Copenhagen - The City of Statues

I have nicknamed Copenhagen, ''The City of Statues'. There seems to be one at every corner. Enormous green monuments to men I've never heard of tower over boulevards and squares. Green angels, horses and oxen share the sky with church steeples and cathedral spires. Hans Christian Andersen overlooks the Rathus and the most photographed woman, The Little Mermaid sits sentry on the harbor. Despite being backdropped by a white rainy sky, they were impressive.

After finally finding a parking spot (which lowered our fuel supply dramatically) we headed out on foot to explore. Pedestrian streets make that easy. One pedestrian walkway intersects another and arched alleyways lead to others. Eventually we found ourselves at Nyhavn Canal.

From there we visited the rathouse (stood for a moment to salute Hans) and then walked past gardens, shops, bistros, castles, churches, museums and fountains. It was easy to see why Copenhagen is the cultural city of 1996. One final stop brought us to the Royal Library. It dates to the 17th century and sitting back in its regal courtyard reminded me of an old ivy league univeristy building. Protecting the courtyard grounds were of course statues.

Eventually we gave up our parking spot and bid Copenhagen good bye. Before I got in the van though, I noticed a glint of metal at my feet and stooped to pick up a 20 Krone coin. "Look what I found, John! Let's go to town." But we'd already been to town and we headed away instead. We spent our new found wealth at the grocery store before boarding a ferry in Helsingborg. In 25 minutes we would be in Sweden.