I awoke the next morning to a massive storm. There was lightning, thunder, and a monstrous downpour of rain - the likes of which you don't see in London. Tony awoke and closed the window, but the window latch wasn't working properly. Luckily, the rain soon stopped, and it appeared that the rain was going to clear. Or so it appeared. . .
We lounged around as the weather was still somewhat poor, but following breakfast at the hotel, we wandered over to the bakery to grab what was now becoming our traditional breakfast pastry. Today it was a chocolate and cinnamon snegl (roll).
By now, even Tony was warming to the idea of having a second breakfast at the bakery.
Our main goal today was to visit the Little Mermaid. She was all the way at the other end of town from us, so it was going to be a bit of a hike.
We stopped along the way to see Amalienborg Palace, which is the residence of the royal family. It is a complex of 4 buildings. We didn't take a tour. This may sound weird, but by this point, we've seen so many palaces, that if we see one more set of royal apartments. . .
We walked across the street just in time to duck into domed Frederick's Church before the sky opened and more rain came down.
It is a pretty church, but not as big as I was expecting. It is basically a round interior with the dome overhead.
From there we walked on out to the point where the Little Mermaid statue sits. It was already mobbed with tour buses. It is a pretty statue commissioned by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg Brewery. It is certainly one of the most famous pieces of public art ever made, and people travel from all over the world to see it and snap their own picture.
That afternoon, we caught the bus out to the Carlsberg Brewery. It is the fifth largest beer making company on the planet producing over 500 different products worldwide.
The symbol of Carlsberg Brewery is the elephant. It harkens back to the religious symbol given to the Danish royalty of the elephant which represented the highest order of nobility. The swastica symbol represented good fortune, and was used long before the nazis usurped it as their symbol.
The old brewery is a museum and historic center. Copenhagen owes a lot to the family that founded Carlsberg. The profits from beer have gone into creating various cultural projects including the Little Mermaid Sculpture, the Botanical Gardens, and the Glyptotek Art Gallery. It made me feel good to think that this company gave back and hopefully continues to give back so much to the community in which it was founded.
Inside you can see the traditional copper kettles used for making beer, as well as a scent station, where you can smell the different fragrances that often manifest themselves in beer.
There is even a breathalyzer on the wall if you need to make sure that you are sober enough to drive.
They also have the traditional Clydesdale Horses that pulled the beer wagons around Copenhagen making deliveries. It reminded me of the time I visited the Budweiser Ranch in California to see their Clydesdale horses.
They looked well cared for and happy.
We took the bus back into town and then relaxed for a little while before heading out to meet my coworker Dave and his wife Eniko for dinner. Dave commutes from Copenhagen to London every 2 weeks. And this weekend he was in Copenhagen.
We went to Nyhavn to a cute little seaside restaurant called Cape Horn. There, we had a lovely dinner. After dinner we tried the local apertif, Akvavit. It tasted of anise and dill. This was as traditional an ending for the evening as one could get. A lovely time.
No comments:
Post a Comment