Denmark-part 3: December 21, 2012

And, let there be sunlight.  There was real sun today--even more than the December average of 2 hours per day.  Today, we visited the Rosenborg Slot a royal palace that houses the Danish Crown Jewels.  It is a small palace built as a summer residence by Christian IV in 1606.  It has been a museum since the early 19th century.

Shoppers and beautiful buildings along a Strøget

Most of the afternoon and evening was spent at Tivoli Gardens.  The Christmas lights and decorations were magical.  

A winter tree decorated with red hearts - a symbol of Denmark

Tivoli is a year-round amusement park with rides, restaurants, concerts.  We froze our butts off.

Denmark-part 2: December 20, 2012

Today is Dan's birthday--it's a big one.  We began the day with pastries--Danish, of course.  The tender, sweet Danish pastries in Copenhagen are the best we've ever had.  The next food course was gourmet cupcakes at a shop in the Magazin Du Nord.

It is another gray day so we visited several museums: the National Museum (Nationalmuseet) and my personal favorite, the National Photography Museum and their Edward Steichen exhibit located in the new library.

Near the Parliament, we chatted with a guy who has been standing vigil every day since the war in Afganistan commenced.  It was day 4082.  Imagine.....

One of his signs had a poignant quote by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower made April 16, 1953.  

We lunched nearby at the Kanal Caféen smørrebrod restaurant.  These are usually only open for lunch.  At Christmas time, they are especially busy with locals eating Christmas lunch specialties, but we got a seat and table and our table mates helped us decipher the menu.  Smørrebrod is usually a slice of hearty Danish bread piled up topped with meats, cheeses, vegetables--an open faced sandwich that you must have a fork to eat.  This was quite unlike the US version of smorgasbord (meaning an all you can eat buffet).

In the evening, we went to a concert of Handel's Messiah at the 16th-century Church of Holmen.  The first part of the church was built by Christian IV in 1619.  Over the years, the church has been remodeled and added onto to create its current cruciform style.  Handel's music was performed in the very center of the cruciform.  It was glorious.

There were seven hours and one minute of light today.  We didn't actually see the sun today, but the sun rose at 8:36 a.m and set at 3:38 pm.  While sunrise/sunset times varied slightly each day, everyday that we are in Copenhagen, December 18-23, will have only 7 hours and one minute of light.  These are the shortest daylight days of the year here.

Statue of Hans Christian Andersen

Denmark-part 1: December 19, 2012

Tired of the fog and haze of Skopje, Dan and I booked a December flight to Copenhagen to celebrate his birthday and see Christmas lights.  We also thought it would be an escape from the grayness of Skopje.  In watching the weather forecasts, the temperature highs/lows seemed comparable to Skopje.  So, we packed our suitcases with thoughts of clear skies, and cold but sunny days.

Our first day in Copenhagen was.........gray.  It was gray all day and while the temperatures are comparable to those in Macedonia, we had not factored in the wind-chill that made walking around really cold.  So, we layered up and left our room looking like Mr. and Mrs. Michelin.

That first day, we visited some famous Danish landmarks like the queen's palace, the citadel, the statue of The Little Mermaid (written by Hans Christian Andersen).  She really is little and she blended into the grayness of the water and sky.

On our second day, we caught brief glimpses of the sun.

These scenes are in the Nyhavn (New Harbor) area of Copenhagen.  Our hotel, Hotel Bethel, was just across the canal from these lovely, renovated structures.

Hotel Bethel (on the corner)

The Strøget (pedestrian streets) were hung with garlands and hearts.  The hearts are taken from Denmark's coat of arms which is three lions and a group of hearts.  

 A view of Copenhagen from the Rundetårn (Round Tower), a working observatory

The Rundetårn interior

We were also struck by the amount of bicycles used in Copenhagen no matter how cold, how wet the weather.

We tried to eat dinner at a Danish restaurant (Sankt Anne's) tonight but found that it was open only for lunches.  The restaurant was also completely booked through Christmas Day.  Instead we settled on a Chinese restaurant on the same street.  The food at Dim Sum (Sankt Annae Plads 16) was fresh and tasty.  The scallops were luscious, tender, and the best I've ever had.