Scandinavian Adventure – Part 1 Denmark

I’m still finding it hard to come down from the epic journey I recently enjoyed in Scandinavia. An absolutely beautiful and wonderful region to explore and I still can’t believe I was there less than three weeks ago! Scandinavia consists of three countries namely, Denmark, Norway and Sweden and they are all kingdoms. This was an incredible Trafalgar tour where I met the most amazing people and had one of the best holidays of my life!

Flying into Copenhagen and seeing this amazing bridge was only the start of what was to be an incredible two weeks.

Oresund Bridge

What my sad photography skills do not show properly on the photo above is that the bridge, which connects Denmark to Sweden, visibly ends at the island just under the planes wing. It then, remarkably, dips under the water and comes up again on the Danish island of Amager.  An engineering marvel if there ever was one!

I also visited the truly beautiful Amalienborg Palace – home to the Danish Royal family.

Amalienborg Palace

Thanks to the rainy weather there is hardly a soul in that photo! It is, however, guarded by these boys.

Guards of the Royal Palace – Copenhagen

Obviously no visit to Copenhagen is complete without seeing the very unassuming statue of ‘The Little Mermaid’ – I’m honestly not sure what the fascination is for this relatively small statue but it is almost always overrun with tourists and the Danish are extremely proud of it.

The little mermaid

The poor girl has, at times, had her head and arm lobbed off by vandals only to be reconstructed from the actual original mold each time and has even been to China for an expo!

Stopped for delish Danish’s – which, ironically are not called Danish’s in Denmark!

Yummy pastries!

I then paid a visit to the impressive Frederiksborg Castle where inside they have the ‘Chapel of Order’,  shields presented to individuals and displays their unique coat of arms. I was truly humbled and so proud to see the shield present to Mr. Nelson Mandela. South Africa well and truly represented in Denmark.

Frederiksborg Castle

The shield of Mr. Nelson R. Mandela

We then drove to the small town of Odense, home of the world renowned Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish author of such well known tales such as “The Little Mermaid” and “The Ugly Duckling”.

Hans Christian Andersen’s home

I wondered down this street with these pretty white umbrellas.

In Odense

Hans Christian Andersen

We then made our way to the harbor town of Fredrikshaven as we would be taking a ferry from Denmark, to Sweden on our way to Norway! Yes, 3 countries in one day! Breakfast in Denmark, lunch in Sweden and dinner in Oslo, Norway!

Fredrikshaven – Denmark

The ferry waiting for us the next morning to take us to Sweden and then on to Norway for the next leg of my Scandinavian journey. Goodbye Denmark!

Ferry Denmark to Sweden

This particular ferry was huge with restaurants and shops and even had a duty free section like in airports!

Great views from the ferry

The sun deck

Pretty Gothenburg, Sweden

Gothenberg, Sweden

That’s it for the first leg on my Scandinavian tour. We left Denmark behind and crossed though Sweden on our way to spectacular Norway.

Hope you liked Denmark, up next time my tour of Norway which is sure to be filled with great scenic photos.

 

Until next time, the only fitting quote…

“To Travel is to live” – Hans Christian Andersen

Cheers,

Wayne