One Day In Copenhagen

 After a hearty breakfast on the ferry/cruise ship, we debarked, checked into our hotel (Copenhagen Strand) and set off to explore Copenhagen. We had a free morning to explore on our own. What can we find?

As I started my wanderings in Copenhagen, I ran into the Guard Hussar Regiment which is a cavalry unit of the Royal Danish Army. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many mounted women soldiers. I assumed they were on the way to the changing of the guard at the palace, I'm not sure they made it. The changing of the guard is one of the must-see sights or so they say. Everyday at noon, the ceremony takes place at Amalienborg Palace which is the residence of the Danish royal family. The Royal House of Denmark is one of the world's oldest monarchies dating back over 1,000 years. I arrived in the plaza around 11:30, in plenty of time to catch the ceremony. There was hardly anybody in the plaza. By noon, I had lost my front row post and I spent the next 10 minutes standing on my tiptoes, trying to see something, or anything. I finally gave up and decided there were more interesting things to see than the back of a bunch of tall tourists' heads.

The Guard Hussar Regiment (very fancy):

The square where people were starting to line up

Rosenborg Castle
Built in the early 1600's and used as a royal residence. 
The crown jewels are located here and kept in the basement.

Copenhagen is a city of canals.  

The afternoon outing was an open air boat cruise around the canals

And here she is, the Little Mermaid or as the boat guide said - "the second most overrated tourist sight in the world, just behind the Mona Lisa in the Louvre" I never got to see her face, all I saw was the Little Mermaid backside

The bridges that we had to go under were very, very low.  The guide had to keep telling us to duck.

This is CopenHill, a waste-to-energy plant.  Besides converting 440,000 tons of waste annually and converting it into electricity for about 150,000 homes, it has a year-round ski slope, a hiking trail, and a climbing wall on it's roof.  

HDMY Dannebrog
The royal yacht of the Danish monarch

Of course I had to spend my free time at a museum. 
This is the Winter Garden in the Glyptotek museum. 

Girl With Grapes
William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1874
I'm a big fan of Bouguereau.

Christiansborg Palace
It is also the Danish Parliament Building

As I was wandering around, I came across a church.  The doors were open so I went in to check it out.  It turns out that the organist was practicing.  Pipe organs always sound so grand. I had my own private concert. 

Church of Holman

Later that evening, we boarded another little boat which took us across another canal to Reffen, which is the largest global street food market in Northern Europe.  It was like food trucks but in more permanent small buildings.  I ended up eating a Kurdish meal along with some wine.