DENMARK: PASSING THROUGH COPENHAGEN

June 18, 2019

As noted earlier, there are only two ways to fly into or out of Greenland: via Iceland (Reykjavik) or Denmark (Copenhagen). As we had entered via Iceland, we decided to exit via Denmark. We had a direct, uneventful 4 1/2 hour flight that included a 4-hour time change:

When we arrived, everyone's bags came out but ours. We waited and waited, and finally sent the rest of the group to catch the shuttle to the hotel. Just as we started to head towards the missing baggage reporting station, our luggage rolled down the ramp. We grabbed our suitcases and were able to catch up with the group.

When we got to our hotel, the Marriott Bella Sky, we learned that the regular rooms were all gone, so they gave us upgraded rooms. We had a little more space, including a seating area, but everything still had very minimalist, monochromatic Danish design:

On our way to the hotel I got an IG message from a good friend from my home city who was also traveling. She said they were in the same hotel we were in.  What are the chances of that? We were 5,600 miles from home in a city with hundreds of hotels and yet found ourselves in the same city in the same hotel on the same night. It was a truly cosmic experience. We met up later in the hotel lobby for a photo:

After a good night's sleep, the ten of us walked to the metro station just a few blocks from our hotel. We got a good look at the architecture of the Marriott Bella Sky for the first time. It is pretty funky:

Somehow, someone in our group figured out how to buy ten metro tickets using only Danish instructions, and then someone figured out how to get to our stop. With just a single day in Copenhagen, we had decided to use a local tour guide to maximize our experience. We met up with her at a downtown bakery next to this American icon. (Why aren't our 7-Elevens in such gorgeous buildings?)

Our guide was a 51-year-old Israeli woman who had been living in Denmark for eleven years and had been guiding for two. She knew the city well and was full of good information, but she struggled a bit with the large size of our group and was often hard to hear.

DENMARK: AARHUS

I loved Denmark.  Of all the Scandinavian countries, I think it is the one in which I would most like to live. Supposedly it has the world's highest level of income equality, and it is often ranked as the happiest and least corrupt country in the world.  One of the things that struck me was the number of private homes (as opposed to large apartment buildings).  I took this video through the bus window while our guide sang the Danish national anthem.  We were driving out of the city and into the country, and I think it provides a good view of the homes in what seemed to be a typical neighborhood:

(Apparently the Danes have just as much trouble singing their national anthem as we Americans have with ours.)

Aarhus is on the peninsula part of Denmark (Copenhagen is on one of the islands), and is the second largest city in the country.  The city itself has about 250,000 people, but with all the suburbs, there are about 1.2 million. It did not feel like a huge metropolis, especially when just minutes outside the city, we were seeing this:

We drove about an hour outside Aarhus to visit Rosenholm Castle (also called Rosenkrantz Castle):

 

Have you ever wondered what a Danish-style McDonald's would look like? Here you go:

 We spent several hours in Den Gamle By, a recreated historic village in Aarhus that reminded me of Pioneer Village in Salt Lake City. It was like being in Solvang, California, but a LOT better:

 Wherever we go, somehow we always manage to find a good bakery:

I especially loved the shop signs:

Typical of so many of today's European cities, a canal runs through the village:

The guy in red having a friendly chat with the local clergyman just happens to be my sister's Stake President (and part of our group):

Back in Aarhus, I noticed some advertising on the theater for a play about a very famous Dane:

Our last stop was the Aarhus Cathedral, the tallest and longest church in Denmark.  Like so many of the early cathedrals, the first version was destroyed by fire in the 14th Century and later rebuilt.  This version was completed around 1500. It is dedicated to St. Clemens, the patron saint of sailors:

This scale model gives a better idea of the relative length and height.

SOARING ceilings:

Several ships hang suspended on long cables from the ceiling, strangely adrift in an ocean of air:

And as always, there was a breathtakingly beautiful organ above the door:

I always love St. George and the Dragon:

. . . and other than the creepy skull imagery similar to what we saw in Lubeck:

 

. . . I really enjoyed the art, especially the figures with their droll, country bumpkin appearances:

 

 

And who doesn't love a gentleman with a curly wig?

After all these pictures, I want to include one last story that our guide told us about the saving of the Danish Jews during World War II.  Denmark surrendered to the Nazis in April 1940.  At that time there were 8,000 Jews in Denmark who had enjoyed full and equal citizenship since 1814.  A common saying was, "We have no Danish Jews, only Danish people."  During the occupation, they never wore a yellow star as they did in other parts of Europe.  When persecution began, the Jews were hid in Christian homes and later smuggled to Sweden.  If they were captured, they were tracked by the Danish government, fed, and eventually liberated.  Miraculously, Denmark was able to save all but 400 of their Jews.  Our guide said, "A nation is not just about what it does; a nation is also what it tolerates."   That is great food for thought, isn't it? 

While I'm on the subject of food, somehow a post always seems more complete when it ends with a picture of one of our meals.  This plate is a fish-lover's dream.

DENMARK: FREDRIKSBORG CASTLE AND THE LDS TEMPLE

About 30 miles north of Copenhagen is Fredriksborg Castle, built between 1560 and 1620. (As a basis for comparison, Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616.)  It is the largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia.  If I ever need an illustration for the word "splendiforous," I think I will choose one of these shots:

I think if I were a little girl, I'd be daydreaming about living in this castle.  Actually, I am dreaming about it right now...

The ornate Palace Church defies description:

On the walls are the coats-of-arms of the recipients of Denmark's royal orders:

Recipients include many well-known dignitaries, including Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill,

and Dwight D. Eisenhower:

After seeing Thorvaldsen's Christus, I was excited to have an opportunity to see more Danish art that has become so beloved by members of the Mormon faith, specifically the large collection of Carl Bloch paintings that are on display at the Fredriksborg Castle.  BYU alumni are well-acquainted with Bloch's painting of Christ at the Pool of Bethesda, owned by the LDS Church and on display in the Museum of Art at BYU:

In fact, the Church uses prints of many of Bloch's paintings in their temples and meeting houses, which has actually been a significant force in popularizing his work. (Even Wikipedia mentions the LDS Church in its article on Bloch.)  Carl Bloch (1834-1890) was born in Copenhagen, lived for some time in Italy, and studied under Rembrandt.  In 1865-1879 he was commissioned to create 29 paintings of the life of Christ for the Frederiksborg Chapel.  I expected to see a glorious exhibit in a warmly-lit room with soaring ceilings, much like the room in the MOA where the above painting is on display.  I was somewhat disappointed that the room where the paintings hang is dark and crowded, with lights that cause a glare and with pillars and other objects that obstruct a full view of the works.

However, our guide helped me have a better experience by pointing out that the art is on all four walls; indeed, Christ was everywhere we looked.  Similarly, we should surround our lives with the life and example of the Savior.  Most of these photos are of poor quality, but they provide an accurate idea of the viewing conditions of the tiny room:

In the final analysis, there was something charming and even spiritual about the humble presentation of these masterpieces, especially in contrast to the magnificence of the rest of the palace.  (Note: I did buy a book in the gift shop that shows all of the paintings in much more favorable lighting.)

The remaining rooms of the palace include the living quarters and ceremonial rooms of Danish kings, as well as the repository for the royal family's art collection.  Fredriksborg Castle is also famous for its beautiful grounds, seen here from one of the palace windows:

This is not just your average drapery. It's marble:

This chandelier may have been my favorite thing in the castle . . .

. . . second only to this disappearing chair that the king or queen could use to escape an annoying guest:

I need one of these for when my brother comes to visit.

Get a load of these ceilings--not a good place to be in an earthquake.  (Does Denmark HAVE earthquakes?  Apparently not if these have lasted 500 years.)

The royal pets weren't very friendly, but my brave husband knew just how to handle them:

Andrew had told me about lenticular paintings, which are painted on a zig-zag or corrugated surface.  From one side, the viewer sees the portrait a man, and from the other side a woman.

The head-on view is, well, interesting:

We loved our visit to this fairy tale castle, complete with a lazy moat:

On our way back from Fredriksborg, we made one more stop at another important castle, a somewhat newer (dedicated in 2004) and smaller structure (built on less than an acre of land and having about 25,000 square feet):

 

This temple, like the Vernal Utah Temple, is a renovation of a church meetinghouse, the neoclassical chapel dedicated by Elder John A. Widstoe in 1931:

View from the Temple steps, looking across the street:

Finally, here are a few fun shots to close out this post.  This was the chair in our hotel room:

And these two shots are of our delicious dinner, eaten at a posh little outdoor restaurant next to the river:

Lumpfish roe (raw fish eggs) with foam on top

Meats, cheese, mushrooms, and bread.