Monday August 13th, 2018 Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, sits on the coastal islands of Zealand and Amager. It’s linked to Malmo in southern Sweden by the Öresund Bridge. Indre By, the city's historic center, contains Frederiksstaden, an 18th-century rococo district, home to the royal family’s Amalienborg Palace. Nearby is Christiansborg Palace and the Renaissance-era Rosenborg Castle, surrounded by gardens and home to the crown jewels.

Once again the ship docked close to the city center and we walked along the dock to the statue of the little mermaid from the famous story by Hans Christian Andersen. The area was packed with tourists jockeying for position to get the best photo, many with selfie sticks that they brandished like light sabres. The statue was surprisingly small and the rocks in front dangerously slippy.

Just across the river I spotted a beautiful old schooner; Her Danish Majesty's Yacht Dannebrog was launched by Queen Alexandrine at Copenhagen in 1931, and commissioned on 26 May 1932. The yacht now serves as the official and private residence for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and members of the Royal Family when they are on official visits overseas and on summer cruises in Danish waters. When at sea, the Royal Yacht also participates in surveillance and sea-rescue services.

There was a star shaped military fortress with ramparts in a park like setting and we took a gentle stroll through the grounds and on to the Gefion Fountain located adjacent to St. Albans Church.

The Gefion Fountain beside St Albans church was very impressive.

Wandering through the city we noticed wide cobble boulevards, many under repair, with quaint shops tucked into the old buildings.

We made our way to the Rosenborg Castle a renaissance castle located in central Copenhagen. The castle was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 and is an example of Christian IV's many architectural projects. It was built in the Dutch Renaissance style, typical of Danish buildings during this period, and has been expanded several times, finally evolving into its present condition by the year 1624. 

The queue to buy tickets was quite long, but we discovered a way to bypass the line by purchasing the tickets on line. It felt a bit strange to arrive and see a big long line, pull out the iPhone, buy tickets and bypass the line. Tickets have a timed entry but we only had to wait about 10 minutes. The highlight of the visit was the crown jewels in the basement.

The palace guard were  mustering outside the castle, getting ready to march over to the current royal residence for the changing of the guard ceremony. 

 The castle is situated in Kongens Have ("The King's Garden"), also known as "Rosenborg Castle Garden". The Rosenborg Castle Garden is the country's oldest royal garden and was embellished in the Renaissance style by Christian IV shortly before the construction of the main castle. Today, the gardens are a popular retreat for the people of Copenhagen, and attract an estimated 2.5 million visitors every year. Next to the castle are barracks where the Royal Life Guards is garrisoned. The Life Guard guards the castle.

We wandered further in to the city and crossed the path of the marching guards on our way to a pastry shop; we could not visit Denmark with sampling a Danish Pastry!

The central area of Copenhagen is largely cobbled car-free squares and streets; we made our way to the Lego store - and hoped that since this was the birthplace of the famous building bricks we might find some unique Copenhagen lego sets for the grandkids. Alas we were disappointed and found that Lego truly is a global brand; the store contained only sets that we could also get back home - there were however some impressive displays.

We strolled through the government buildings, including the impressive City Hall to the new harbor area with its large canal lined with pretty colored houses and busy restaurants.

We sat at a canal-side restaurant for a quick lunch before getting a taxi back to the ship.