(First published in Small World Ezine -- Lost the date)
New York has its Statue of Liberty, Paris has its Eiffel Tower, and Copenhagen has the Little Mermaid.
The Danish poet, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) wrote "Far out at sea the water´s as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as the purest glass; but it´s very deep, deeper than any anchor can reach. Many church steeples would have to be piled up one above the other to reach from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Right down there live the sea people."
At the age of 15, the little Mermaid for the first time swims to the surface of the sea, where she fell in love with the Prince she saved from drowning. To be with the Price she she sold traded her voice to the evil sea witch for the "most beautiful legs any girl could ever have". Unlike its Disney's version, the poor mermaid did not win the Prince's heart and was transformed into deadly cold sea foam forever.
Carlsberg's Carl Jacobsen, enthused by the the ballet "The Little Mermaid" he had seen on Det Kongelige Teater (the Royal Theatre) in 1913, asked sculptor Edvard Eriksen to created a sculpture with the mermaid captured before the transformation and with the fish tail intact. And The Little Mermaid was put up at Copenhagen's Langelinie quay on August 23'rd of 1913 as his present to the city.
Being the icon of Copenhagen, the largest and liveliest city of Scandinavia, the Little Mermaid is pretty small for the job. She is only 4 ft. tall. And that's probably why she was vandalized for too many times.
Neither Big Ben of London, The Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Statue of Liberty of New York or Manneken-Pis of Brussels can match the number of attacks the Little Mermaid has suffered. Since 1961, the Mermaid has been drenched with red paint, put on a bra, arm-amputated, and twice beheaded!
The city and people of Copenhagen had done their best to rescue her back to the original shape.
More:
I said earlier this was the best time to go to Copenhagen because the famous century-old Tivoli theme park will be open only in summer. Opposite the northern corner of Tivoli is Rådhuspladsen, the city's central square and main bus transit point. You can take the airport bus to/from here.
Getting around in Copenhagen, you can ride on a bike, or take a bus. Taxis here receive credit cards... Does that imply a higher cost? If you plan to drive a rental car, be aware that safety and traffic regulations in all Scandinavian countries are more strict and a bit different from Europe's and the rest of us. Big car rental companies will provide you with manuals. Please read it carefully.
The parking space is also expensive and hard to find. If you are not planning to go out of town, I'll say bus or bike is more convenient.
And do not forget to walk on Strøget, the world's longest and probably oldest pedestrian mall, which runs through the city centre between Rådhuspladsen and Kongens Nytorv, the square at the head of the colourful Nyhavn canal area.
The Royal Palace (Amalienborg Palace) is located at the North of the canal. You can watch the colourful changing of the guard when the queen is in. Copenhagen is also famous of its museums. You can find just almost every kind of collections here. Start with the National Museum.
Oh and the Little Mermaid... it's like 10 minutes up North from the Palace.
Classic churches to check out are Vor Frue Kirke, the city cathedral with its famed statues of Christ and the disciples by Bertel Thorvaldsen, and Christianshavn's Vor Frelsers Kirke, which has an elaborate Baroque altar and an equally elaborate carved pipe organ (It's huge!). And for a magnificent city view, make the dizzying 400-step ascent up the church's 95-metre spiral tower - the last 160 steps run along the outside rim of the tower, narrowing to the point where they literally disappear at the top.
Read about Mermaids of the World
How to get there:
Among all airports, I spent most times in Copenhagen's (not counting Bangkok Airport). It's one of the most convenient airports in the world. Almost all overseas flights to Denmark arrive here. If you are there, stop by at the supermarket, and buy the smoked herrings and mackerel home.
Best I've ever had ;-)
There are daily bus and rail services between Denmark and Germany too. And there is the Øresundsforbindelsen (Øresund Fixed Link), a road-rail system stretching nearly 16km (13 m.) of bridges and tunnels between Malmo in southern Sweden and Copenhagen, which links the island of Danish capital with mainland Scandinavia. And of course, before there were bridges and tunnels, there were ferries to/from all major ports of Scandinavia, Benelux, and Germany.
Try to schedule your trip, esp. if you plan to arrive after September. the day will be shorter, and so do the opening times of shops, restaurants, and hotel front. If you haven't made reservation for the hotel (why hadn't you?), there are a Youth Hostel and a YMCA Hostel. Hotels (budget to luxurious) are located nearby the Central station. I remember there
With good planning, you need to spend only one or two days in Copenhagen. Then move up to Sweden, or out to the countryside of Denmark.
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