014hard to describe but way cool. \u00a0Tummies full of cheese, meat, fruit, yogurt, pastry and coffee, we headed out to see the town. We began following a formation of Danish Royal Guardsmen. With the drums, belted uniforms and enormous bearskin hats, it\u2019s hard to miss these guys, but somehow we lost them on their way to the palace for the changing ceremony, but we did find Kastellet, one of the best preserved fortifications in Northern Europe. It is a pentagon, surrounded by moats and once was completely encircled by ramparts. Today it still serves as a military barracks.<\/p>\n From Kastelet, our walk brought us to Copenhagen\u2019s famous harbor. We knew she was gone, on loan to China, but it was still a bit disappointing to not see Den Lille Havfrue, the Little Mermaid atop her stone. I did, apparently to the amusement of several other tourists, manage to get a photo of Spit Squirrel, one of Zoe\u2019s dog toys, on a stone immediately adjacent to Mermaids perch. I would have gone for the actual rock, but that would have involved, wet pants and soggy shoes and besides, that\u2019s why they invented Photoshop.<\/p>\n After saying goodbye to Den Lille Havfrue, we hopped on an on-off harbor tour ferry. The ferry makes stops at 16 ports through the harbor and canals. When you board, the crew cautions that the boat passes under several very low bridges. As we approached one such bridge, I caught sight of an incredibly beautiful three-masted ship. I think I had the timing down, so I rose to shoot a quick photo. The crew didn\u2019t seem impressed with my timing and I almost created an international incident. I did however, get the picture.<\/p>\n One of our last stops on the boat was Trekroner S\u00f8fort (Sea Fortress) located at the entrance to Copenhagen\u2019s harbor. The original fort was built in 1713 upon the remains of three ships that had been sunk. The structure that stands today was begun in 1787 and it remained in use until WW I. Trekroner was one of many fortresses that surrounded Copenhagen. Invading sovereign lands is certainly not a new phenomenon. Walking through the barracks, kitchen, ramparts, etc. but the last boat of the day was arriving and spending the night on the island would probably not be pleasant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tuesday \u2013 July 6 Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen! In my mind, I keep hearing Mario Lanza singing \u201cDrink, drink, let your hearts fly\u2026\u201d First off, the art and the architecture of this city are stunning. 16th century stonework surrounded by some of the most amazing contemporary works I\u2019ve ever seen. When we were trying to find …<\/p>\n