Missing Copenhagen

As i promised yesterday, here are more pictures from Copenhagen last week. The six photos above were taken during an one hour tour in the city's canals, something you shouldn't miss if you're in CPH during summer, even if the weather is chilly and the sky is cloudy. I wasn't wearing any warm garments, and as the temperature near the water is even colder, i had goose bumps all over my skin. The pictures:

(1) The danish royal family official ship. They use this boat to visit cities around Denmark.

(2) A little boat and guess who's inside waving for the tourists in the canal tour boat? The queen of Denmark *lol*

(3) The Little Mermaid statue surrounded by tourists.

(4) Amalienborg, the queen's residence during winter time.

(6) The Black Diamond, one of Copenhagen's public library. It's close to Christianhavn area. I think the building is just so beautiful.

Copenhagen downtown is just so exciting. One single square surrounded by Tivoli, the Town Hall, the Politiken (danish national newspaper) building, cafes, stores, Strøget, and not so far, the National Museum, Rosenborg Castle, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and a lot more. What i find remarkable about Copenhagen is that it's a city with all the good a big city could offer but without the bad aspects generally associated to big cities, such as criminality, poluition, dirty streets, rude people. Danes are so polite it gets me shocked. Some of the pictures:

(1) Strøget entrance.

(2) People enjoying the sunshine in front of the Town Hall.

(3) Tivoli, an amusent park with a beautiful garden. Something else you shouldn't miss.

The six pictures above were taken in a park. Lots of green, a lake, birds, ducks... The peace of nature in the heart of the city. Parks are very popular during spring/summer time, the perfect place just to do a picknick or lay down and relax enjoying the sunshine. Danes don't ever take the sun for granted, as it's such a rare luxury in Denmark. Whenever it's warm and the sun glows, you'll see people outdoors performing scenes like these.

And last, but not least, pictures taken in two sides of Christianshavn, one of the city's areas. First, a forced workout through the endless steps of Our Saviour's Church, in order to reach its top. I nearly gave up in the middle of the way, but in the end i was glad i didn't. The view is so amazing, even more beautiful than the view from the Round Tower. Not so far, there is the free town Christiania, "founded in 1971 when many people from different backgrounds began to take over an area of recently abandoned military barracks together as a protest against the Danish government. At the time many people in the larger Danish cities felt betrayed by the politicians, as they believed there was a lack of affordable housing. The inhabitants of the surrounding neighbourhood Christianshavn also wanted a green, open area for their children to use, away from the increasing traffic in Copenhagen. The spirit of Christiania quickly developed into one of communism, the hippie movement and the squatter movement, in sharp contrast to the site's previous military use".*

I had certain expectations on this visit, but i was a little disappointed. There was almost nothing going on there. The next day i was told that Christiania has become a boring touristic attraction. In the past many artists lived in the city, making artistic stuff around the town very possible and one of its attractions. But now... Unless you're very very curious, drop the visit. There's a lot of more interesting attractions in Copenhagen. The pictures:

(1) The top of Our Saviour's Church, with its black and golden spire.

(6) Me in the church's tower, watching out to not perform a Marilyn Monroe scene in The Seven Year Itch. Damn wind!

(9) The exit in Christiania: "You are now entering the EU". That was funny.
(10) One of the Christiania's entrance.

Tomorrow i'll post more pictures of Christianshavn, Strøget, plus the Lousiana Museum of Modern Art. Hope you aren't sick of Copenhagen, because i never get sick of it. Oh, how much i miss it. Wish i could live there.

*More on Christiania.

UPDATE: I have posted resized pictures here, so in some of them you can't see much. See the Little Mermaid picture in a bigger size here and another picture of the statue taken from a different angle here.