Day 1 - Copenhagen – August 22, 2026

I get bothered by my encroaching old age. Yet another example: I went back and read my blog posting from our one-day visit to Copenhagen in May 2018. The kid that wrote that posting made me ashamed of our performance today. Hiking all over town. Seeing all the sights (at least from the outside) and learning all that history (which I long ago forgot). Check it out if you wish: https://jonandjudy.com/day-6-copenhagen-who-needs-a-guide/

Have you ever traveled with your grandparents? I did. Remember how slow they were, both physically and otherwise? I do. That’s how I felt today, except that Judy and I played the part of the dottering old grandparents.

But then again we’ve put in almost 10,000 steps and 3.7 miles of walking, fresh off the overnight flight from Boston and we’re going out for dinner this evening after our one-hour siesta. Good break in session, I’d say. However, Judy said, “You’ve done it again. Suckered me into walking far beyond my pain threshold.”

And while we’re talking about my failings, let me add another: my bias against Mercedes drivers. The taxi driver today drove an all-electric Mercedes EQ-series sedan, just like the guy we hired in France. And this guy, just like the French guy, stuck up his nose in disdain when I told him we drove Teslas in the States. Neither one would be caught dead in a tin can Tesla and they weren’t afraid to say so.

The SAS flight was uneventful, albeit too short (6.5 hours) for dinner and a good night’s sleep. We were at the hotel by 8 AM. The Raddison concierge helped us plan our sightseeing; we had done no planning in preparation for this trip. The itinerary for the rest of the trip is Viking’s responsibility but these two days in Copenhagen are on us.

“Copenhagen is a very walkable city,” the guy at   Concierge desk said. Just walk up town to see the Little Mermaid.

No thanks, that’s 3.7 Km (2.3 miles). Maybe the 2018 model JonandJudy could (and did), but not today’s. We opted for the hop-on-hop-off bus instead. It took almost two hours to get to the Liltle Mermaid and back. A dozen stops or so with a recorded commentary along the way. Not bad as HOPOs go.

The HOHO ride gave us a good view of architecture. The commentary on the bus described it as “simple functional design using natural materials.” Lots of brick, in other words, and not many gargoyles. It’s a neat and quite modern city, even in the Old Town section. I’ll include some from-the-bus shots to show you what I mean.

After a complete loop, we were feeling a bit more rested, so we stayed on until it returned to Stop 2, the Kongens Nytorv; the King’s New Square, a nice park with lots of flowers in the middle of town. We figured we’d hit the tourist spots furthest from our hotel today, returning by HOHO bus. The stop was “only a few hundred meters” from the Amalienborg Palace, the official royal residence, and the spot to see the twelve-noon changing of the guard ceremony. We hiked over to the palace and got there by 11:30, plenty early to snag a primo spot for the doings. Noon came and went, along with some light sprinkles. The guard unit showed up about 12:15 and went through the steps. You know: smart marching in cadence, no one cracking a smile, up and down the palace grounds, which by now were teeming with JonandJudys from all over. A cop cleared a path and four of the soldiers marched up to the soldiers being released and, for reasons unknown to me, searched the soldiers’ cloak hanging in the guard shack.

Enough was enough and we walked away without visiting the Palace museum.

Incidentally, Denmark has a real-life king, just like Great Britain. King Fredrik X, who assumed the throne in 2024 after his mother, Queen Margarethe II gave up the crown at age 84. He’s 58 years old, married to an Aussie and has four kids. He does ceremonial and traditional duties. The country is otherwise a full-on democracy. The 1849 constitution ended the absolute monarchy. Women’s suffrage was passed in 1915.

Denmark is part of the European Union, but with several carve-outs, including its use of the Danish Krone instead of the Euro, but to which it is tightly pegged. It only agreed to joint defense in 2022. Denmark maintains its own policies as to Justice and Home Affairs, although it isn’t far from the EU, maintaining separate treaties with members. Greenland, its autonomous territory, opted out of the EU.

Our next goal was to visit the Gefion Fountain, a short quarter mile from the Palace. Google set us on the way but before we could go 50 meters, there was a golden church dome slightly off the route. It turned out to be Frederik’s Church, aka the Marble Church. Beautiful dome and nice inside too. We stood in a long but fast-moving line to go in. It’s an Evangelical Lutheran Church, the “state-recognized” religion in Denmark. It’s a popular wedding venue, with brides sometimes lined up for their turn to walk down the aisle.

The Marble Church has no marble. Frederik V laid the cornerstone in 1749 but budget problems left it an unfinished ruin. It was eventually sold to a private individual who, due to budget constraints, gave up on marble and went with limestone. It opened in 1894.

Next diversion: lunch. We stopped at the first place we came to, a café featuring traditional Danish Smørrebrød, an open-faced sandwich on rye bread. Judy had one featuring avocado. Mine were chicken salad and a second one with pickled herring. Tasty and, I’d point out, something the 2018 version of us didn’t have the nerve to try.

Onward. But wait, there’s a really good-looking park to walk through that’s only a bit out of the way. And guess what? The park leads to the Citadel, which isn’t that far from the Fountain. Kasallet is a pentagon-shaped fortress that originally was part of the defensive ring around the 17th century Copenhagen. Construction was begun in 1626. It suffered damage in the Swedish Siege and was instrumental in the Battle of Copenhagen with the United Kingdom in 1807. Today it is used for barracks and administrative offices. It’s open to the public, including us.

So there we were, halfway through the Citadel. Should we retrace our steps to the Fountain, or go forward to cover new ground, increasing our journey by 5 minutes, according to google. A loving, caring husband would say, “Of course, dear. We’ll take the short route to save you from excessive walking.” Me? “Oh come on, dear, we need to see what’s around the next corner.”

The long route took us by the Little Mermaid, the statue depicting the character from Hans Christian Anderson’s 1837 fairy tale of the same name. It’s been subject to all sorts of vandalism and misfortune since its creation in 1918. It’s not large but must be one of the top ten selfie sites in the world. We’d seen it earlier on our bus trip so I can’t claim this encounter as justification for the extra steps.

But by jingo we finally got to the Gefion Fountain. It shows the Norse goddess Gefion driving four plow oxen. Seems Gefion was promised all the land she could plow in one day, so she turned her four sons into oxen and plowed up the land from Sweden that became the island of Zealand, which is the home island of Copenhagen. The fountain was constructed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beer brewer Carlsbad and was first turned on in 1908.

So, mission accomplished and time to go home for a pre-dinner nap. HOHO Stop 4 was supposed to be in front of the Fountain and after 30 anxious minutes waiting, we caught the bus. We got our room round 4 PM. Judy conked out from 4:30 ‘til 5:30. I typed in penance for my sins of the day.

An Uber (another electric Mercedes but I didn’t engage in any conversation) took us the 10-minute ride in the rain to Aamanna’s 1921 restaurant. Our concierge had described the food as “traditional Danish with a contemporary twist and that turned out to be pretty accurate. For instance, my chicken with peas, carrots and corn was jazzed up with some very nice and interesting sauces. Good eats and a good eating experience.

We Ubered back and are settled in for the night. Tomorrow we’ll do the close-in attractions and take a canal ride.