Of Mermaids, Palaces and Castles

We had a tour of Copenhagen today as part of the first day of our tour around Scandanavia...yes, we saw some things that we hadn't seen before! This morning, we saw the Little Mermaid - a little sculpture gifted to the city around 90 years ago, and the winter palace the Queen and her husband reside in over the winter, amongst some other things. We were dropped off by the town hall for a few hours before heading off on a tour of the castles of Zealand.

The first castle we saw was amazing inside - the grand hall had tapestries handing all around the walls and they truely looked like part of the structure of the room; you have to be there to really get the full effect! The second castle was the permanent residence of one of the crown princes and his young family (he's married an Australian women), so we couldn't go in, but saw around a little, trying not to get in the way of the armed guards! The third castle was another amazing structure that had a unique courtyard where plays etc have been put on - apparently Shakespare used this castle as the basis for his play Hamlet, and obviously, Hamlet has been performed there. King Fredrick built the castle for his 14 year-old wife...

The picture I have included is obviously the Little Mermaid, the most photographed statue in the world, I believe. We were told today that she will be making a trip to China next year, so if you want to see her in person, you'll need to come and visit! Copenhagen is an amazing city, and I'll miss it when we leave tomorrow, but I'm really glad I've seen around a little and experienced some of what life is like here. And it's been amazing to do this with Ruth, too - we have had our moments, but it's lots more fun to be doing this with her. Yay for sisters, ay!

Feeling pretty tired, but its been a great day getting to know some of the others on the bus. We've just been out to dinner with a women from Taiwan who has lived in the States for the last 30-odd years. She's lovely, and wants to come and visit New Zealand one day, so we may meet her at some stage in the future back home. We're off early in the morning to a place called Frederiksavn, about 480km away, so it'll be a long day, but will try and post something tomorrow.