Taking a Dip

The ducklings from yesterday's post seem to take to the water like a, well, duck to the water. Even though they were a little shaky getting in, their dip seemed to become them well.

How Many in a Litter?

How many ducklings can there be in a litter? This duck was lying on quite a number of ducklings, I'm not even sure how many there were. This photo was taken near the Frederiksberg Garden, a big and nice park in Copenhagen.

Entering the Harbour

If you go to Copenhagen harbour, you'll notice that this still is a place with a lot of boats and ships, and some of them are beautiful old ones like this one. Sadly most of the merchant shipping has been relocated elsewhere, so what you see in the old parts of the harbour will usually be pleasure boats, houseboats and the occasional gem like this red one. In some parts of the harbour you'll not even see any boats but only long stretches of empty wharfs, as the new residents in the renovated warehouses and newly built residential areas insists on peace, quiet and privacy.

The Harbour

When summer sets in Copenhagen harbour is a busy place, lots of ships and boats are on the water, weaving this way and that. It's said that half the Danish population either owns a summer cottage or a boat, and I believe that when I see the harbour at summertime. This one is called Crocodillen and is owned by the boat guild Halvtolv (Half past eleven).

Symmetry

Today's photo shows a swan caught on camera at the same place as yesterday's photo, Damhussøen. This one was doing it's best to make itself more presentable to the opposite sex while slowly going around in a circle. Yes, summer is definitely here.

Ugly Ducklings

A sure sign of summer is when the ugly ducklings aka cygnets appear. These ones I saw at the lake Damhussøen, an artificial lake behind a dam built in 1621 to secure a steady water supply to Copenhagen.

Changing Weather

The Danish summer is known for it's variability; one moment it's all sunny and warm, the next it's cold, windy and wet. Most Danes have adapted by always having an umbrella, raincoat or similar at hand when venturing outside. This photo from Damhussøen illustrates it perfectly, as the heavy clouds start rolling in.

Guests

Another sure sign of summer is this; tourists eating outside near the wharf of Langelinje. They do seem to enjoy the sun:-)

Keep them clean

As the beaches on Amager are being readied for the summer, I do wonder about this; why place three garbage bins right next to each other and the next ones a couple of hundred meters away? Wouldn't it be smarter to spread them out so that people don't have to walk long to get to one? I just hope that the guests at the beaches will use the garbage bins instead of leaving their mess for others to clean up.

Rowing

A sure sign of summer is when the local rowing clubs air (or in this case water) their boats on the canals in Copenhagen. In the background of this photo is Christian IV's brewery house to the left and Christianborg's tower in the middle.

Sunshine in Nyhavn

When the sun shines in Copenhagen, the sale at the many watering holes along the wharfs of Nyhavn goes way up. On a good and warm day this place is packed with people from before noon until way past midnight.

Growing

As summer has set in in Copenhagen it's obvious that the gardeners at the cemeteries has their work cut out for them. Even though they work double-time at the moment the growth seems to be winning for now.

Green and Yellow

Another photo from the Botanical garden in Copenhagen. This oasis in the middle of the busy city is a favorite of mine, when I need some peace and quiet or just have to kill some time.

Summer

As summer has at last hit Denmark (for the time being anyway), I'll show some photos in that category for the next couple of days. This one of a snail on yester-year's leaves I took in the Botanical Garden in Copenhagen.

Not Just For Looking At

Outside of the Viking Ship Museum you'll find life-sized replicas of the ships inside, and these replicas are not only for looking at. In the summer months you can play out your inner Viking by sailing in these, pulling oars and raising the sail.

Distraction

When I'm photographing I'm often sidetracked by strange things. In this case it was the stones beneath the ships at the Viking Ship Museum that caught my eye...and lens.

Proud Prow

This proud prow was ploughing the waves between Denmark and Ireland before it was used to blockade the fairway through Roskilde Fjord.

Visitors

Even though the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde isn't free, it's one of the most popular museums in Denmark. And I do understand why, as a visit here shows a very important period in Danish history in an entertaining and informative way.

Preserving the Ships

It's amazing how the archaeologists have been able to preserve the old waterlogged Viking ships that were found in the nearby fjord. And it's even more amazing that they have been able to assemble the ships so that they now stand proud at the Viking Ship Museum.

Replicas

In the basement of the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde is an area with replicas of Viking ships, Viking items and Viking costumes so that visiting schools can try out how it was to be a Viking.

Viking Ships

Roskilde was the Danish capitol in the Viking-era, and one of the finest museums about the Vikings is of course placed here. It's the Viking Ship Museum with the remains of a number of ships found nearby and a really good exhibition to supplement these proud wrecks.

The Queen

As Frederiksborg Castle is a royal palace it shouldn't come as a surprise that portraits of the queen, the royal consort and the rest of the family are very much in evidence here. These two portraits of the queen show her very different sides; the official one as seen on the coins and the more human side, that also is very clearly a part of her.

More Portraits

The last time I went to Frederiksberg Castle they had an exhibition of photographic portraits beside the painted ones. That's a great way to get inspired for a photographer, even if the inspiration goes along the lines of "I wouldn't do it like that".

Portrait of Karen Blixen

Also portraits of Danes who made a difference are numerous at Frederiksberg Castle. The newer ones clearly show how much art has moved during time. This one is of Karen Blixen, better known outside of Denmark by her pseudonym of Isak Dinesen.

The Tradition of the Historic Painting

The museum at Frederiksborg Castle has a long tradition of commissioning historic paintings of the high points of Danish history. And that is a tradition they still follow as is seen with this painting of a, to Danes, well-known incident during the war in the former Yugoslavia.

Big Head

This bust was on display at the art museum at Frederiksborg Castle. I'm not sure who it was, but I hope some kind of artistic creativity has been used in its design:-)

A Modern View

Frederiksborg Castle is not only a place for old stuff, but also has a floor of modern art, mainly paintings and photos. In these rooms there's also changing exhibitions, so there's always something new to see here.

Bling

I guess bling isn't a new thing, as this photo of one of the chandeliers at Frederiksborg Castle testifies to. They had just as big a craving for something shiny in the renaissance as we do today.

The Pink Room

Another of the rooms at Frederiksborg Castle is the pink room, also presented with an overload of objects and paintings. But very much lacking any information on the objects.

The Yellow Room

Some of the rooms at Frederiksborg Castle are packed with so many items that that they seem on the edge of bursting. There's not room for much more on the walls of the yellow room.