KOBENHAVN, DANMARK

The last morning in Copenhagen was spent around our fort (campsite) and along the water. I dipped in the Baltic Sea and will say that Monterey is definitely colder! No question. Here are some pictures of our campsite. Those are our tents, bottom right. Mine was the small white one.
Destinations of the Day: The Little Mermaid, Tracking down the Christus, The Harbor, Open Faced Sandwhiches, and Tivoli Gardens.

The Little Mermaid Statue is located outside the city near the harbor on a rock in the bay, which we had detailed maps directing us straight to her. We walked through this beautiful garden and fortress to get to her, passing this amazing church and gorgeous statue.
We came to Ariel's posting place, and she was MIA! We asked some guys on a sailboat and they laughed at us! They told us how she's been blown up, stolen, and that her original head was at the bottom of some lake! What? What do they have against a mermaid? Apparently there are multiple versions of The Little Mermaid and the most current copy is on display in Shangai and before she swam out there, she was dressed in a burka! Poor Ariel.

We gave up that hunt and walked through the harbor and found another beautiful statue. A gaurdian angel for all the sailors in the harbor. A gaurdian against the weather, the seas, thieves... you know. ;)

Next stop Nyhavn (the Harbor) where we were hoping to have lunch and find the famous Danish Open Faced Sandwhiches. This is, hands down, my most favorite place in all of Europe. I could spend all 3 months in this place alone. It screams my name around every corner! Sea water, sailboats, old colorful buildings, good music, great seafood... ah!

An old Lightship...

Success! The Danish Open Faced Sandwhiches were found and conquered. I ordered whatever the waitress suggested as her favorite: smoked salmon, fennel, lemon, and egg. The salmon was so fresh and full of flavor. Worth every bite.
After our lunch we set out for the Christus. We were given a map from a lady at the temple with a circle on it depicting the area of where to find the church. We had the name, but misplaced it and figured we could just ask people where it was assuming that people would be familiar with it. That, unfortunately, was not the case but did not deter us from our search.

We came up to one church that said "Wedding Inside, No Admittance". So Mike, playing the dumb American walked right past it and went straight in the church. He poked around for awhile and then came out, "Not in here!". We decided to split up and look around. I found another old church (they're on ever corner) but no Christus here. Just a creepy statue of the grim reaper. No thanks. I crossed the street and found a Christian Outreach center, hopeful that they would be able to help me. The woman inside, who spoke perfect english, had no idea who I was talking about. I explained to her that it was a white marble statue of the resurrected Christ. Unique because He is not on the cross, his hands are stretched out with a robe over one shoulder. She pondered on the image and says, "Well, we did have.. ugh.. no.. that one was stolen a few weeks ago". (What is with stealing and defacing statues over here?!?). She then described this church across the street known locally as the "Church of the 12 Disciples". She says, "There are 12 large statues of the disciples, but no Christ". I decided to check it out anyway. Went to meet up with Sonila and Mike, then walked over to the "Church of the 12 Disciples". I wrapped around the large marble pillars, passed the statue of Moses and this is what I saw from the street. Such a familiar and inviting statue. Can you even see the 12 Disciples?

Christus, by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1700s). This, and the Temple, were no doubt the highlights of my weekend in Copenhagen. Sitting here and looking at the Christus in this quiet church was so peaceful and rewarding.

We left the Christus with feelings of contentment and accomplishment, the only place to see at this point was the famous Tivoli Gardens in downtown Copenhagen, the 2nd oldest amusement park in the world. Many people, including the book "1,000 Places To See Before You Die", suggested this as a must see attraction. If it wasn't so pricey, I might've enjoyed it a little bit more. We also allotted 5-6 hours for this place and had it covered in an hour. The rides looked like fun, but averaged around $10 a ride. The swings were $25. We walked around instead and admired the gardens and the magical fairytale feeling that danced throughout the park.

This was a fun sight welcoming me as I walked in.. the original Peacock Theatre.
This temple building was very impressive. The fountain you see is actually glass pillars with bubbles.

I snapped this photo for my Mom. The bucket of hydrangeas and small village in the back, couldn't help myself. Enjoy Mom!

Happy Little Pearl...
Look who we found basking in the sunshine! Ariel's sister, in one piece! This statue is a replica of the original and is safe guarded here in Tivoli Gardens.

Shark wrestling of course...
Coyote Pirates... where was this in our cove?!?!?

Tivoli Gardens is also home to the oldest boy guard in the world. We caught their performance on the way out of the park.

After 2 hours of Tivoli Gardens we decided to call it a day and start our journey back to Germany. We were accompanied by the sunset as we drove the 3 hr leg it would take us to get to our next campsite. As we were driving along, Sonila tuned in an Albanian radio station! In Denmark! It was hilarious! So we danced along.
We arrived to our campsite at 9:30, set up our tent, and got locked inside! That meant NO FOOD FOR US! I was starving so I decided to just go straight to bed. Woke up in the middle of the night in the freezing rain. I tried to warm up in the car, but that didn't work. We quickly took down our stuff, packed the car, and headed to Hannover. We found a very friendly German ward there that even translated for us with these nifty headsets. It was a fast and testimony meeting, which is one of my favorite things about traveling... seeing and hearing the testimonies of other members throughout the world. The feeling and Spirit is always the same, no matter what the ethnicity or the language.

All in all, this trip to Copenhagen might go down in history as the best trip in Europe I've had. The Temple, the Christus, the Harbor, the Sea, the history. I loved it.

Next stop: Barcelona and Madrid, Spain. We leave tomorrow and I haven't packed!