19 May: Copenhagen, day 1

Today we explored Copenhagen by hop-on-hop-off... boat. While we were waiting, we saw a number of other canal tour boats pull up and passengers disembark. One boat in particular, we watched as not just one or two, but a noticeable majority of people immediately lit cigarettes as soon as they got off.

We had lunch at a restaurant at Nyhavn – a bit more upmarket than we’ve been having normally, but that’s all right (and it was warm inside!).

After lunch we headed towards Amalienborg: four symmetrical royal palaces built around a square. While we were there they had a changing of the guard.

From there we visited Frederick’s church, which as a Lutheran church was somewhat different from most of the churches we’ve visited so far (being mostly Catholic). Interestingly, they had paintings of the twelve apostles around the dome – including Paul as the twelfth, instead of Judas Iscariot.

After this we walked to the Kastellet (Citadel), a five-pointed fortress at the northern end of the old city. Although it is still used as a military facility, the rampart paths are open for pedestrians, and it was a really nice place to visit. Part of the complex included a church that reminded me a lot of the former Christchurch cathedral.

A visit to Copenhagen isn’t complete without seeing the Little Mermaid statue, based on a Hans Christian Andersen story. Unlike most of the other tourists, however, I didn’t feel the urge to climb up on the rock next to her!

We had originally planned to take the boat around these sights, and then visit the National Museum. However, by the time we arrived it was only ten minutes before closing. So we saw the foyer and that was about it!

Bikes outside the central train station