Copenhagen, Denmark

Monday, April 29

For many passengers, including us, the cruise ended on Monday.  Some passengers went on to tour the Baltic States, Russia, and end in Germany on the same ship.  We had decided to stay in Copenhgen, Denmark for a few days to explore that beautiful city.  This is the Copenhagen post.  It covers four days and contains many pictures.  I hope you enjoy your visit to Copenhagen, Denmark!

The ship arrived in Copenhagen early Monday morning.  We had arranged a hotel through Princess cruise lines, which included a bus transfer to our hotel in downtown Copenhagen.

Windmills near the ship

Our hotel was beautiful and in a perfect location- right downtown, within a few blocks of a hop on/ hop off bus stop.  We had purchased tickets online for this bus system- a three-day pass to be used on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Our hotel

If you ever travel to Copenhagen, this is a great hotel to stay in.

Our room- very Scandinavian and very comfortable.

View from our hotel window

Our plan was to get in our room, then take a little nap, then head out to explore the nearby attractions, starting with the one we were most excited to see- the Thorvalson sculptures of the Christus and apostles in the Church of Our Lady.  But neither of us could sleep because we were so excited, so we went right out.  It was quite a walk to the church, but that's where we headed first.  I snapped a lot of pictures on the way.

Bicycles, bicycles, bicycles everywhere!  Copenhagen is full of bicycles.  There is a separate lane for bicycles on their streets and they have the right of way.  EVERYONE rides a bike to work- year-round! And there are thousands of them parked along the streets.

Trains are another form of transportation in the city

Children on a field trip

Beautiful city square- 

A War Memorial in the Piaza

Copenhagen is full of benches, my favorite vegetable!

There were 7-11 s everywhere.  It may even rival Japan for the number of 7-11s.  This one came in handy to us a few times while we were there.  Notice the people out front reveling in the sun.  This was one of the first warm days in Copenhagen.  I took several pictures of people soaking in the sun.

Church of our Lady where the Thorvalson Christus and apostles are. Where's Waldo? Can you see me?

View from the back of the chapel.  I felt such a reverence immediately when we walked in.  I actually sat on a bench in the back, just to soak it all in.  I was so excited and literally cried as I sat there.

Panoramic View

And there it is.  The magnificent Christus statue.  The real one!  I couldn't believe I was actually getting to see it in person.

I took a lot of pictures from many angles.  I'm only including a few.

I wish I could express how I felt.

An angel holds a baptismal font in front of the statue.

The statues of the twelve apostles, were on each side of the chapel, six on each side.

Here are the twelve apostles:

Paulus or Paul is turned towards Christ with one hand raised.  In the other he is holding a sword, which is the sword of the Spirit or a reference to his death in 64 AD by decapitation in Rome.

Petrus or Peter is turned towards Christ and has keys in his hand.  This is a direct reference to Jesus's words to him,"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I shall give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."  Matt. 16:18, 19

Matthaeus or Matthew stands with tablet and stylus, ready to write his Gospel.  On his right there is a winged man and by his right foot a bag of money, denoting his former profession as a tax collector.

Johannes or John is always depicted as young and beardless.  He carries a stylus and tablet and has an eagle by his foot.

Philippus or Philip is standing with a small cross.

Jacobus or James the elder is represented as a pilgrim holding a staff and with a large, broad-brimmed hat hanging on his back.  With his eyes firmly directed towards the congregation as it enters the church, his is the only one of the apostle figures that looks away from Christ.

Jacobus or James the less is leaning on a stick.  This is a fulling stick.  To full means to pound on wet woven or knitted cloth so that it becomes thicker and stronger.  This stick is reference to the fact that James was killed with such a stick by a fanatic in 62AD.

Andreas or Andrew is leaning against a large X-formed cross, a reference to his martyrdom.  He was crucified in Greece.

Thomas is supporting his head with one hand and carrying a square on the other shoulder.  The square, an instrument craftsmen use to, among other things, check the precision of their work, refers to Thomas as the doubter, who dared believe only in what could be measured or proven.

Judas Thaddaeus' (same in English)  hands are raised in devotion.  His left arm supports a halberd, the symbol of his martyrdom.

Bartholomaeus or Bartholomew is holding out a broad bladed knife, and staring gloomily at it, a reference to the fact that he was flayed alive.

Simon Zelotes or Simon the Zealot is leaning on a saw, since one of the legends relates that he was killed by being sawed in half.

The Evangelists Mark and Luke are not counted as Jesus's apostles, which is why they are not among them in the Church of our Lady.

In 1976, a prophet of God with modern-day apostles visited this church and saw these same statues.  Following are testimonies of  some of those present that day:

Boyd K. Packer (Quorum of the Twelve)

In 1976 an area general conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Following the closing session, President Spencer W. Kimball desired to visit the Vor Frue Church, where the Thorvaldsen statues of the Christus and of the Twelve Apostles stand. He had visited there some years earlier and wanted all of us to see it, to go there.

To the front of the church, behind the altar, stands the familiar statue of the Christus with His arms turned forward and somewhat outstretched, the hands showing the imprint of the nails, and the wound in His side very clearly visible. Along each side stand the statues of the Apostles, Peter at the front to the right and the other Apostles in order.

Most of our group was near the rear of the chapel with the custodian. I stood up front with President Kimball before the statue of Peter with Elder Rex D. Pinegar and Johan Helge Benthin, president of the Copenhagen stake.

In Peter’s hand, depicted in marble, is a set of heavy keys. President Kimball pointed to those keys and explained what they symbolized. Then, in an act I shall never forget, he turned to President Benthin and with unaccustomed firmness pointed his finger at him and said, “I want you to tell everyone in Denmark that I hold the keys! We hold the real keys, and we use them every day.”

I will never forget that declaration, that testimony from the prophet. The influence was spiritually powerful; the impression was physical in its impact.

We walked to the back of the chapel where the rest of the group was standing. Pointing to the statues, President Kimball said to the kind custodian, “These are the dead Apostles.” Pointing to me, he said, “Here we have the living Apostles. Elder Packer is an Apostle. Elder Thomas S. Monson and Elder L. Tom Perry are Apostles, and I am an Apostle. We are the living Apostles.

“You read about the Seventies in the New Testament, and here are two of the living Seventies, Elder Rex D. Pinegar and Elder Robert D. Hales.”

The custodian, who up to that time had shown no emotion, suddenly was in tears.

I felt I had had an experience of a lifetime. (Ensign, May 2008, 83–87)

Robert D. Hales (at that time was a 70)

At the Copenhagen Denmark Area Conference held August 3–5, 1976, President [Spencer W.] Kimball went to see Thorvaldsen's beautiful sculpture[s]. … After a few spiritual moments admiring The Christus, President Kimball bore his testimony to the caretaker who stood nearby. As he turned to the statue of Peter and pointed to the large set of keys in Peter's right hand, he proclaimed: "The keys of priesthood authority which Peter held as President of the Church I now hold as President of the Church in this dispensation." Then he stated to the caretaker, "You work every day with Apostles in stone, but today you are in the presence of living Apostles." He then introduced President N. Eldon Tanner, Elder Thomas S. Monson, and Elder Boyd K. Packer. He presented the caretaker with a Book of Mormon in Danish, and bore his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The caretaker was moved to tears in acknowledgment of the Spirit he felt in the presence of a prophet and Apostles. He acknowledged to me as we left the church, "Today I have been in the presence of servants of God." (Ensign, Nov. 1981, 20)

Much as President Kimball did, Ken testified to the guide at the church that day.  When we told her that our church had copied these statues for many of our temples and the apostles for the Rome temple, her eyes lit up.  "Oh are you from Utah?  Many of your people come here."  Ken testified to her of our beliefs and that a prophet and apostles continue to head Jesus' church.

We then sat in one of the back pews and soaked in the spirit, feeling our testimonies of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Visiting this church and seeing these beautiful statues was the highlight of our trip!  It truly was.

Moses stands just outside the church on one side.

With King David on the other side.

Spire of St. Peter's Church can be seen from the Church of our Lady

Danish people reveling in the sun.

The following pictures were taken on the Stroget- the largest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe.

Open Faced Sandwiches are iconic Danish Foods.  We found this cookbook in a bookstore.

I found it ironic that on this beautiful, old building were the words "Hard Rock Café."  It just seemed incongruous.

Why don't American cities make big city squares?  They are so beautiful!

Tivoli Gardens
We next went to Tivoli Gardens.  It is a beautiful amusement park and gardens. Walt Disney visited it and was inspired to create Disneyland from seeing it.  Though not nearly as big or fancy as Disneyland, it is similar in feel.

Founder of Tivoli Gardens

We had lunch there: Ken had a hamburger and I had an Indian flavored chicken wrap. I will regret forever that I didn't get an open-faced sandwich.  They had beautiful ones right in that food court.  What was I thinking?

This statue was meaningful to me.  It showed many children playing instruments, with one man standing and playing in the center.  To me, it represented the many children who take lessons and try to learn to play instruments , but few make it to virtuoso.

Tivoli Gardens was a beautiful place.

There were amusement park rides

And displays and restaurants from many different countries.  I had to take a picture of Japan!

And beautiful flowers everywhere!

We took a picture in this same place later when it was getting dark and the lights were on.

Tortoise sculpture

Pavilions where shows were held.  This one was called the Glass house, I think.

Ken was excited to see this rare bird: a Black-headed Seagull.  He got some great pictures.

Street art on buildings

That evening, we ate dinner in a little restaurant in Tivoli gardens.  It was much like a greenhouse. It was a cold evening and it felt good to go inside.  There were heaters attached to the ceiling.

The food was good and authentic Danish cuisine.

This was mine.  It is like a hamburger with the piece of bread put right in the meat.  Then you add toppings: capers, freshly grated horseradish, onion, and picked vegetables. You stir up a raw egg yolk and pour it over all.  It was called Parisabof.  I love to try ethnic foods. At the end of a meal when we go out, Ken always asks the question: Would you order it again?  Yes!

Ken enjoyed his, too.  It was almost like a stew with meat and vegetables and fried eggs on top.  It was served with delicious Danish homemade bread.   His answer was yes too.

Magnificent display of wisteria

Evening in Tivoli Gardens

The lights were beautiful as darkness fell.

It turned into a fairyland.

We did a lot of walking on this day.  My fitbit registered my highest ever number of steps: 18,252.  I know for some people (like Ken) that is not a big deal, but for me that is a lot of steps!  Ken had 20,952 steps that day (he went for a walk while we waited for them to prepare our room.)

Tuesday, April 30  My step count: 10,661  Ken's: 13,035

Our hotel had an amazing breakfast included every morning including hot items such as scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, toast, etc. and many cold items: the makings for sandwiches, boiled eggs, gerkins, fruits of many kinds, and homemade breads, including many kinds of Danish pastries.  Ah, the pastries.

The croissants were to die for.

We headed out early.  Waiting for the hop on/ hop off bus.  Though the forecast was for rain, it was a beautiful day.

Our first stop was the New Carlsberg Glytotek- a famous art museum in Copenhagen.  We wanted to visit three museums while we were in Copenhagen  and randomly decided to start with this one.  We had understood that it opened at 10, but it didn't open until 11.  So we had to wait awhile (along with a lot of other people.)  We went around back and discovered a beautiful garden.  Honestly, it may have been the best part of the whole museum. And there weren't a million people waiting back there.

Replica of Rodin's "The Thinker."

Got my own thinker

We finally got inside to discover we had lucked out.  It was Tuesday and Tuesdays are free day: no charge for admission.  This museum was full of ancient statues, paintings, and artifacts.

Beautiful arboretum in the center of the museum

This statue may have been the most interesting.  I think we counted 17 babies around this mother- like piglets looking to nurse.

David  We saw replicas of this statue in other places throughout the city.

A replica of what they might bury with the mummies

The Egyptian room contained mummies and very old artifacts

A film crew was filming an educational show of some kind in this large hall and throughout the museum that day. It was in English.  It was so interesting to watch the procedure. The host would walk and talk while being filmed.  They would record small parts at a time, doing it over and over.  I watched them for quite awhile.

Hoping I wouldn't get in trouble for doing so, I filmed a short segment while they filmed it.

This is the back of that mother and baby statue.

After a couple of hours, we were museumed out and headed back outside and caught the hop on/ hop off bus.  You could plug earbuds into a jack near your bus seat and learn about the city as you traveled around.  I snapped some pictures out the bus window.

Copenhagen is dubbed the city of green spires.  You'll see why.

Though rain had been predicted for the day, when we got to the stop where the canal boat tour originated it was bright and sunny, so we decided to take the canal boat tour today rather than later in the week as we had planned.  We were so glad we did, as the rest of the week got very cold, rainy and windy.  This was the perfect day to do it.

On the boat.  As you can see, I was in my shirt sleeves.  It was a beautiful day.

The tour showed us many sights of the city from the canal.  It was so fun!

This is called the Dragon spire

This is a rude picture.  Our tour guide was a beautiful woman, wearing capris.  It was evident, as I had heard, that European women do not shave their legs.  

We loved seeing Copenhagen from the boat.  It is a beautiful, colorful city. Nyhaven.

This colorful area is often featured on travel brochures for Copenhagen

A huge group of young adults were gathered on the dock, watching us.  I yelled "Smile!" as I snapped their picture.

That started a big interaction between them and people on the boat.  It was fun.

Copenhagen Opera House

Missile in front of the Naval base

This is the palace, the residence of the king.  It's a kind of crooked picture.  When the king is home, the flag is flying, so you can see he is home today.

This is our first glimpse of the iconic Little Mermaid statue.  It is her back.  The next day we went back to view her from the land- a much better view.

There is David again.

Frederick's church

The Dragon spire

National Museum- we would return there to go inside on Thursday

The spire on the Church of our Savior can be seen all over the city.

We loved the boat canal tour.

After the tour, we were hungry.  We got back on the bus, and went to the stroget shopping area.  We found this food court.  There were many booths with foods from many ethnicities.  All tempted us to buy their food by offering us samples.  We ended up each choosing a dish, then sharing.

Ken's choice- butter chicken from India.

My choice:  a pita like bread with marinated grilled chicken, avocado, etc, with a creamy sauce.  It was delicious.

I had to check out the original Royal Copenhagen shop

We shopped  along the famous Stroget.  It is a very long pedestrian shopping street- the longest in Europe.  It is full of people and shops of every kind.  It was so fun to walk along and look at things.  Musicians set up and played for tips.  Artists painted, some right on the cement with chalk.  It was fun to watch people there.  We didn't buy much, but enjoyed the atmosphere.

In that area is the round tower.  It is the highest functioning observatory in Europe. Ken wanted to climb to the top.  I did a little shopping and waited on a bench on the stroget while he climbed and took pictures of the view.

Rather than stairs, the round tower has a spiral ramp. (If I had known that, I may have tried to climb it.  I'm not a stair fan)

Views from the top

This is inside the church next to the round tower

We had such a late lunch, that we just got ice cream  from a 7-11 for dinner later that evening.  We enjoyed the evening at our hotel- reading and resting.

Wednesday, May 1 My Step Count: 10,209  Ken's: 20,832
Ken got up early on Wednesday and went for a walk before breakfast (so his step count probably doubled mine.).  The sunrise was gorgeous.

He went to the Rosenborg Castle and the surrounding grounds and took some nice pictures:

The Rosenborg Castle

Copenhagen is the land of statues.  There are statues everywhere.

This is Copenhagen's favorite son:  Hans Christian Anderson.

Statues, statues everywhere!

The gardens around the castle were gorgeous and full of bird life. 

Ken came back to the hotel and got ready for the day.

Then we went to breakfast at the buffet at the hotel.  We looked forward to this delicious breakfast each day.

It was cold and windy outside.

On Wednesday, we first went to visit the Thorvalson museum.  In it was a magnificent collection of his sculptures as well as his private collection of purchased paintings and other collections and art.

The Thorvalson Museum is in a huge square that also includes Christiansborg government buildings that housed their parliament.  While parliament is in session, guards protect the entrances.

Another entrance to the government building

Thorvaldsen Museum.
Again, we lucked out.  One day a week each museum does not charge admission.  Today was the day for the Thorvaldsen museum and we didn't even know beforehand.  Remember Thorvaldsen is the sculptor that did the Christus and apostles statues that we saw on Monday in a church.  We were excited to see more of his work.  It is always hard to know what to photograph in a museum.  This is just a smattering of the great works in there:

Thorvaldson did busts of many famous people.

Rafael

Himself

Sir Walter Scott

Napolean Bonaparte

This was the great hall with enormous statues in there. Ha!  It looks like Ken has a mounted horse on his head!

Ken and I have very different styles when enjoying museums.  I like to buzz through quickly, taking pictures of what is meaningful to me.  Ken is thorough, slow, and methodical in viewing all of the art.  So we've found it best to say, "Meet you back here in 1 1/2 hours or whatever.  I bring a book and read while I wait for him to finish.  It works out marvelously.

This was huge.  The details were just amazing.  You could see the veins on the horse, his muscles.  What a beautiful work of art.  I stood and admired every detail for a long time.

Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer.  A replica stands in a city square in Warsaw, Poland.

John Gutenburg.  How grateful we are for him!

This was an enormous panorama along a long hall.  Christ was in the center with a line of people on either side.

Angel statues held baptismal fonts

The ceiling.  In Europe, you miss half of the beauty if you don't look up.

Cupid and the Graces

European mantra:  I will look up.  

Venus with the apple.

Jason with the golden fleece.

Hebe- the Goddess of Youth

Mars, the God of War, and Cupid

Goddess of Hope

Vulcan- the God of Fire

Mercury about to kill Argus

The original plaster sculptures of Christ and the apostles are now in the Thorvalson museum.  They were in the Church of Our Lady for several years until the marble statues could be completed.  Several of the apostles were changed from the original.  Thorvalson had many students who helped do the work.  Sometimes Thorvalson didn't like how they did things and changed it in the final marble versions.

The room these Christus statues were displayed in was small and much less impressive than at the church, but it was so nice to see them again.

Stunning pictures of the hall of statues.  Notice the ceiling.

Thorvalson's grave is in an outdoor garden in the center of the museum.

This is the floor of the great hall shown in earlier pictures.  They performed a ceremony with these cloths that I think covered the statues.  It was a very somber ceremony and then the cloths were left folded like this on the floor all day.  The video about it was in Danish, so I figured I would study about it online and learn what it was about, but I can't find it anywhere.  I am very curious.

After the museum, we took the bus to see more sights.

This is a very famous fountain in Copenhagen called the Gefion Fountain.   It represents a legend that this woman, a single mother,  the Norse goddess Gefjon was told she could have any land she could plough in a day.  So she turned her two sons into oxen and ploughed all day and all night.  The area she ploughed is now Copenhagen.  

Close to the fountain was St. Alban's Anglican Church

It was a beautiful church, built in the 1800s- the only Anglican church in Copenhagen.

Ken's picture of the back of the fountain with the church

The Citadel- a well-preserved fortress

This is a clear view of the King's yacht in front of the palace.

Beautiful flower pots everywhere.

This is a nesting swan.

This is the king's yacht.  It came back while we were there.  Evidently the king had been out on his yacht.  

The flag was then raised, signifying that the king was now in residence..

The little mermaid statue from the front.

I like this picture.

Just as we had done on Tuesday, a canal boat came to view the statue from behind.  Notice that the roof was on the boats today.  It was much colder and windier than the day we took the tour.

It was now late in the afternoon and we hadn't really had lunch.  Danish people LOVE hot dogs and there are hot dog shops and stands everywhere.  We wanted to go out to dinner later, but really wanted to try a Danish hot dog.  So we went into a shop and ordered one and split it.  There were many varieties, but Ken told him we wanted the Danish way.  It was really good: with lots of mustard, ketchup, horseradish sauce, onions, and pickles.  It was tasty and 1/2 was not enough!!

But we were glad we had saved our appetites as later we went to an authentic Danish diner.  It was so fun and the food was delicious.

I had Wiener schnitzel with butter sauce.  That is a lemon filled with sardines on top.  It was delicious.  I even liked the sardines.  Yes, yes, yes, I would order it again!

Ken had a delicious meat and potatoes meal.  The meat was very tender and the boiled potatoes delicious.  Ken's was a yes too.

Thursday, May 2  My Step Count: 11,213  Ken's:15,742
On Thursday our goal was the National Museum.   It is full of famous paintings and sculptures.

I took this picture from the bus window of the city center statue- a monument to freedom, I think it was.

The National Museum

The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci

The lesson I was preparing for that next Sunday included the story of the adulteress woman.  So I took a picture of this painting from the 1500s by Tintoretto called "Christ and the Adulteress."

I was interested in his portrayal of many of the Pharisees appearing to me to be lustful of the woman.

A close-up of Christ in that painting.  There was a young woman there, viewing this painting while I was.  She had a camera and I'll bet she took 100 shots of this painting, close ups of every face, every detail, and many from a distance.  It was interesting to watch her.

This museum had many paintings by the famous painter, Peter Paul Rubens including this of Christ on the cross.  Notice the location of the nails.

Ascent to Calvary by Rubens

The Judgment of Solomon by Rubens.  This one is dramatic as the man is about to halve the baby.

There were also several original Rembrandt's.  This one in English is "Study of an Old Man in Profile."

Rembrandt's "Old Woman."

As usual, I finished my museum visit before Ken did.

As I understand it, the statue of Liberty was refurbished.  Parts of it were sent to many countries in the world.  This is the part Denmark got- part of the base.

After the museum, we walked through a botanical garden.  Denmark was considerably behind Holland in weather, and most of the flowers were not yet in bloom.  So, it was a bit of a disappointment after Holland's glorious experience.

Botanical garden

East Indian food is very popular in Copenhagen.  This place was packed.  But neither of us enjoyed our dinner much.  Ken ordered a pizza with Indian flavors.

I ordered falafel-  a soy cake. Well, now I've tasted it!

We joke that the following pictures are very expensive- about $35.  We decided we really wanted to see the Copenhagen temple before we left the next day.   We were so close and it would be sad not to see it.  So we took a taxi to take pictures.  It was closed for cleaning at the time, but at least we saw it!  And we had a very interesting religious discussion with our Muslim taxi driver as we traveled there and back.

So there!  Now you have visited Copenhagen, Denmark- probably a little too thoroughly!  Sorry.  I like to take pictures.  I tell Ken that two things bring me great joy when we travel: trying the foods and taking pictures- lots and lots of pictures.  Stay tuned for our traumatic trip home, which will be in the next post!