We are In Copenhagen

In Copenhagen we've had a busy tourist time when the weather permitted! Who would have thought that it would rain so very much in August? The constant wind was at times Gusty. We did manage a canal boat excursion in the rain! The high tides of the canals prevented our tour from some of the sites due to low bridges. However, we did get to see the backside of The Little Mermaid statue. She is bronze on a granite pedestal and she was commissioned in 1909. We ate lunch at an outdoor cafe in the Nyhavn canal district. Which is situated amongst the colorful 18th century buildings. We also visited Christianborg Palace, home Ave the Danish Parliament, stables and carriages, and lavish rooms for Queen Margrethe II and family. This Palace was started in 1167 AD and has undergone seven renovations! We took a date bus tour to Kronborg castle/fortress which was the inspiration for Shakespeare's Hamlet! The tour went past old fishing villages with thatched roof cottages and then by ferry over to Sweden. In Sweden we visited the towns of Lund and Malmo. Mund is famous for its cathedral which dates back to 1085 ad! It's most famous feature is the 15th century astronomical clock, which we got to see in action!

 

 It's animated where medieval carved figures "march" around the front of the clock face to the tune of "Good Christian Men Rejoice." In Malmo, which is the third largest city in Sweden, there is a lot of construction going on. We visited the medieval town square where they were holding a festival and we went to Saint Peters cathedral, a 14th century gothic church. This tour ended by traversing the Oresund Bridge. The longest bridge in Europe with both roadway and railway combined in a single structure. The length of the bridge is five miles on the swedish side, two and a half on an artificial Island and then continues under the strait for another two and a half miles back to the Danish side. This tour we found is called "Enjoy the Tour" and our driver slash tour guide was Mario. Mario spoke four languages and made the entire experience the best we could have hoped for! Now we are on to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands!