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RETURN TO THE KILLING.

It had been a difficult journey to the Danish capital. Our flight from Newcastle ( N E England) had been cancelled by KLM airlines at short notice the day before and the rescheduled flights had involved a very early start and changes at both London Heathrow and Amsterdam. 3 flights and 4 airports in one journey was pretty stressful and we had already lost one day of our precious holiday! Now at last, we were making our final descent into Copenhagen. As we breached the clouds, the city lay before us and just before we landed we flew over a wood. I found out later that this wood was the setting for the disturbing opening scene of the cult Scandi-noir series: “The Killing”, made by Danish TV in 2007. It became a world-wide phenomenon and over 20 tense, taut episodes, turned our happy -go- lucky image of Copenhagen on its head. Back in 1952 Danny Kaye had sung of “Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen, Friendly Old Girl of a Town” in the biopic “Hans Christian Anderson”, the fairy tale writer who is one of the city’s most famous sons. With “The Killing” we now had to adjust to a cityscape brooding beneath leaden skies, a constant air of menace and of course, Detective Sarah Lund’s rather loud, knitted jumpers. Over 3 successful series we all got uncomfortably accustomed to slow-burning suspense and tension, sudden explosions of violence, graphic depictions of emotion and multi-layered mystery. It was a far cry from the comforting, cosy crime series we had got used to back in Britain. We also all got adept at reading subtitles at high speed as the programme was in its original Danish.

So which Copenhagen were we going to experience? Would it be the dark, menacing one or the carefree, sunny one? Happily for us it would be the latter. It helped that we were visiting in July when the days were long and the sun a frequent companion. I believe Danish winters can be long and harsh. It might have been a different experience if we had visited in December and gone out exploring dodgy areas after midnight. A quick, efficient train ride whisked us from the airport into the city centre and the first sounds we heard as we emerged from the Central Station were the happy screams of people enjoying the roller-coaster in the famous Tivoli Gardens just across the road. Opened in 1843, Tivoli is one of the oldest fun fairs in the world and was a major influence on Walt Disney when he created his theme parks a century later. The happiness theme continued with the address of our hotel, which is on Hans Christian Anderson Boulevard. Luckily for us, it was sunshine and smiles all the way ( except for a couple of showers) and being early-to-betters we never experienced any dark alleys, spooky shadows or spine chilling traumas.

DESIGNER CITY.

Our hotel, the very welcoming Alexandria, had a theme celebrating Danish, 20th century design. The corridors had pictures of stylish furniture and quotes from well known designers. Our room was furnished in 1960s style, complete with abstract art, and furniture that took us back to our teenage years. I’d never realised that a mirror, a chair, a lamp shade or a desk could be so nostalgic. The Danish design theme continued on our first full day when we strolled down Stroget, the city’s pedestrianised shopping area. It mixed high end names with tourist friendly souvenirs shops, cafes and bars. We enjoyed looking round a 2 storey comic book store but it was the design shops that most grabbed our attention. I never thought that I could get so interested in chairs! Some of the shops were almost like works of art in themselves. Everything was so tastefully and artistically arranged. It was just a bit different from our B and M bargain stores back in Blighty.

HAPPY PEOPLE.

Copenhagen is an easy city to explore. It has no hills and is perfect for walkers and cyclists. People of all ages were out on their bikes and at times it was as if we were in the Netherlands, or even Oxford or Cambridge. Large areas of the centre are pedestrianised and it is a pleasant and easy place to negotiate. Polls consistently highlight Denmark as having a high quality of life, and rate the Danes as one of the happiest people in the world. Copenhagen looks both familiar and different at the same time as it is a blend of mainland northern Europe and Scandinavia. It has as much in common with London, Berlin or Amsterdam as it has with Stockholm or Oslo. It has no “blockbuster attractions, but is a pleasant and eclectic mix of museums, galleries, designer shops, parks and royal heritage architecture.

WALK TO THE DESIGN MUSEUM — Mass Tourism, Churches and Royal Palaces.

Unfortunately Stroget and its nearby squares and streets are a major tourist magnet. One rule for many tourists is that there is safety in numbers. Birds of a feather, flock together. So there we all were, Chris and I included, fighting our way through the throngs of what we came to refer to as the “main drag.” Dive down a side street for a block or two and the crowds evaporate like magic. Another trick to escape the crowds is to visit a lesser known church. While Chris was having a nose around Sostrene Grene ( a homeware shop I think), I slipped into the brick Church of the Holy Spirit. It is a beautiful Lutheran church, founded to serve a monastery in the 13th century, but largely rebuilt after a fire in the 17th century and then remodelled in the neo-classical style in the 1870s. It has a striking Baroque alter and organ but the thing that especially took my eye was a large, dazzling painting of the Annunciation at the back of the building. It shows Mary receiving the Holy Spirit from heaven in the form of a dove and a blinding beam of light. Opposite her is an angel giving her the message from God. The painting is dazzling because the holy spirit and the angel’s wings are represented in gold leaf. For a while I was mesmerised by it. It was very peaceful in the church and I shared it with only about 4 or 5 other people. After a tranquil 10 minutes I re-joined Chris and we left the main drag for quieter streets nearby.

Copenhagen does not have a quaint medieval old town with half timbered buildings and higgledy-piggledy cobbled lanes. It is still attractive though, featuring stately buildings from the 18th to 20th centuries and some really modern architecture down by the waterside. Most of the old stuff was destroyed in 2 disastrous fires in the 1740s and 1790s. What was left was then largely finished off by the British, who bombarded the city and port in 1807 to stop the strong Danish navy joining up with Napoleon’s France. Denmark had desperately wanted to stay neutral but Britain would have none of it. Nearly 200 people were killed, 800 odd wounded and over a thousand buildings destroyed. The bombardment went on for 5 days until the shell- shocked Danes surrendered and had their fleet confiscated.

We crossed a couple of busy pedestrianised squares complete with statues, fountains and attractive flower displays, on our way to Nyhavn. We felt compelled to go there as it’s on every tourist guide’s bucket list. It’s a picture postcard canal flanked by attractive pastel-coloured, gabled terraces dating back to the 17th century. The canal was built in 1671 by Swedish prisoners of war to connect the city centre to the sea. If it was in Amsterdam or Bruges, nobody would single it out as special, but in Copenhagen, because of the destruction described above, Nyhavn is one of the few older areas of the city centre that has survived. It’s name means “new harbour.” I remember thinking it was pretty when I first went to Copenhagen in 1981. It is still quite attractive but the whole area is now swarming with tourists, desperate to tick it off their lists. All the pastel buildings are now expensive restaurants and bars. Despite the high prices they were all packed. Nyhavn is where the hop on hop off bus stops, where rickshaw drivers and Ubers pick up their fares and where boats trips of Copenhagen harbour start and finish. These trips all include a visit to the famous “Little Mermaid” statue on a rock, which is another magnet for the tourist masses. She is a character from one of Hans Christian’s more famous fairy tales and the model for it featured in a well known ballet.( actually the naked body is that of the artist’s wife with the head of the ballerina planted on top of it.) There were queues for the boat trips so we didn’t bother. The whole place was heaving — a perfect example of mass tourism killing the proverbial golden goose.

As soon as we left Nyhavn the streets became quiet again. We went down to the waterfront and saw 3 huge cruise ships docked in the outer harbour in the distance. Maybe that explained the crowds and high prices. We strolled past the Royal Danish Opera House ( Operaen) on the inner harbour, a stunning modern building with a large, copper tower and a projecting upper story balancing over the water’s edge. Large posters advertised its production of Evita. In this inner harbour area, there were rows of changing rooms, and we saw people diving into the sea for a swim. Copenhagen’s waters used to be polluted but were successfully cleaned up in the early noughties.

We were now in Frederiksstaden. It’s an area of grand Rococo mansions and palaces along immaculately straight streets and was built to honour King Frederik V. Miraculously, much of it escaped the fires and the British bombardment. Yes, Denmark, like the UK, has a monarchy but today the Danish version is relatively low key compared to the pomp and circumstance of its British counterpart. We were on our way to the Design Museum but inevitably, on the way, we got drawn to Amalienborg Palace, the winter residence of the Royals. It’s actually very impressive. Four, almost identical Rococo palaces are arranged symmetrically around an octagonal, cobbled courtyard that centres on a statue of Frederik V on horseback. The palaces were paid for by Danish nobles but were commandeered by the Royal family when one of their other palaces burnt down. Unfortunately none of the palaces are open to the public so all their interior splendour is enjoyed by just a privileged few. Ceremonial guards in black busbies and navy blue uniforms, marched up and down, trying to keep a straight face as selfie- taking tourists dodged in front of them for that precious Instagram moment. A straight road leads from the Amalienborg courtyard to the round Marmorkirken ( Marble Church) which is based on St Peter’s in the Vatican. It was started in 1749 and only finished in 1894 because of lack of money. We visited it later that day. It is very impressive and special. It’s also peaceful despite the many visitors who flock in there. It’s spiritual atmosphere and awe -inspiring dome obviously stuns most people into silence. Near the Marble Church is a Russian Orthodox Church with 3 shining golden domes. It was built in the mid 19th century to celebrated a Danish princess marrying Alexander III who was soon to become Czar. We tried to get into it a couple of times but despite what it said on the internet, it was always locked. ( maybe a casualty of Russia’s war on Ukraine.)

DESIGNMUSEUM DANMARK

I said we were heading for the Design Museum of Denmark and we finally made it after a 2 km wander. And what a wonderful destination it is. We both agreed it was one of the outstanding highlights of the whole trip. The museum is housed in 4 wings of the former Frederik’s Hospital built in the 18th century. Everything in this area seems to be named after King Frederik V, its Royal sponsor.

Pride of place goes to a permanent collection of 20th Century Danish Applied Art and Craft and includes iconic designs of international repute. These include Arne Jacobsen’s Ant Chair, Kaj Bojesen’s classic wooden toy monkey and Ole Kirk Christiansen’s Lego brick. We actually walked through an illuminated tunnel of chairs from the different decades of last century. Halfway down the tunnel, I had a Damascus-style revelation — chairs are actually beautiful works of art and not just boring, functional objects that we happen to sit on. There were also lots of interesting and exciting things from Japan — particularly wood prints and posters. The latter explored the tragic legacy of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan’s difficult relationship with the USA. At the end was a dazzling display of pop art design which bowled me over. After inevitably visiting the shop, we relaxed with coffee and cake in the courtyard garden. Earlier we had seen black and white photos of this garden in its hospital days when beds were dragged out to give the TB patients some fresh air.

After this highlight of our first full day in the Danish capital, we strolled across the centre back towards our hotel. However our stroll was ambushed by a heavy rain shower and we were forced to shelter in a covered walkway with dozens of others. We heard the end of a young guy’s guided tour spiel ( they all laughed and gave him tips), and smelt a sicky mixture of burgers, ice cream and sweet donuts. When the rain eased and we moved on, we passed the main synagogue of Copenhagen guarded by 2 young soldiers sporting machine guns! It was a bit of a contrast from the ceremonial guards we had encountered at the Royal Palace and was an unfortunate reminder of the troubled times the world now lives in.

We popped into a Netto supermarket for picnic food to have later. ( The city is full of Nettos and Seven Elevens.) Copenhagen is quite expensive and we didn’t want to have to phone our bank manager in order to pay a restaurant bill. There was a bar- code on our receipt which opened security gates to let us out. Maybe this would be an idea to reduce the shoplifting scourge that is affecting Britain. We gained the hotel via the Radhus or City Hall Square. Copenhagen’s Radhus is a handsome early 20th century building with an impressive clock tower. We arrived back at Hotel Alexandria just in time for wine o’clock. The guests can enjoy free wine in the foyer between 5 and 6pm — a very civilised arrangement.

( This was a description of our first full day in Copenhagen. We were there for 5 full days even allowing for our late arrival, so there is more to come. You have been warned!)