Shouting from the Hop

 
  We had a good weekend in Copenhagen, and some of our pictures are here for you to enjoy. The weather was fabulous, unlike the forecast, with clear blue skies on Saturday and Sunday. It was 'fresh', true (my girlfriend will hate me for saying that!!!), but when you are walking around most of the day that doesn't really matter. The first image is the Statue of Two Vikings, blowing their bronze horns. It's situated by the side of Radhuspladsen and is about 100 years old...
 
 This lovely church - Helligandskirken - was just off the main shopping street - Stroget. The sun was low, so the shadow of the tree on the church was pretty. The tree also frames the picture well. Every time we walked down past the church (a couple of times a day) it seemed to get busier. My girlfriend liked this street (She loves shopping!!!) and she dragged me into a few shops, but remarkably didn't buy too much - just two pairs of leather gloves (as it was colder than expected and they were cheap). We did spend a fair amount of time in the Georg Jensen (jewelery)shop, but she couldn't find anything nice enough and cheap enough to buy!  
 
We stopped on Nyhavn, a canalside pathway, for a beer. It was our first Danish "pint" and very expensive! We put this down to the fact it was a very touristy street, but later found that every bar/pub was charging much the same - about £4.20 a pint! Most of the places along here were once old warehouses, and most had now been converted into restaurants or bars. Boat (canal) trips started from near here too, but we didn't partake.
 
 
It transpired that the wife of the Crown Prince of Denmark had given birth to their firstborn on the night of our arrival, and much celebration had ensued. When we arrived near the royal quarters, the crowds became more abundant, and we caught the end of the Trooping of the Colour celebrating the new Royal.
 
 
We then went inside the Marble Church (Marmorkirken) and took a tour up the dome. While waiting to start, we noticed the sun casting a shadow of a cross onto the far walls; these slowly moved clear of the arches until, looking from the whispering gallery, all three projected onto the marble walls.
 
 
We had a great view from the top of Marmorkirken's dome. This is of the Opera House (far side of canal), the fountain on the quayside, and the statue of Frederik V in the square by the Amalienborg Slot, the stately home of the Royals. In the very far distance, is Sweden - just five miles away across the water of the Oresund.
 
 
After lunch, we walked into Kongens Have, a nice park which is the city's oldest, and through to Rosenborg Slot, a C17th castle and home of the royal treasury. This is the Kings crown! Unlike London, we didn't have to queue at all to get in; just walk past the army guys, and through the thick vault doors!
 
 
We had walked miles on Saturday, so decided to go to Roskilde by train on Sunday for a much more leisurely day. We walked past the lovely cathedral (Roskilde Domkirke), through the park and down to the Viking Ship museum. These are two real Viking long boats, built around 1050, and excavated from the fjord a few miles away, and one of six they found scuttled to prevent Norwegian invasion ships getting near the town. We spent the afternoon in a nice bar in town, getting slightly sozzled!
 
 
Back at Copenhagen station, we saw this huge array of bicycles outside. It seems that there are nearly as many bikes as cars on the streets here. Most bikes are not chained either - I guess if everyone has one then you don't need to take someone elses?
 
 
I guess we couldn't go to Copenhagen without mentioning Hans Christian Anderson. Here is his statue outside the town hall in Radhuspladsen. The town hall (Radhus) was amazing; it has a magnificent clock (made by Jens Olsen), all shiny and gold with cogs turning, that tells you the time, where the moon is, what phase etc, plus that of all the planets, and the stars in the sky that night! It also has some great architecture - snakes carved in columns and famous heads in walls, plus a cool plaster curtain fringe on the staircase walls. We also made it to the top of the 105m tall clock tower for more good views of the city; that was 300 steps up and another 300 steps down...