6/3/12 day 39: Copenhagen, Denmark

Up at 0800 hours to escort a tour today. It was a cold, mostly cloudy Sunday in Denmark's capitol. First stop was the most famous statue in Copenhagen: the little mermaid, a tribute to Hans Christian Anderson's character. Snapped a couple photos. Then we took the bus to Amalienborg Castle, the Queen's winter residence, watched the changing of the guards and then cruised to Rosenborg Castle which was the Kings's summer home and home of the crown jewels. Implanted in the walls of the surrounding barracks was a canon ball that was left lodged when the Brits leveled Copenhagen in 1807 because the Danes supported Napoleon. Then we cruised by Nyhavn which has long been the naval port of the city, birth place of Hans Christian Anderson and now a place for canal side restaurants complete with wool blankets for colder weather. Last stop was the historical core of Copenhagen, Christiansborg Castle where in the 1100 century (if I am not mistaken) was erected the first castle to protect Copenhagen. A great tour, a decent day, and an even better tour escort (if you ask me).

Got back to the ship around 1200 in time for a quick lunch in the mess, ad then a quick turn around back to the city center. Back in 2009 on my diet European tour, Copenhagen was my first stop with Mr Clint Bierman. However, my history with this city dates back to 1997 when I spent new years eve here with some friends from Freiburg. On the bus tour in the morning, I passed the bar (The Globe) where my 21 year old self spent an evening eating parmesian reggiano from the Italian bartenders family farm and drinking fine Danish beer. Unfortunately, the bar was closed when I went back around 1pm so I strolled back into the pedestrian shopping area and visited my old haunt, The Dubliner, where in 2009, Clint and I spent three glorious nights performing music and getting the know this amazing city. On my way out, I ran into my friend Chris from the ship. We decided it wasn't quite time to head back to the ship, so we walked around a little bit more. We got back to the ship around 4:30 which gave me enough time for a power nap before dinner and a full night of music. I really dig this city. Its top 3 in western Europe for sure, behind Berlin and Paris.

All in all, an amazing day. Tomorrow
is a sea day as we round the peninsula of Denmark and head back to Hamburg. Gonna catch up on reading, Danish, and movies. Sweet.