Copenhagen - Day 2 of 10 - Canal Tour

HOLA!!!

As I mentioned in the previous blog, on the 2nd day of my Copenhagen trip I took the Hop On/Off double decker bus tour and first on the agenda was climbing that church spire.  I hopped back on the HOOB and rode it to Nyhavn, an extremely popular tourist spot.  If you've see just ONE photo of Copenhagen, it's likely to be from Nyhavn showcasing the colorful homes lining a canal.  There's a lot of restaurants but, more importantly, a lot of space to hang out outside and enjoy a drink or ice cream cone, worship the sun and watch all the canal tour boats come and go.

I used my Copenhagen City Card to take a free one-hour canal tour.  Loved it, especially when we motored under low bridges and had to duck our heads and/or keep our hands inside as the boat barely squeeze through the archway.

At the end, I meandered around the three-long-block area just people watching.  I may have mentioned, Copenhagans WORRRRRSHIP the sun.   If it's out, they plunk down anywhere and turn their faces to the sol, drink a beer, and let their minds go wherever they go.

Wandering along the canal, I was reminded ONCE AGAIN how some of the activities would NEVER be allowed in the USA.  People sat on the sides of the canal, draping their legs over the edge and drank beer.   So, what's the problem with that?  1.  Drinking in public, 2.  the 'danger' of sitting on the edge of the canal.  One false move and it would be easy to take a dunk 8-10 feet down.  Lawsuits pending.

But not here.  People take responsibility for their own actions.  In fact, I don't remember seeing a single security guard or police in the area.

Ok, ok, blah, blah we get it...get on with the photos Dano!!!

On the HOOB (Hop On/Off Bus) I spotted this at the top of a building.  Haven't a clue what it is.  Does it go around the circle at the top of every hour?  Ok, so I Googled it.  Took me forever to find info on it.  Here it is, straight from Mr Google himself:

High above Copenhagen's City Hall Square - and its busiest thoroughfare - is a golden cycling girl. She is one of two gold-plated statues who acted as a weather vane from 1936 to 1995. If the weather forecast was for rain, the woman with the umbrella and dog would rotate out onto the corner of the tower. If the cycling girl rotated out into the position on the corner, all the passersby on foot, bicycle or vehicles at the city's busiest intersection could see that fair weather was forecast. The sculpture and rotating construction weighs more than a tonne and it broke in 1996. 

Nice open-air tour boats.  Our tour guide informed us along the way in both Spanish and English.

Sights along the way of our canal tour.

The new Opera House.  Our tour guide said it's 14 stories high and the roof is about the size of a football field (American football or as in Soccer?)

The original Copenhagen Stock Exchange building.  Built in 1640 (darn near 400 years old!), it was used as the Exchange until 1974 when they moved to a new location with more modern infrastructure.  Back in 'the day' there was a quay in front of the building.  Ships with goods and merchandise would dock right out front and conduct their exchange transactions.

The spire atop the Exchange building is comprised of four intertwined dragon tails, purportedly to guard the building against enemy attacks and fires.

There are three crowns at the top representing the close relationship between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

DUCK!!!   (out the other side)  OK, let's do a head count!!!

The infamous area known as Nyhavn.

Some tethered boats have been converted to restaurants.

Sitting on the edge of the canal...best seat in the house!

A house along the canal proudly displaying it's age (built 1681).  Note the beam at the top.  Those are used to hoist items into the house via upper windows that were too large to go up the stairs.  Very common in Amsterdam, too.

Another angle of the impressive Opera House.

I wondered what this was.  Given there's a lot of factory smokestacks in Copenhagens skyline, I decided it was a modernized re-use of the building converted into Condos and the smokestack paid homage to it's history.

Couldn't be more wrong.

It's an INCINERATOR!!  It can process 400,000 tons of trash per year.  Due to it's efficiency, trash is imported from other countries (primarily the UK).  The energy it produces heats the water that's the primary source of heating for most of the city's inhabitants.  Annnd...get THIS!!  The roof is an artificial ski slope!  

I KID YOU NOT!!!

The Royal Yacht...moored out front of the King/Queen's (of Denmark) home (castle).  Built in 1931 it's one of the oldest royal yachts still in use.

The 'Marble Church'

Never would be allowed in the USA:

1.  Drinking (beer) while motoring a boat (or whatever that is)

2.  No safety rails

3.  Chairs are not secured
4.  No life preservers

5.  Gas can not secured.  Could fall overboard and cause massive contamination fallout

Low Clearance ahead!!  (Get it?  "a head")

I love spires.  I want to climb every one of them!

This guy epitomizes a typical Copenhagen-ite.  Beer at his side, legs dangling over the side of the canal, shoes off (red and white striped socks no less), and napping in the sun.

Oh...and a beard.  The Nordic men...they ALL have beards!

Locks of Love

That was my 2nd day in Copenhagen.  Up next (can you guess?)....Day 3!!!

Indtil Næste Gang!!

Translation:  Until Next Time!!

Dano

Copenhagen - Day 1 & 2 of 10 - Climb a Church Tower

Another trip, another HomeExchange experience...this time to Copenhagen, Demark.  I always pronounced it CopenHAHgen, but it seems it's supposed to be CopenHAYgen.  Ooopsie, poopsie.

I got up at 4am (which is a miracle in itself), my taxi showed up right on time at 4:30 and whisked me to the airport in less than 15 minutes.  Since it wasn't crowded, I sailed though security and was waiting at my gate WAY too early for my 6:30am flight.

After an hour flight, I was in Madrid.  There, I had 4 hours to kill before my 11:30am flight to CPN.  I had carry-on only.  Unfortunately, in Madrid, they don't display your gate # until 1 hour before the flight.  As a result, you don't know which concourse or satellite to go to.  So, you have to hang out, in limbo, near the gigantic reader boards until the bewitching moment comes and the gate # is displayed.  Only THEN, you can traipse to your gate.

Luckily, I snagged an exit-row which meant plenty of legroom on my 3-hour flight to CPN.  But, there was no entertainment system on board so I tried to snooze as much as I could.

CPN's terminal was nice, but very dated in that there were no moving sidewalks and it was a long haul to get all the way out to the street and metro (subway) station.  

Copenhagen (which I will use the acronym CPN forthwith, hereafter, and neverthemore) is a very advanced city.  Denmark as a whole is known for this as well.  Before my trip, I purchased a CCC (Copenhagen City Card) which allowed me to use any mode of transportation (bus, subway, trains) as much as I wanted for five days.  Plus, it provided free entrance to more than 80 attractions such as the zoo, aquarium, canal tour, museums, castles, etc.

Right off the bat, I was able to board the subway to the central station, then switch to a bus just two blocks away (which showed up 2 minutes after I arrived), and ride to my stop which was two blocks from the HomeExchange apartment I would be staying in.

I love European train stations! They're massive and archecturally fascinating.

I knew Copenhagen was big on bicycles but...geez laweeze....how do you remember where you left it?

I was pretty wiped by then even though it was only about 4pm.  I knew I wasn't going to go out to see/do anything until the next day.  But, I did walk a block to a grocery store to get some sustenance for my stay.

Denmark doesn't use the Euro currency even though it's part of the EU (European Union).  It uses Krones.  The conversion rate of Krones to Euros is roughly 8 to 1, which means it takes 8 Krones to get 1 Euro.  Seeing prices in Denmark is freaky!!  For example, 69 for cheese, 59 for a prepared package of lasagna, 99 for wine.  My groceries came to 310.  YIKES!!  But, once I divided everything by 8, it made more sense and put into context how much things cost compared to what I pay back home in Spain.  After adjusting, the cheese was really (mas o menos) 9, the lasagna 8, and 12 for the wine.  I paid about 40 total.  Fair 'nuf.

On Day 2, I went whole hog.  I took over 100 photos...which, don't worry, I pared down.  The weather was clear and sunny but cold (about 55 degrees) compared to back in Mallorca which was in the high 70's.  But, that's normal here because CPN is aligned with the southern portion of Canada.  Another notable difference is how EARLY the sun shows up!!!   4:30am!!!!!  This is mid-May and it stays light until 9:30pm or so.   Back in Ecuador, being on the Equator, it was 6:30am to 6:30pm with very little variance throughout the year.

I took Bus 6A ('A' stands for all-day/all-night) from 'my' apartment back to Central Station where I purchased a Hop On/Hop Off bus ticket.  Most popular tourist cities have them nowadays...double decker busses that show you the highlights of the city.  You can get off anywhere you want (ie; to see a specific site) then hop back on whenever another one comes along and continue the tour.

First stop:  Vor Freisers Kirke (Church of Our Savior).  Side note:  I don't even try to pronounce any of these words because they never sound like what you THINK it would be if you try enunciating it phonetically.  The above name, for all I know, is probably pronounced 'Feer Vrayserzuz Sheershay'!!!!  Ok, back to the church.

Why the church?  Because I need savin?  No, I don't.  yes I do Because I could climb the spire and part of it takes you OUTside!!!  COOL!!!  It's most famous for its helix spire (inaugurated in 1752) with an external winding staircase that can be climbed to the top, offering extensive views over central Copenhagen.  The entire structure is over 275 feet tall and entails 400 steps to climb from the street to the top....150 of those steps are outside of the spire (yes, Chris Uwyo...OUTside).

Ready to climb with me?

NOTE:  In many of the photos, you might consider zooming in on the photo to see more of the details.  Most photo-viewing software and browsers have a zoom tool.  Or, use the two-finger spread dance.  For example, in the next photo, if you zoom in, you can see the people on the staircase (with their scared face!).

The very tip top, where you can go no more, is located right where you see the last of the hand railing and at that point, the steps are no more than 12" wide.  BTW...that's Jesus standing at the very top.

On the way up. some artifacts being stored in attic spaces.

The tower was built out of huge wood beams.

The cogs and gears that operate the Tower Clock.

Suffice to say, the stairs took on a steep angle and narrowed the further up I went.

One of the many bells in the tower.  Note the size in relation to the steel mesh door (with graffiti on it...GRRRR!!!).

At the point where you leave the interior stairwell for the outside spiral staircase, the steps are extremely steep and you have to duck your head under the crossbeam.

At this point, I'm at the level of the first gold railing and platform you see in the main photo of the whole church spire.  From there, it's up the last 3 wraps of the serpentine staircase....OUTside.

But, before continuing on, I stopped and took a few photo snaps of the views.....and caught my breath after all that climbing!

Yep...Copenhagen is FLAAAAAT.

Looking to the streets below.

If the whole thing wasn't spooky enough, the tower was MOVING in the wind!!!!

Wanna watch a movie of the stairclimb?  It's a bit noisy due to the wind and shaky.  But, I'm standing 250 feet in the air on a step about 20 inches wide....so gimme a break!!!

Click Here to see the Views from the top of the Spire!!!

Ok, that was fun.  Let's go inside!!

As you enter the massive organ is overhead.  You can get a feel for the size by comparing the arched window over the doorway below.

Notice who has the burden of holding this heavy behemoth up!!

Poh Elephanties!!

I don't know.

I still don't know!!!

 Use your Zoom function to view the detail and scroll left/right.

Well, that was the START of my 2nd day in Copenhagen.  There's still a lot of territory to cover about the remainder of my day, but I'll cover that in the next chapter.

Till then....

Indtil Næste Gang!!  (pronounced:  'Poopleet Venghast Plow')

Translation:  Until Next Time!!


Dano