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Copenhagen Day 5 – Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

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We’d heard good things about The Glyptotek but were apprehensive as Cynthia and I are not big fans of sculpture museums. They tend to be dim and crowded. The Glyptotek was a huge surprise. Everything is open, well lit and nicely displayed. I also discovered that my fisheye lens is great for shooting this type of setting and used it for about 50% of the shots.

Interesting to note, the museum was named after Ny Carlsberg, the brewery owned by the founder, brewer Carl Jacobsen. He added the word Glyptotek, ’a collection of sculpture’, to indicate the pride of place taken by that art form and in recognition of his debt to the older namesake, the Glyptothek in Munich.

One thing I really liked about this museum was the lockers where you could stash your coat and other cumbersome items, making for a much more leisurely walk about the museum

The first thing you see is The Winter Garden, a huge open space with plants and trees and a fountain.

Designed to attract more people into the museum, I could see myself visiting regularly just to sit on a park bench all day long.

The rest of the museum is just spectacular. Cynthia and I had a wonderful time exploring all the rooms and walking amongst the sculptures.

There’s even one of the over twenty casts of the sculpture “The Thinker” by by Auguste Rodin.

If you are ever in Copenhagen, I heartily recommend a visit. What follows are some of the better photos I took while visiting. I know there’s a lot, but it’s only a small portion of what I got during this visit. I have never enjoyed photographing a museum more than this one, and I have been to a LOT of museums!

Copenhagen Day 5 – The Rundetårn

We headed off this morning to climb The Rundetårn (The Round Tower) which is not too far from the hotel. Cynthia really likes to climb things when we travel. Fortunately, the tower had a mildly sloping ramp that winds up most of the 130 feet to the top. There is a set of small stairs at the very top which are tight and difficult to manage when there’s too much two way traffic.

The fish-eye lens made for some really good photos inside the tower.

About halfway up we found this little alcove. The sign says Kissing Corner in Danish and there’s a piece of missletoe hanging from the ceiling.

Once to the top there’s a pretty spectacular view of the city

Another successful adventure!

Copenhagen Day 4 Part 2

As I noted in my previous post, I had not met with success in my efforts to capture the Copenhagen Opera House at night. When we had gone out to the waterfront it was a Sunday night and the building was dark. Checking on line I saw that there were performances all this week so on Tuesday night I loaded up the camera bag and the tripod and headed out to try again.

This time I got what I came for.

Copenhagen Day 4 Part 1

Today dawned bright and sunny. Still cold, but blue skies and sunshine. We had wanted to take the train over the Öresund Bridge to Malmö Sweden and this seemed to be the day to do it. Trains leave every 20 minutes or so and it takes about 30 minutes to get there.

We have no Swedish Kronier and we don’t have a map and we don’t really know what we want to do when we get there. My primary interest was crossing the bridge, which is half tunnel and is an architectural marvel. Plus I like the idea of making this a two country trip.

On the way over to the train station I grab a shot of an art installation on loan from Poland called the Tree Hugger Project.

We get to the train station and pretty quickly sort out getting out tickets and finding the platform to catch our train. There’s some confusion as there’s a train at the platform already, even though our train is not due for 15-20 minutes. We finally see a sign that says in three languages “Do Not Board This Train”.

The ride to Malmö is kinda of fun and exciting for me. For Cynthia, it is rather terrifying. She really hates being underground. And the recent London/Paris Chunnel passenger stranding which was all over the news didn’t help.

Malmö is quite charming. We set off toward the city center and explore our surroundings.

After walking for awhile I mention to Cynthia that I’d really like to see the Turning Torso which is an example of Deconstructivism architecture.

We could see if from the train coming in and I had a rough idea which direction it was, but as I mentioned before we don’t have a map and no Sedish Kroner to pay for a bus or a cab so we just walk. After a short time we spotted it in the distance.

We had hoped to walk a short distance and get a clear view of the building for a good photo, but it seemed no matter how far we walked, there was always some buliding or another in the way.

We kept walking and did eventually walk right up to the Turning Torso after traversing (on foot mind you) the industrial district of Malmö Sweden.

I will tell you this, it was worth the walk. I got some great photos!

Copenhagen Day 3 Part 2

After our great day visiting the castle and seeing The Little Mermaid we rested for a bit in the hotel. Next on the agenda was Tivoli Gardens to see the lights and witness the fireworks show. The park opened on August 15, 1843 and is, with the exception of Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, the oldest amusement park in the world.

Sadly, my shots of the fireworks didn’t pan out. We staked out a spot that was too crowded and also behind a giant Christmas tree which obscured the view. Still, the park is amazing. I can’t even imagine how people ride those rides in the freezing temperatures, but they do. The whole park is filled with screaming and laughter as the rides buzz, whirl and whoosh right over your heads. And everything in the park is completely covered in multi-colored lights.

Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen

Copenhagen Day 3 Part 1

The sun comes up late here. Somewhere around 9:00 am. We woke up at 8:00 am and it was still pretty dark outside. It was raining pretty steady so not so appealing to walk around and see the sites. On top of that, it’s Monday and as is common in this part of the world, most tourist sites like museums and so forth are closed.

We’re a little down at this point. We were ready for rain but wanted it on days when we could hit the museums and such that didn’t require walking around outside.

I found out that the Rosenborg Castle, though usually closed on Monday, was open on this Monday for some reason. We headed to Central Station to catch the metro two stops out to have a tour of the castle and see the crown jewels which are on display there.

This worked out well. The castle is an interesting thing to see. I had to leave my camera bag in a locker as they didn’t want anything smashing into the displays. I could take my camera, though, once I paid the additional photographer fee.

After touring the castle we headed into the guarded basement to view the crown jewels.

It’s a pretty awesome display. There are many shiny trinkets I could see having in my own personal collection. Like these gold soldiers

Or this handsome pair of his and her sparkling bejeweled crowns.

At this point it’s about noon and the sun is coming out. We finish our tour and decide to head out to the waterfront and see The Little Mermaid.

It’s a pretty long walk, but the bright shining sun has really lifted our spirits and we’re happy to be walking along in the 35 degree warmth. The waterfront is really pleasant with a blue sky over the blue water.

As we were walking along the waterfront we came across the Greenpeace ship “Rainbow Warrior”

The walk continued and it was indeed a long, long walk. Eventually we came across the throngs of excited sightseers all jockeying for position on the treacherously wet and uneven rocks leading to the water where the Little Mermaid perched on here rock formation.

Yes, she’s tiny. And yes, this is probably one of the most overrated tourist attractions on the world. But you can no more go to Copenhagen and not see The Little Mermaid than you can go to Paris and not see the teeny weeny tiny Mona Lisa.

And on this day, she looked particularly nice, glinting in the low hanging sun with the blue sky and the blue water as a backdrop.

We took our touristy photos and the hoofed it back to the hotel. What started as a possibly off day turned into a wonderful day after all.

Next up, Tivoli Gardens at night.

Copenhagen Day 2 Part 2

The goal for this night was to walk from the hotel down the Strøget to Nyhavn for some night shots and then down to the waterfront to see if the new opera house might be worth taking a photo of.

I loaded up the camera, some lenses as well as the tripod and my remote shutter release and we headed off.

The walk down the Strøget at night was pleasant. Cold but no rain. Musicians on the street and lots of people walking about.

We had spotted an interesting restaurant in our previous excursions that looked promising. Their menu offered Italian and Mexican food of all things. The pasta options had the most appeal to Cynthia and I’m always down from some Italian food. We like eating Italian just about anywhere we go and we like to find one restaurant and, if we like it, go back several times. We find that once the proprietors realize you are not just the typical tourist grabbing a bite and never returning they treat you really well.

This place ended up being delicious and the waiter and some of the other staff even spoke Spanish and were impressed when Cynthia started speaking Spanish. You could see that they were surprised to have American tourists who could speak more than one language. We’ll be going back to eat there again.

We finished eating and proceeded to Nyhavn. I scouted out a spot and proceeded to setup the tripod when I discovered that I was not yet ready to stop being absent minded and forgetful.

Wouldn’t you know it, I forgot the piece that actually lets me mount my camera to the tripod. It had to be detached to fit the tripod into my backpack before we flew over and I plum left it in the hotel room.

Ok, no big deal. It’s early and only a 20 minute walk back to the hotel. We hoof it back, retrieve the part and make our way back to Nyhavn. Only lost an hour in the process, but we’re now starting to wear out a little and the pleasant buzz from the food and the wine is wearing off.

I set up the tripod and take a few photos. They don’t really come out so great.

There’s just not good lighting.

Oh well, off the opera house.

As it turns out, the opera house is not well lit when there’s nothing going on. Drat the luck. I setup anyway and got a reasonable shot.

Hopefully there will be some operas this week and I can go back and get something even better.

By this time we’re pretty beat and head back to the hotel. I stop to grab a couple of shots and call it a night.

Coffee Vendor

Mannequin Prison

Copenhagen Day 2 Part 1

Sunday in Copenhagen. Overcast with some light rain here and there. About 35 degrees. We bundle up and take off to wander around a bit in the Nayhvn area.

The lack of sunshine makes everything rather dull and drab. The photos are suffering! Still, I am happy to have my camera and I recognize that the pictures will be a true representation of our experiences on this trip.

It’s pleasant enough to be out and about, exploring a new land we’ve never been to before. And I’m not giving up on the photography. It’s taking a bit more effort, but I am getting some good shots.

After exploring the Nyhavn area we headed off to the Amalienborg Palace to witness the changing of the guard.

By the time we arrive there’s still about 15 minutes till the actual changing of the guard ceremony. The weather, and the fact that it is Sunday seems to be keeping the crowds down. That’s fine with me.

Right at noon the replacement guards march into the square and the ceremony begins.

Very regimental and punctuated by the sound of boots clicking together and rifle butts smacking the cobblestone.

After all is said and done, we head back to the hotel to take a load off our feet and recombobulate. Our plan is to go out in the evening for some night shots using the tripod.

Of course I continue my search for interesting photos. I was struck by these bikes