Saturday, July 7, 2012

Friday 5th July

Morning dawned and with it came rain. We were not inclined to hurry outside into it so waited until it cleared about 11 am before setting off. Our walk took us through now-familiar streets to the centre of town here we had a coffee at a bookstore near the university - a shop filled with lots of old books and curios, and interesting art works. Then we went on to the Botanical Gardens and had an Interesting walk through the well-labelled plants in the main gardens and in the cactus and tropical garden rooms. There were butterflies in the tropical room.
Nearby was the Rosenborg Palace, built in 1606-34 by King Christian IV. It has been a museum since 1838. The Danish crown jewels, including beautiful crowns of gold, diamonds, and precious jewels, the annointing sword, and many other splendidly bejeweled items are on display in the Treasury basement.
The changing of the guards occurs daily at 11.30am, with soldiers and military band in action. There are huge, beautiful old Flemish tapestries from 1700 depicting the history of Denmark hanging on the walls. Ceilings in all the rooms feature either beautiful paintings or ornate sculptures. The third floor is the Throne Room, with its marble floor and tapestries depicting the Scanian War of 1675-79 on the walls.
After that we walked to the Amalienborg Castle, this being the one where the current Queen lives. There are four castles in the complex, one for the Queen, one for the Crown Prince Frederick and his Australian wife Mary and family, one for other Royals when they visit Copenhagen, and one for visiting important visitors. Unlike Buckingham Palace, here you can wander around right up to the front door!
We meandered our way back to the hotel, with a look inside the Catholic Cathedral. There was a lady practising the organ there, a beautiful sound. The walls are lined with large marble statues of the apostles, and a beautiful marble angel is in the altar area.
Returning to the hotel we showered and met others in the lobby for dinner. Went to a tapas bar around the corner, lovely tasty food. Then back to the hotel to relax before bedtime.

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