Saturday, June 11, 2022
The group was scheduled to visit another castle and have another authentic lunch (which yesterday's wasn't), so we decided just to spend the day exploring the city on our own.
The first stop, which we had assumed was a "must see" for everyone (but oddly was not included in the Tauck itinerary), was the Little Mermaid statue. We set out with our less-than-detailed city map and headed to the point so marked. We were told it would take about 45 minutes. Again, we crossed streets that were not marked on the map, so we knew we were heading correctly, but not exactly where we were. We finally stopped a couple of young women (who happened to be from Germany) to help get us there. All along the way we kept remarking that there were NO signs pointing to it. After many zigs and zags and a 2 mile walk we finally saw a tiny sign reading "Little Mermaid" about 100 feet from where it is.
And it is little!!!!! Lots of tourists there, but still able to get some good shots.
We then walked a few blocks to the Danish Resistance Museum.
This museum tells the story of how the Danes were occupied by the Germans in WWII, (at first, the Danes chose to cooperate rather than be invaded [not much of a choice], with the commitment that their government and other institutions could remain in place). Eventually, the Germans took over. In the meantime, a resistance Movement-including card-carrying members of the Communist party, journalists, students, and more became very active and their story is the thrust of the museum. In its current location, the Museum has only been up and running for a few years. The technology is very impressive; when you scan the QR code with your audio device, not only do you hear the narrative about the display but the words and video appear. The exhibit also included a decoding machine and an interactive 1940s telephone switchboard. There were several exhibits about the Danish Jews and the clandestine efforts to evacuate them on fishing boats across to Malmo, Sweden. Specifically (from various web resources), "Denmark is the only nation in Western Europe that saved most of its Jewish population from the Nazis" (www.history.com). And the Resistance Movement, with the assistance of many Danish citizens, evacuated 7,220 of Denmark's 7,800 Jews, plus 686 non-Jewish spouses (en.m.widipedia.org). The Movement eventually gathered enough steam to throw out the Germans as the War was ending. We highly recommend this museum!
By now it was too late for lunch (yes....we actually skipped a meal), so Wendy had some soft serve with rainbow sprinkles.
Walking back we noted the many statues of kings and military figures on horseback, many Greek gods, all kinds of fountains.....
...and even a replica of Michelangelo's David.
And lots of churches. one of the most beautiful is Frederik's Church, also know as "The Marble Church".
We went back to the hotel and rested for a while and then headed out to dinner. We had heard of a seafood restaurant called Hooked, which was in a meat packing district (kind of like West Randolph - Fulton Market back home--on steroids). It was only a few blocks from the hotel. The concierge made a reservation for us (early...since it is usually crowded) and told us that they move people out after 90 minutes! We got semi-dressed up and began to walk over. The concierge had also showed us exactly where to go on the not-so-great map. Since this was in the opposite direction we had been waking, we were eager to try a new route. We followed the directions and.......there was no sign of the restaurant there. Asked some folks for help and they said "Sure...just go down 2 blocks and turn left". Did that....not there either. Went into another restaurant (at least there were some there!) and asked them. "Across the street and down 1 block". Nope...wandered around some....asked someone else..."past that white building and to the left". Everyone was so eager to help! (Or were they just playing the "Let's mess with the tourists" game?). Once more, not there. Asked another restaurant hostess..."Yes, go straight over there, it's on the corner". YES!!!! Found it....but..um.....not what we expected. It was a dive-y looking place with about 8 picnic tables outside! But by this time we were too hungry to start looking for alternatives.
So we sat and ordered: we started with tempura shrimp. Wendy ordered an Asian lobster roll; Wayne had the American one. Both came with vinegar French fries. Have to say the food was really good!
And we saw that the concierge had indeed told us the truth:
All in all, another 5+ miles of walking the city on a gorgeous day. Copenhagen, much like Stockholm, is very flat and very walker friendly.
That's all for now.
Love w&w...................
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