This was the view from our ship as we ported in Copenhagen, Denmark on Sunday, September 10th.
We disembarked early and got a taxi to take us to the LDS Chapel to attend church. We gave the driver the address and he dropped us off at a big church which was not our church. We walked around and found this temple site and were relieved that we were at least in the correct area. It was a short drive of 15-20 minutes but cost about $100. Copenhagen is a very expensive city to visit.
We continued to walk around the area as we knew the chapel was close by. We located it on the street behind the temple. Once we arrived, there were some missionaries and members who greeted us and assured us that we were in the correct place. It is a multi-story building with parking in a courtyard behind the church. The chapel/all purpose room is on the 2nd floor. They use folding chairs so they can remove them to have other activities in the same room.
They have this replica of the Christus in their main foyer on the bottom floor.
The story behind the temple and new chapel is an interesting one. The government wouldn't allow the LDS church to build a temple because if they did, then they would have to allow other religions, especially muslim to also build temples. They didn't want muslim temples being built everywhere. However, they would allow the church to build a new church building. Therefore, the church redesigned their current church to become a temple and built a new church around the corner. It was a solution that was acceptable to the government. Yahoo!
After sacrament meeting, a member who was from the US but who had moved back to Denmark many year previously helped us get another taxi. It as challenging because of the language. He gave us the name of The Church of Our Lady where the original Christus and twelve apostles created by Bertel Thorvalsend are located. Our taxi driver managed to take us there.
This church was originally built in 1187 but was destroyed and rebuilt numerous times with this latest neoclassical version completed in 1829. The neoclassical design does not include bell towers but the people insisted that the medieval tower be erected so it was. It contains 4 bells, each with a significant history, but the oldest was cast in 1490.
We loved seeing the original statues of Christ and his 12 apostles. Judas Iscariot was replaced by Paul. This church became the city's national cathedral in 1924. We had the taxi driver wait a few minutes while we went inside for fear we wouldn't be able to get another one. Then he drove us into the center of Copenhagen where we could walk to see things and also catch a hop-on hop-off or a canal cruise.
We found the location where the tour tickets were sold and decided to purchase tickets for a boat tour. Our scheduled departure time gave us the opportunity to walk around the city and see a few things.
We love this display of colorful gelato. We didn't exchange any money so we opted to wait until we were back on the ship to eat anything. No shopping for us in Copenhagen.
One of the spires for the Fredericksburg Castle is seen in the background. We didn't actually walk that far to see it. We were in our Sunday clothes which wasn't too conducive to lots of walking.
We believe that this is their parliament building. It was near the big square were we boarded our canal cruise.
This gorgeous building was the stock exchange. It was one of our favorite sites.
This is a photo of the famous Nyhavn area shown on many postcards and pictures of Copenhagen.
There were boats docked along the canals that were actually houseboats with people living in them.
This apartment building was built over the canal so people could park their boats in the space in the middle and then just access their apartments on either side. Very clever design.
Below is the queen's yacht which she uses often in the spring and summer months.
This Little Mermaid statue is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Denmark. It is part of the Hans Christian Anderson tales and folklore.
We believe that this is their famous opera house. They had some unusual architecture.
This is one of their palaces. If the flag is flying, the queen is currently in residence.
The city of Copenhagen is the premier capital of Northern Europe as a business and commercial hub. It is second only to Stockholm in population with 1.3 million in the area. It began as a Viking fishing village in the 10th century, became the capital of Denmark in the 15th century and became a regional center in the 17th century. The monarchy in Denmark is the oldest in the world.
This view below is back on our ship as we watched other passengers arrive back from their Copenhagen visit from our balcony.
We enjoyed the rare moments of sunshine but it was still chilly and we wore jackets.
I was warm enough for a minute to enjoy our balcony without my "pink" jacket.
Sailing down the coast of Denmark, we kept a sharp eye for the famous Kronberg Castle. It is located on a strategically port site commanding thousand, the stretch of water between Denmark and Sweden. The Royal castle of Kronberg at Helsingor (Elsinore) is of immense symbolic value to the Danish people and played a key role in the history of northern Europe in the 16-18th centuries.
Work began on the constructions of this outstanding Renaissance castle in 1574, and its defense were reinforced according to the canons of the period's military architecture in the late 17th century. It has remained intact to the present day. It is world-renowned as Elsinore, the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet. We were delighted to actually see it from our ship but we had to use our zoom to capture photos so they are not very clear.
Here are some additional photos of our ship which we took as our cruise is winding down.
We were back in Warnemunde, Germany the next morning. We disembarked and had a little time to explore this quaint tourist and fishing town again before catching our train for our ride to Hamburg.
They had a few lockers at the train station in Warnemunde and we were able to snag one. Steve did an amazing job of getting our luggage into the one available locker so that we could walk around without towing it.
Here is one last photo of our ship, The Norwegian GetaWay.
We loved looking at the real estate for sale flyers. The homes and apartment were very expensive.
Once on board our train, we settled in for the ride. We had to change trains in Rostok but then our train took us straight to Hamburg where we caught a flight to London. It was a long traveling day but trains are a big part of the travel in Europe and we were grateful for the option.
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