The Swan Lake

Another addition to Tivoli's Christmas Market this year is this Swan Lake, referring to Russian composer Tchaikovsky's ballet of that name. And as the swan also has a leading role in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Ugly Duckling and because the swan is the national bird of Denmark, it's a very appropriate thing to have here during the Russian Christmas Market.

Not the Swan Lake

This swan couple has decided to nest at one of the busiest tourist places in Copenhagen; just off Langelinje with the Little Mermaid and right next to the Gefion Fountain. I guess they're not concerned about the throngs of camera touting people passing by while they're nesting.

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.

Hide, there's another photographer!

These swans wasn't actually hiding from me, but rather searching for food.

Syncronized Flying

The two swans here seemed like they were training for a new Olympic discipline, synchronized flying. They did make a splash at the end.

The Ugly Duckling

Anyone reading H.C. Andersen's fairytale The Ugly Duckling will know that he's actually telling a tale about himself. The ugly duckling turns out to be a swan, but HCA did have a point; as can be seen on these photos the juvenile swans are not exactly beautiful compared to the adults.

A swan in stone

At Copenhagen Central Station (Hovedbanegården) there is a lot of original details, many of them hidden from view by more modern appliances. This swan above the Copenhagen coat of arms is a good example of this. Most travelers fail to see and appreciate these beautiful details in the morning rush.

The building is from 1911 and connected to most of the S-train lines, the intercity lines, the regional lines and the international lines, making this the biggest train hub in Denmark. There is no connection to the Metro-line here though, but that'll happen in 2017, when the Cityline is completed.