Royal Copenhagen

 *I received two complimentary 3-Day Copenhagen Cards from Visit Copenhagen for our visit.

Copenhagen is the seat of the government of Denmark and home of the Danish Monarchy.

The Danish Monarchy can be traced back over 1,000 and the royal family is deeply loved by the Danes.

So, of course there were several royal stops during our time in Copenhagen.

Changing of the Guard at Amalienborg Palace 

The Amalienborg Palace is made up of four identical buildings surrounding a cobblestone courtyard.
At noon each day, people gather around for the changing of the guards.
The guards are on duty to protect the royal family and take their job very seriously.
Don't get too close and don't sit on the window ledges of the palace. 

As we were leaving the courtyard, this official looking gentleman was rushing towards the palace with a very important looking briefcase.  I wonder where he is off to so hurriedly.

The back of the royal residence backs onto the water and these two smaller buildings are for the royal family to use when they are leaving by water.  The Royal Yacht HDMY Danneborg was in the harbor.  It is used by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her family.

This young man was waiting behind the palace to be shuttled to the royal yacht.

I couldn't decide if he was a soldier reporting for duty or a young royal off for a cruise.

The Royal Reception Rooms at Christiansborg Palace

Christiansborg Palace is the home of the Danish Parliament, Supreme Court and the Prime Minister's Office.  The Palace also houses the Royal Reception Rooms which are used by the royals for official functions.  We donned paper booties and toured the stately rooms.

Notice the three silver lions guarding the throne in the painting above.

We will see them again later.

My favorite room was the Great Hall.  There are 17 bright and modern tapestries displayed here that tell the history of Denmark.  They are intricately detailed.  It took 30 weavers ten years to create the the stunning tapestries.

Rosenborg Castle

Built in 1606 as a country home by King Christian IV of Denmark, Rosenborg Castle now houses the royal collection.  It's a large and eclectic collection of royal artifacts, including the Crown Jewels of Denmark.

The three silver lions were made in the late 1600's and still guard the throne today.

We also visited the National Museum while visiting Copenhagen.  Admission to the museum, the Reception Rooms and Rosenborg Castle were all included with our cOPENhagen Cards.  There is so much to do and see in Copenhagen.  I'm so happy that we decided to extend our cruise holiday for a few extra days to explore this great city.

And that, my friends, is the end of our Baltic Cruise Review.

I hope I haven't bored you to death.  13 posts from a 10 day trip might be overkill.

But, we had such a great time and I wanted to capture it all.

What do you think?  Are you inspired to take a Baltic Cruise?

 I'm still working on the Bloggers Tea in November.

The list is already up to 16 lovely bloggers.  I'm so excited!

Please let me know if you want to be included.

 

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | SUBSCRIBE | BLOGLOVIN



 *I received two complimentary 3-Day cOPENhagen Cards 
from Visit Copenhagen for the purposes of review.
All photos, writing and opinions are 100% my own.
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Sorry for the radio silence around here last week.

I spent another week fighting the plague a cold but I'm starting to feel more like myself.

You'll be hearing a lot more from me this week.

First, it's time to wrap up our Baltic Cruise.  The last two posts will feature our final stop.

*I received two complimentary 3-Day cOPENagen Cards from Visit Copenhagen for our visit.

Our cruise originated here, but we only saw the route from the airport hotel to the cruise port.

When we returned to Copenhagen, we were excited to settle in for a few extra days to explore after the cruise.

(I won't mention the hotel we stayed in because it wasn't great.  Our room was so small that only one of us could be standing at a time.  Add in our luggage and it was a pretty tight squeeze.
But, we spent most of our time exploring the city so it all worked out.)

Copenhagen was founded in the 10th century and was originally a viking fishing village.

It is now the capital of Denmark.  This is another Baltic city that heavily features water.
Islands, bridges, canals and a harbor all combine to make this beautiful city

which has been named "the world's most liveable city." 

(This link will lead you to a video that will give you a great feel for modern Copenhagen.)

We often take a double decker bus tour to acclimate ourselves to a new city.

But in Copenhagen it's best to see the city from a boat.

We took two different boat tours and loved every minute of them.

The guides were fun an informative and the narrative was in both Danish and English. 

 

"Keep your hands inside the boat at all times" and "Please don't stand up" were repeated.

And you can see why.  There were some pretty tight spots along the canals.

(I also spotted a nude sunbather in one of the houseboats we passed along the way.
No.  Of course, I didn't snap a photo.)

Can you spot the popular attraction in the photo below?

You can barely see her, but it's The Little Mermaid who was celebrating her 100th Birthday

the weekend that we were there.  Busloads of tourists were joining her for the celebration.

When we visited the Carlsberg Brewery, we were able to get a closer look at a smaller replica of the statue.  The bronze statue from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale was donated to the city of Copenhagen by Carl Jacobsen, who's father founded the brewery.

(Be sure to visit the Elephant Gate in Carlsberg. Beautiful.)

We also spent an evening in Tivoli Gardens which is the second oldest amusement parks in the world.
It was founded in 1843 and is said to be the inspiration for Disneyland.

It was a great place to people watch and enjoy being outdoors.

(However, 80% of those people seemed to be smoking, which was very annoying)   

The highlight for me was watching ballet at the Pantomime Theatre.

It was especially pretty at night with all of the twinkle lights.

The canal boat tours, Carlsberg and Tivoli were all included in our cOPENhagen Cards.

A huge thank you to Visit Copenhagen for your help in planning our visit.

Tomorrow I'll share a few more of the places we visited in Copenhagen.

In other news...

//  I've been talking to several other expat bloggers and we've decided that it's time for us all to get together face to face.  So, I'm planning a Blogger's Tea in London!!!   I'm still working out the venue.  I have narrowed it down either Saturday (November 9th) or Sunday (November 10th).  I need a headcount to get started.  Please email me at Selena_Jones@me.com, if you would like to join us.  Let me know if one date is better for you than the other.  Please share this with your blogger friends (and you don't have to be an expat to join in the fun).  

//  I'm starting a new Photography Course today!  I'm thrilled to be joining  Bonnie from Bonnie Rose Photography for her B. In Focus Class which is the first in her B.Lux Online Photography Series.  She has another session starting in a few weeks and you can Register Here.  I can't wait to get started.  I'm excited to go from Automatic to Manual.

//  Thanks so much to everyone who has voted!  And if not, never fear...  there is still time to vote in the Avis A-List Travel Blog Awards. 

Happy Monday and cheers to a wonderful week!!

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | SUBSCRIBE | BLOGLOVIN


 *I received two complimentary 3-Day Copenhagen Cards 
from Visit Copenhagen for the purposes of review.
All photos, writing and opinions are 100% my own.
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Behind the Scenes on a Cruise Ship

*I received complimentary All Access Tours for the two of us from Royal Caribbean International.

On our Baltic Cruise we had the opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at life aboard a cruise ship.

One of our favorite things about cruising is the staff that take such great care of us on board.

They are from all over the world and we have so much fun chatting with them.

It was fascinating to get a quick glimpse of their life working on a cruise ship.

We joined a small group of ten cruisers and spent two hours exploring

beyond the Crew Only signs.  

 Today I'm going to take you along on a photo tour of our All Access Tour aboard the Vision of the Seas.

 We visited the living areas, laundry, kitchens, incinerator and recycling areas, 

engineering, theater, crew dining and finally the bridge.  I hope you enjoy following along.

 

They really are International Ambassadors and come from all over the world.

Having been to so many places, Matthew just loves asking the crew members where they're from and talking with them.  It all just feeds his wanderlust.

My understanding (Belinda, please correct me if I'm wrong) is that the crew are hired on for a specific job for a contracted period of time.  They spend months and even years aboard the ship.

I'm sure that living in such close quarters and working very long hours is a challenge.

But, if I was single and in my twenties again I would jump at the chance.

It must be a great way to see the world and meet some great people.

Living in a house now with no dryer (ugh), I almost wept when I saw the laundry facilities.

The machine above completely dries and then folds sheets in a few seconds.

And the contraption below blows steam throughout the shirt and removes wrinkles instantly.

Not, to mention the rows and rows of industrial sized dryers.  It was lovely.

(Don't even get me started on life without a dryer.)

The kitchens were massive and full of people working hard to prepare our meals.

It must go on around the clock to feed thousands of hungry holiday makers three square meals a day, not to mention all of the in between and after hours munching that goes on.

The fresh baked breads and desserts are definitely a highlight of any cruise. 

After a security screening with a wand, we were even allowed into the engineering room

with strict instructions not to touch ANY of the buttons!

The crew areas are on the lower decks of the ship.  There are classrooms for training, dining rooms, laundry rooms.  They also have a computer room, game room and other areas for socializing.  They even had a private outdoor space to get some fresh air.

You can imagine the amount of waste produced on a cruise ship.

They have a very advanced program for recycling and disposal with the least impact to the environment.

The shows on board can be a little hit and miss, but we always love to go and join in the fun.

Some of the productions can get pretty elaborate.  I always pictured a big backstage crew helping out.  But we talked to several of the dancers and singers and it's amazing what they are able to do without a huge crew and little space back there.

This is Danny, one of the Assistant Cruise Directors, modeling a headpiece from one of the shows.

He was our guide for the All Access Tour and did a great job.  And our last stop was the bridge.

Everything is automated these days but they still track everything the old fashioned way on paper just as a back up.  We were also lucky enough to meet the Captain of the ship.

Lis Lauritzen is of Japanese and Danish descent and is one of just a handful of female captains aboard cruise ships.  (We also had a female captain on our cruise out of Puerto Rico.)  She was incredibly open and friendly.  Matthew had a great chat with her.  It was a pleasure to talk to her about her incredible job.

I hope you enjoyed our quick little tour.  We certainly enjoyed it.

What about you?  Could you ever picture a life upon the sea?

And a quick update on life around here...

The job interview went well and now I'm just waiting by the phone to hear one way or the other.
I'm still feeling under the weather, but determined to keep moving.

I've really been loving all of your comments lately.  They've been keeping my spirits up.

I know I don't say it enough, but thank you for reading and commenting even on the days when I'm not at 100%. 
It means the world to me. 

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST | SUBSCRIBE | BLOGLOVIN



*We received complimentary tours from Royal Caribbean International for the purposes of review.
All photos, writing and opinions are 100% my own.  
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.