A few years ago, Jason and I decided we wanted to take both sets of our parents on trips of their choosing as a small way of saying thanks for the decades they tolerated being responsible for us. Like Jason’s parents, mine had sandy beaches and islands in mind but not of the tropical variety.
The kingdom of Denmark, the southern-most Scandinavian country, is comprised of over 1,400 islands circling a slender peninsula. This was my parents’ pick. With over 75 of Denmark’s islands inhabited, narrowing down landmasses from their country selection wasn’t easy. Since our flights stopped in Amsterdam both directions, we thought we might as well also add on a few days in that notable city, despite the excess location options available in Denmark alone. We invited my entire extended family to join us on this voyage of gratitude, and my sister and her daughter accepted that offer. The group traveled to some of Denmark’s most prominent and rugged places and got a taste of the Netherlands. Here’s the first of my four-part series on our journey and its discoveries.
A Word on Chaos
Most vacations include bits of unexpected chaos. This trip was upfront about its pandemonium. Getting to Copenhagen required two flights, one to Amsterdam (as previously mentioned) and a second from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. At the time, Amsterdam’s airport, Schiphol, was experiencing an untimely mix of bad weather, labor shortages, resigning managers, low wages for security personnel, and peak weekend travel, which resulted in our inbound flight being delayed by almost five hours. This made us miss our connection to Copenhagen, so we had to find another flight. That ultimately resulted in us having to leave the secure section of the airport to pick up our bags and come back in via a security line over a mile long that took more than 2.5 hours to wind through. Probably not coincidentally, our flight out of Amsterdam was also delayed about an hour. At least our six-hour layover at Schiphol passed quickly since we spent the bulk of it in that line.
Once in Copenhagen, the bewildering chaos ended, and the regular travel mayhem began. On the plus side, our late arrival helped us get over our jet lag quicker since we had no choice but to stay up until 11:00 PM, forcing us to go about 30 hours without sleep. Admittedly, most of us snoozed on the plane ride between Amsterdam and Copenhagen as we found it impossible to do otherwise, but that was a rather brief nap.
Day 1
The next morning, our introduction to Copenhagen began with an early walk along the harbor to meet the Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid, a sculpture of granite and bronze, was a gift to the city of Copenhagen by brewer Carl Jacobsen in 1913. She sits just a few feet from the shore making access easy. Although she is an icon of Copenhagen and the target of many tourists, she has also been the unfortunate victim of many jokesters and demonstrators over the decades. Her head has been detached multiple times, she’s been explosively removed from her rock perch, and she’s been frequently stained with paint. Still, with diligent repairs, she’s remained tragically pining for her prince for over 100 years.
Making our way back from the Little Mermaid, we wandered through the Kastellet, a star-shaped fortress built by King Frederik III in 1662. The Kastellet’s bright colors and tranquil landscapes camouflage a more complicated past. It has been used for many purposes through its centuries including a prison and later Nazi headquarters when Germany occupied Denmark during World War II. It felt incongruous for the same space to contain both armed Royal Life Guards and the rosiest 18th-century barracks I’ve ever seen.
Our hotel was close to the Marmorkirken (Marble Church), so we couldn’t pass on a visit later that morning. The Marmorkirken is believed to be modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. While its dome is reminiscent of the Vatican, it is used for Lutheran worship. It was intended to honor the royal family’s 300-year reign, but construction ended up taking 150 years too long for that purpose. This delay was largely due to the enormous expense of Norwegian marble, one of the primary building materials used. Eventually, the church became the 5th largest dome in the world and the 2nd largest in Europe. We lucked out and happened to drop in at just the right time to join one of the twice-weekly tours to the top of the dome where the views are astounding.
One of our oddest, and most humorous, experiences of our vacation occurred at the Marmorkirken. A man with a thick carpet of chest and shoulder hair, which was prominently featured via the tank top he was wearing, grabbed one of the church’s bottles of hand sanitizer and approached our niece with it. He said in English, “Your hands please.” This prompted her to hold out her hand for a generous application of the sanitizer believing he was one of the church’s staff members, and this was among their anti-COVID processes. However, after the man repeated this procedure with my sister and me, he briefly perused a church corridor, grabbed one of the available tourist pamphlets, and vanished outside. Clearly, he was not an employee of the church. What the what? Out of the crowd of about 15 people waiting to start the tour, why did he pick us? And why the creepy sanitizing charade in the first place? We are still both baffled by and giggling about the experience.
Later that afternoon, we decided to visit Rosenborg Slot, though our time there would be limited. Rosenborg Slot was originally built to serve as the summer palace of King Christian IV. Construction began in 1606. Sometime in the 1700s, his great-grandson, King Frederik IV, decided he’d like a fancier seasonal home, leading to the opening of Rosenborg to the public as a royal museum in 1838.
The castle, built in Dutch Renaissance style, is full of opulence but also peculiarities. For instance, on display is a beloved pranking device of the king, a trouser-wetting chair, which would grasp sitters and then drench their seat with water. One room, the Mirror Cabinet, features walls of mirrors, which were extremely expensive to produce at the time. That’s not too unusual for a royal splurge. The unusual component is the circular floor mirror that was used to gaze up women’s skirts.
Rosenborg’s biggest draw for many is its basement vaults containing Denmark’s crown jewels. While the glitz and grandeur in the treasury are overwhelming, a few items stand out. Christian IV’s coronation crown from 1596, weighing 6.6 pounds and covered with intricate depictions of the king’s many virtues, is one of them. Goblets and jewelry featuring a swanky skull and crossbones motif are another. It isn’t just the jewelry in the vaults that dazzles though. Some of Christian IV’s saddles and riding gear, layered with pearls and gold, are almost equally impressive.
While our time in Rosenborg was rushed due to its approaching closing, not all parts of the outing were hurried. Rosenborg is situated in the Kongens Have (King’s Garden) making a welcomed stroll through this extensive park necessary. The garden was created in 1606 as the private grounds for Rosenborg Slot and is now a peaceful green used by the citizens of Copenhagen.
Since we were close to the Rundetaarn, we decided to stop by on our walk back to our hotel. The Rundetaarn, or Round Tower, was built in 1642 during Denmark’s astronomy boon as a university observatory and library. There are hundreds of towers you can climb in Europe, so why bother with this one’s 128 feet? For starters, instead of stairs, it utilizes a gentle ramp paved by bricks to slowly spiral 7.5 times to its apex. This uncommon feature was integrated so equipment and supplies could be taken to the top by horse-drawn carts. A hollow core provides even more architectural interest than the slanted floor. The tower was used as Denmark’s geographical zero point for surveys after the 1760s, a function facilitated by that core. The valiant can stand at the top of the gap on a sheet of glass and fully appreciate all 82 feet of the drop.
As the oldest European observatory still in operation, the Rundetaarn’s corridors have attracted many famous figures like Hans Christian Andersen, who used to do research in its library, and Tsar Peter the Great, who once raced his horse up its spinning passageway. Its views aren’t as fine as the higher Marmorkirken though.
Day 2
One of the primary places I wanted to see while staying in Copenhagen was the town of Roskilde, a 25-minute train ride from the city. Roskilde was Denmark’s first capitol. It is a charming mix of the ancient and modern and contains a wealth of historic wonders. My primary aim in visiting was the Vikingeskibsmuseet (Viking Ship Museum).
This remarkable museum holds five Viking vessels known as the Skuldelev ships that were sunk in the Roskilde Fjord to provide fortification in the 11th century. They were discovered in the 1960s and excavated. More than just exhumed skeletons, these vessels have been turned into living history with constructed replicas. I was led to believe by an incorrect guidebook that one could go sailing on the Viking reproductions. That is false, so, if you also read that in a travel manual, dismiss it. While you can board and examine the Sea Stallion from Glendalough, an impressive replica of the longest ship housed in the museum, you cannot cruise on it.
What can you sail on? The museum’s boatyard has a collection of over 40 authentic historic reproductions based on designs from all over Scandinavia. Some of these are available for sailings. However, if your crew is too few and light for a sailing, you must instead do a rowing. With a group of only five, that was our fate. We rowed in a boat built in the museum boatyard in 2000 using traditional Faroe Island techniques called the Trolle.
Though our guide insisted we do all the rowing and steering ourselves, we were not worthy of these duties. We only made it out of the harbor into the choppy waters of the Roskilde Fjord for a few minutes before the stress of trying to oversee our substandard abilities got to her, and she directed us back to calmer waters. In our defense, the wind on the Roskilde Fjord gets extra insistent as winter approaches, and thus, it was more blustery than normal as their season was nearing its end with the close of September.
On a fascinating sidenote, renovations to the Viking Ship Museum in the 1990s led to the discovery of nine more boats buried within the museum’s grounds from the Viking and Middle Ages. One of these is the longest Viking warship ever found. Oddly, these Roskilde ships are not displayed at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde but at the National Museum in Copenhagen.
Although not the key reason for our visit to Roskilde, we were able to also make it to the city’s celebrated brick church. Construction of the Roskilde Domkirke began in the 12th century. It has served as the mausoleum for Danish Royalty since the Reformation. The ornate caskets and vaults of these noble individuals are plentiful throughout the structure. It is believed that the remains of Harold I (Bluetooth), a 10-century Viking king, are entombed in one of the pillars. In case you are wondering, yes, he is where the name for Bluetooth technology comes from.
Day 3
Before leaving Copenhagen, Jason and I ventured out early to see the Changing of the Guard at Amalienborg Slot, the current residence of the royal family. The pageantry and puffy hats were entertaining.
Then, we were all off to Møn after a slight rental-car-induced delay. Although online information said our reserved rental car would fit six people and all their luggage, that calculation definitely did not take into account the overpacking of the typical American traveler. Following a debate on whether we could drive for hours with heavy backpacks on our laps and suitcases between our legs, we ended up renting an additional vehicle.
Next week, I will discuss Møn and Middelfart. I promise, it will be more than just hot air.