Our trip to Copenhagen - Part 1

On February 13th we loaded up the rental van and headed for our vacation in Copenhagen. Now I have to say that the Danish winter so far really couldn't hold a candle to what we experience in MI...much less what MI has experienced this far at approx. 100 plus inches of snow this year! That being said, imgagine our suprise when we woke up on the morning of our trip and saw at least and inch and a half of snow on the ground! The kids were so happy to see the white stuff on the ground even if they could only see it from the car windows. I have to admit, I was a little tickled to see it too! Although, not so happy to know we would be driving in it! About 2 hours later, this was one of the first views of the Bridge.

Our fearless driver for this neck of the journey...Simone. Fortunatelty, our Simone has thick skin and could withstand the drving critiques and helpful advise from her big brother and dad! ;)

Soon after we arrived in Copenhagen we all needed to stretch our legs. So it was off to the city for us.

Maxie's first views of the city! He was so excited! The cold didn't seem to bother him a bit!
I was so focused on trying to get the pictures that I would forget every once in a while to keep up! Here the group is waiting for me to catch up...AGAIN! Bailey decides to do her best impression of a stone carving at Towne Hall in Copenhagen! The courtyard at Towne Hall was beautiful in the winter. So I can only imagine how lovely it is when the flowers are in bloom!

Kronborg Slot (castle)

These last two entries are just a preview of our trip to Copenhagen over Vinterferie ( Mid-winter break). Our family photos and info will follow! :)

Kronborg Castle
Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, at the seaward approach to The Sound Øresund, is one of northern Europe's most important Renaissance castles. Known all over the world from Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is also the most famous castle in Denmark and is visited each year by about 200,000 Danes and tourists.
Frederik II's Kronborg is both an elegant Renaissance castle and a monumental military fortress surrounded by major fortifications with bastions and ravelins. Some of the historical rooms house collections of Renaissance and Baroque interiors, and among the most important attractions are the 62-metre long ballroom, the wonderfully preserved chapel and the statue of "Holger the Dane".

Holger Danske
For generations of Danes a visit to Kronborg has been associated with a descent into the dark casemates to see the statue of Holger Danske. Slumbering, with arms folded on top of his sword, he sits in the castle’s underground shelter keeping himself in readiness to meet the enemy. Because the myth says that when the kingdom is threatened by a foreign enemy, the stone figure will become flesh and blood, and Holger Danske will rise up to defend the fatherland.
In 1907 a bronze statue of the figure was commissioned for Hotel Marienlyst in Elsinore. The plaster figure that it was produced from was placed in Kronborg’s casemates, and gradually it acquired considerably greater fame than the bronze version. The artist behind the work was Hans Pedersen-Dan.

The bridge to Copenhagen

The Bridge
Denmark consists of the Jutland peninsula and more than 400 islands of which the largest are Zealand and Funen. Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, is located on Zealand.
Among the many ferry routes which have linked the Danish islands for centuries, by far the most important has been the route across the Great Belt between Funen and Zealand. Over the years, however, storms and hard winters have frequently disrupted ferry services across the Great Belt.
On June 10, 1987 the Danish Parliament approved the construction of a fixed link across the Great Belt. Following 12 years of intensive construction work, H.M. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark inaugurated on June 14, 1998 what had then become the largest engineering project in the history of Denmark, The Great Belt Fixed Link.
The Link comprises the East Bridge, a 6,790 m long suspension bridge between Zealand and the small island of Sprogø, a 6,611 m long combined rail and road bridge between Sprogø and Funen and an 8,000 m long immersed rail tunnel between Zealand and Sprogø.
At 254 m above sea level, the East Bridge's two pylons are the highest points in Denmark.
Barring unforeseen events and special weather conditions, the Great Belt is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Signs provide clear information on road conditions on the bridge to motorists and warn of possible delays. These signs are operated by the police in accordance with signals from anemometers placed along the East Bridge.