Hello all,
So, here we are in Copenhagen. Denmark's known history began 250,000 years ago when nomadic hunters began to travel across Jylland (Jutland). By the 7th century, the "Dane" tribe crossed the Kattegat from Sweden and adopted Denmark ("Dane's land") as their new home. It was the age of the Viking, and tribes consantly battled other Western European clans for control of the strategic North Sea. The Skagerrak that separates Denmark from Norway and the Baltic region were naval battlegrounds.
During the following centuries, Denmark struggled to maintain a window on the world, and by the 14th century, King Valdemar IV united Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands from his Danish base. Sweden broke ranks and fought for several centuries while Norway remained under Danish rule until 1814. Iceland did not gain independence until 1948, and Greenland and the Faroe Islands are still autonomous Danish provinces.
Copenhagen was a fishing village until the middle of the 12th century. Because of its harbor, it soon became a place of commercial importance. During World War II, Copenhagen was occupied by German troops from April 1940 until May 1945. Today, Copenhagen is the principal seaport and commercial center of Denmark, and a large proportion of the country's foreign and domestic trade passes through its port. The population of the metropolitan area is over 1,350,000. Copenhagen, long noted internationally for the manufacture of fine porcelain ware, is also famous for the production of hand-wrought silverware. When most Americans think of Denmark, they think of Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish writer of fairy tales in the 19th century. His adopted city, Copenhagen, erected a statue of one of his most beloved characters, the Little Mermaid, at the entrance to the harbor. Made of cast bronze, the statue reflects the Danish love of simple, fluid line and form.
Here we did the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus again. They had two routes and we did both of them. Of course, we got off and walked to the Little Mermaid statue to take a photo. She was just down the pier a little ways from our ship. It is a very nice city. One place we went by was called Christiania which is a little community of Hippies. It was developed back in the 60s by the hippie crowd and still exists as a "free spirit" place of living. They said that a great deal of pot is smoked there even though it is illegal in Copenhagen. The city is trying to close down this community.
Hope you enjoy our photos. Most all of them were taken from the bus. The pier where we docked was very nice and had a long row of shops that were fun to explore.
Jan and Dick
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