Wonderful Copenhagen

Hi Kids,
     Here I am in Copenhagen, the capital of the country of Denmark. I loved this city so much, I had to write THREE posts about it!  See the little figure on the rock behind me? That's the Little Mermaid. People come from all over the world to see this little statue.

     I took this picture from a boat. She always looks out toward the sea. You probably know her story from the Disney movie. But her story was written long ago by this man:

     This is a statue of Hans Christian Anderson. He wrote many stories. Maybe you know the story of the Ugly Duckling. He wrote that, too. When Miss Elaine was little, there was a movie about him. One of the best songs in that movie was "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen." And that song is right.

     There is a lot of water in and around the city. One of the best ways to see things is by boat. 

     There are many beautiful buildings in Copenhagen. Behind the yellow building, you can see the spire of Our Savior's Church. The church is over 300 years old. That's older than the United States! I think it's really cool the way the spire is twisted. You can climb to the top of the tower. I'll bet the view is really good. We didn't go up all those stairs because Miss Elaine said she would get too tired of carrying me. There are 398 stairs. I don't think she could have climbed all those stairs even without carrying me!

     A lot of the old buildings in Copenhagen are painted bright colors. The buildings here are over 300 years old, too. But this area is called New Harbor. That's not very new!

     I took this picture from a boat, too. Do you see the round-topped building? This is the Royal Palace where the King and Queen of Denmark live. I think they are lucky to live in Copenhagen. 
     In my next post, I'll tell you about another castle. And in the third post, I'll show you pictures of a beautiful park right in the middle of the city.
     I hope you have time to scroll down and see more of my visit to Copenhagen.
Your friend,
Fuzzy
P.S. (Did you know that's short for "postscriptum," which is Latin for "written after. You use it when you want to add a note after you thought you were finished.) My postscript: look at the next two posts for more of my trip to Copenhagen!

Fuzzy Visits a Castle

Hi Kids,
     There are several castles in Denmark but Kronborg Castle may be one of the most well-known. The castle is hundreds of years old. It was old when Shakespeare wrote a famous play, Hamlet, about a Danish prince who lived in the castle. When you get older, you may read, or, even better, see the play. This statue of Hamlet is outside the train station.

     It was a long walk to the castle. We had to cross a moat.  Lots of time, castle builders surrounded castles with water so invaders couldn't get close to the castle walls.

     The castle is protected by tall walls. The castle has a big courtyard in the middle.

     One of the coolest thing about our visit was that actors performed scenes from Hamlet in different parts of the castle. The first scene we saw was in the courtyard. Yorick, the court jester, came out and sang a song about the wicked king. Long ago, when there was no TV and no cell phones, kings hired entertainers -- jesters. The king did not like the song and Yorick got in trouble.

     I was visiting with him, but I didn't get in trouble. Remember, this is all just for fun. We got to throw wet sponges at Yorick for his punishment.

     Later, we listened to him tell stories to the pretend Queen and her companion.

     In between parts of the play, we got to look at a lot of the rooms in the castle.  This was the ballroom -- where they had parties. You could have a REALLY big party in this room. 

     The last part of the play is exciting -- and sad. Hamlet and his friend get mad at each other and have a sword fight. As you can imagine, the play does not have a happy ending.
     I was glad it was just a play. I had a good day seeing Kronborg Castle. And I got to ride on a train to get back to our hotel. 
Your friend,
Fuzzy 
P.S. There's more in the next post.

Fuzzy Goes to Denmark's Disneyland

Hi Kids,
     No, this isn't Disneyland, it's Copenhagen's famous Tivoli Gardens. Like Disneyland, it is a beautiful place with lots of flowers and pretty buildings, rides, and entertainment. But the first Disney park is only 64 years old. Tivoli Gardens opened 176 years ago.

     There are exciting rides like these and relaxing rides like boat rides. 

     The merry-go-round is my favorite ride. This one is two stories. Can you see the stairs in the picture?

     Isn't this pretty? A lot of Danish people just go to the park to enjoy the flowers, to have a picnic, or eat in one of the restaurants.

     This pirate ship is really a restaurant. That's where we ate dinner. It was very good. 

     We didn't see any pirates but it was still a little scary. I wasn't too sure about sitting by this skull, but they told me it wasn't real.

     Isn't this building colorful? It has a Chinese design. Do you see the peacock's tail? That's actually the curtain in front of the stage. But it's not made of cloth and it doesn't go up and down.

                        

     They put on plays here. This play was a pantomime -- no talking, just acting. It was a very old kind of play from Italy. It was funny. These two characters were very clumsy. Also in the play were a beautiful girl and her boyfriend and a clown who played tricks on everyone.

     This was the end of the play. You can see how the curtain closes. After it was over, I got to meet one of the actors -- the clown.

     He was very friendly. This is just one thing I like about traveling. There are nice people all over the world!

Love,

Fuzzy

P.S. The End!