Bonney's
Vacation Sagas

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The Mouldau

When we woke, we were docked at Copenhagen, Denmark. Copenhagen has been the capital city of the kingdom of Denmark since 1417 has a long history as the "Royal" city of Denmark, having been associated with a long line of monarchs well before its proclamation as the capital. The location of the city, at the mouth of the Baltic and astride the trade routes between continental Europe and Scandinavia, made it the obvious choice for the Danish monarchs, who once reigned over Sweden and Norway as well.

You needed that little history lesson, right?

I never before realized Denmark is a conglomeration of islands.

Another country, another currency. The Danish Krone (DKK)—another "pretty" money".

Just across from where we docked there was a modern windmill farm in the water.

Breakfast in the Windjammer was quick before we gathered in the waiting area for our pre-reserved tour to Rosenborg Castle & Tivoli Gardens. It was disappointing that this was a holiday in Denmark, so only the shops around the docks and a few of the shore tour destinations were open, therefore limiting our lack of opportunity to get souvenirs. We were assigned to tour bus 18 and had a wonderful guide.

On the way to Rosenborg Castle we went by some famous statues, including a stop to see the Mermaid and a drive-by of Poseidon. When we were there, a mob surrounded the Mermaid so getting a clean shot was difficult. It was morning and the statue was back-lighted.

Rosenborg Castle was built between 1606 and 1617 by King Christian IV, a prodigious instigator of building and construction work. Today he is often referred to as the "builder-king." The castle currently houses a fine collection of porcelain silverware and fine art, which have belonged to Danish monarchs through the ages, as well as the Crown Jewels and Coronation regalia.

I love pretty rocks!

After seeing the Crown Jewels, which were gorgeous, we went to Tivoli Gardens and Theme park—the fairy tale gardens, which opened its gates August 15, 1843.

Tivoli is a famous amusement park and pleasure garden and is the second oldest amusement park in the world. The amusement park was first called "Tivoli & Vauxhall"—"Tivoli" alluding to the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris (which in its turn had been named from Tivoli near Rome), and "Vauxhall" alluding to the Vauxhall Gardens in London.

The park is grand by current day standards and must have been overwhelming to those who were able to visit it over one hundred and fifty years ago.

We had about forty-five minutes at Tivoli. After leaving the Gardens, we passed many other well-known places during our bus tour. This was the first of many places where my back would not allow me to walk around much and explore. I kept sending Lesley off on her own so she could see more, but like a bad penny, she kept coming back too soon, possibly out of concern for me. I was doing great just sitting in the park area, enjoying the day, after finding an ice cream vendor.

Sometimes it's nice to learn that what you see in pictures is really the way it is. I had stolen one from the Internet.

This one is mine taken through a tour buss window on our way back to the ship, no less! It was a fluke that I happened to almost duplicate the one I found for my research before the cruise.

At another casual dinner, we met with our new friends and dinner companions. We didn't want them to think we had moved on again to yet another table.