Copenhagen

Saturday June 18

Having been to Copenhagen 2 years ago, we had one main attraction we hadn't seen yet, and that was the Rosenborg Castle, so that was our objective for today. We set off from the ship and walked along the dock, cut through the Kastellet which is an old fort with a moat around it and some lovely old buildings in the middle of it, and then wandered along the charming streets to the Royal Theatre. Opposite the theatre is the big department store Magasin du Nord, and we went there to change some money, have coffee and cake and catch up on emails, FB, the blog etc.

Rosenborg Castle

After this refreshment stop we set off for the Kings Garden which is where the Rosenborg Castle is. It was partly sunny, and warm when the sun was out, so there were lots of people in the Gardens. We bought our tickets and proceeded to the basement where the Treasury containing the Crown Jewels are, however, unlike the British Crown Jewels you can get up close and personal to them as well as take photos. They were spectacular!

The Danish Crown Jewels

There were so many gob smacking items in the basement area, made of silver, gold, rock crystal, ivory, enamel, precious stones and many other materials, that words don't do them justice, but there would be too many photos to include, so all I can say is don't miss this castle when you're visiting Copenhagen!

We continued looking at the various rooms over the different floors of the castle, and many of the items were just amazing. We spent a couple of hours here without any problem, and then finished it off with a lovely afternoon tea in the Garden cafe.

We headed back towards the ship, taking in the Nyhavn area which was packed with people enjoying meals in the outdoor cafés, listening to bands and shopping. From here we cut through the Amalienborg Palace but we didn't see Mary or Frederick as we walked through! We could hear announcements coming from the waterfront and crowds of people but had no idea what was going on. We found a vantage point above the crowds and realised it was the Red Bull Cliff Diving competition, and they were diving from the roof of the Opera House! This has to be over 30 metres tall, and was scary just watching the divers.

Diving from the roof of the Copenhagen Opera House

No trip to Copenhagen would be complete without a visit to the Little Mermaid, which we saw on the way back to the ship. Most people have seen her, and she was again surrounded by people jostling to get their photos taken with her. However as we kept walking we found her big sister, who wasn't popular at all so we were able to get a photo with her very easily.

 We were glad to get back on board and rest our feet after another enjoyable visit to Copenhagen.