Castles and Other Structures

SK worked in the baptistry for a couple of hours this morning....he said five of our YSAs were there...as workers!...actually four of them were from Odense (the other stake)...and technically not ours, but we love them and claim them anyway.  There may have been more of our YSAs in other parts of the temple.

When he got home, we took off.  Our list of "must-sees" is still large...too large to be able to cross everything off, but we can get to a lot of things.  One thing I really want to do is to get on the train and just travel wherever it goes in Denmark.  Doesn't that sound fun?

One thing at the top of the list was to see Amalienborg Castle....the home of the Queen.  Yes...truly, we have not as yet seen her palace.  Well, as of this morning we had not seen it.  As I write to you now, it has been crossed off the list.

We took the bus over, and walked home - a distance of 4.13 miles.  It got up to 73 degrees and the sun was beaming down on us....it was warm.  But it was beautiful.  People were everywhere, since we are in high tourist season.  The trees are fully leafed out, and gardens all over the city are stunning.

We went into a nearby church....a large domed structure nicknamed the marble church.  It was partially built with marble from Norway.  The huge interior was cavernous.  People sat pondering and quietly taking pictures.  The acoustics in there are quite amazing and any sound is amplified.  There were signs asking for quiet so that all could enjoy the silence to ponder.

I suspect that the panoramic shot makes it look smaller than it really is.....and the domed ceiling has paintings of each of the twelve apostles high overhead.

Just a block or two from the church was the castle.  It is a complex of buildings, where the queen and her husband have a residence, and several other members of the royal family live.  There is a special flag that flies over her palace when she is home.

We walked into the vast courtyard (where - a couple of months ago I went with Mette, Janet and Pam to wave and sing happy birthday to her majesty on her 75th), and walked around.  We went into the museum and took an hour to wander through....it is a part of the palace complex and the architecture and design of the rooms was elegant. The history covered by the museum is relatively new, "stretching back 150 years to the reign of Christian IX and Queen Louise, who were known as 'the in-laws of Europe' because four of their children ascended to the thrones of England, Greece, Russia and Denmark, respectively."

When we came out, SK posed with one of the royal guards, and then we walked through the crowds towards home.

We took a short cut/detour through Tivoli.  We found a little open-face sandwich shop that is classically Danish and sat down at one of their outdoor tables.  Can I just say how much I love sitting outside like that?  We were under a large umbrella/canopy that covered four tables.  While we were munching our sandwiches, it began to rain.  It just could not have been lovelier!  That wonderful sound the rain makes on an awning/umbrella/canopy was music to my ears.

And then just to make the day complete, we walked home in the rain - without the Mary Poppins umbrella!  But as SK says.....we are waterproof.