Copenhagen - Day 1

Friday, June 10, 2022

Though it seems like we just got to Stockholm, it was already time to say goodbye. This itinerary hits the 3 big capital cities, but almost as an afterthought. The real focus is on the west coast of Norway and the fjords. But, we are getting ahead of ourselves.

An early 6:30 am departure was necessary because the Stockholm airport cut down on personnel during the height of Covid, and has never replaced them. So even though we had priority check-in for our luggage, we still had to wait in line ONE HOUR to get through security. Our flight was then a little late in coming into Stockholm, so we did not get to Copenhagen until around 11:30. 

Luckily, our first stop was lunch. It was a typical "local" type restaurant (not) that Tauck likes to feature (the sign outside said "California and Asian cuisine". Say what!?!?!?!) It was a set menu for everyone of pea and asparagus risotto, chicken in hot sauce (chicken again?), and white chocolate mousse with rhubarb confit. Filling, but nothing to write home about. But.....we did have a nice view of one of the canals.

Copenhagen, like Stockholm, is built on a number of islands, so there are many rivers and canals that lead to the sea.

Then back on the bus to head into the city center and a stop at Christiansborg Palace. This is actually the third palace on this site, as the prior two burned down. 

As Denmark has the same kind of government as Sweden (a constitutional monarch --with a monarch as head of state but not head of the government), the palace is actually used as the home of the Danish Parliament. Since the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court also work in this building, it is the only building in the world that houses all three branches of government!

But the areas for public viewing, the "reception rooms" (and that is what they're used for today) all reflect the pomp and glory of royals from centuries past.  

The music room:

...the throne room:

Not such impressive thrones, but it's kind of a moot point. Since the Queen has no official power, she never actually gets to sit on the throne!

Many of the rooms were similar to, though not as ornate and opulent, as in some of the other palaces we have seen across Europe. But there was one amazing room. It is the Hall of Tapestries. It is decorated with 17 colorful tapestries representing 1,100 years of Danish history from the Viking Age to the year 2000. The tapestries teem with the figures of kings, queens, heads of state and other prominent figures that have shaped the history of Denmark and the rest of the world.

They feature scenes from the siege of Copenhagen by the Swedish army on the night between 11th and 12th February 1659, and from the Second World War when dark clouds hung over Europe in the shadow of Hitler’s Third Reich. However, the tapestries also record momentous and positive change, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first moon landing. Like the Bayeuux Tapestry and the transom on the Vasa, people could "read" these tapestries to understand all of the Danish (and world) history being portrayed.

The artist behind the illustrations was Bjørn Nørgaard. A team of weavers from Manufactures Nationales des Gobelins et de Beauvais (in France) worked on the tapestries for ten years.  They were a gift to Her Majesty the Queen to mark her 50th birthday. The work of art was inaugurated on the Queen's 60th birthday on 16th April 2000. 

Though woven on large looms, they look like needlepoints. The work is so amazing that we feel it is necessary to show the 9 large ones here. 

Each of the larger ones is probably 10' x 10'...just huge!

On the bottom left of each are world figures from that century. You can certainly identify the ones from the 20th century. The figures on the right are famous Danes from that period. Click on the one above to expend it and see how many other famous events and people you can identify.

 After that, we were bused to our hotel. The Radisson SAS is one of the largest buildings in the city (and located right across the street from Tivoli Gardens). .Again, they also prefer not to build skyscrapers here, and keep most buildings to 4 or 5 floors. But this one was designed by a famous Danish architect (all the way down to the chairs, rugs, and pictures on the walls), and he somehow convinced the powers that be to allow it to be built. 

And then it was time to eat again! The sun doesn't set until around 9:30, so when we headed out at 6ish, it still felt almost like the middle of the day. This time we went for real Danish "smorrebrod". We had the hotel's area map which kind of steered us in the right direction.. After a few false turns we finally found it: Kobenhavner Cafeen (which means "Copenhagen Cafe!). Though it is only 40 years old, it is designed and decorated to appear much older. 

We have been burned in the past by ordering wayyyyy too much mezzes or tapas, so we were careful this time. We only ordered three dishes, but really had to force ourselves to even make a dent in the third.

The first was friteret rodspaetefillet (fried plaice) with baby shrimp, mayonaise, and lemon.  Perfect!

Next, kerrysild met friteret aeg, log, kapers og karse. Or, as we would say: curried herring with deep fried egg, capers, pickled onions, and pea shoots. Amazing!!!! (the herring is hidden under the shoots.)

Last, klassisk roastbeef med remoulade, agurkesalat, peberrod or sprog log. That is paper-thin slices of roast beef with remoulade, horseradish, gherkins, and fried onions. Sublime!

Being smorrebrod, each dish came on a bed of dense brown nut bread. As a side bar, Wendy was in Copenhagen in the summer of 1974 and sampled smorrebrod then.  Perhaps her memory is faulty--but she seems to recall that, in the day, smorrebrod were still beautifully presented but were more like dainty tea sandwiches. We shared that perspective with our waiter and he acknowledged that smorrebrod are bigger in the 21st century and, indeed, people are snobbier about their smorrebrod in this day and age.  Who knew?  

As we walked back to the hotel, we remembered what our guide had told us about the different vibe between Copenhagen and Stockholm.  The streets of Stockholm were pristine, people were well mannered, even the cyclists were quite polite.  Copenhagen has an entirely different vibe.  More energy, wilder tattoos, more hair colors, a more diverse, electric, animated and open social scene  One could say the 21st century version of Woodstock. This too is very different from what Wendy observed in 1974.  Her headlines from Copenhagen were that it was like an extended Crate & Barrel in sensibility and style. OK that was a stereotype and she was looking forward to some lovely retail therapy here.  That said, on this visit, she hasn't yet picked up any hint of a Crate & Barrel vibe. For pity.  

And so ends our first day in Denmark. 

PS: many, many electric cars both here and in Sweden!