Originally a
Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen
became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century and now has
a city population of 600,000 and metro population of nearly 2 million. Copenhagen is actually on an island east of
the mainland Denmark.
It is not only
the economic and financial center of Denmark but is a major business center for
the entire Scandinavian-Baltic region.
Although it is one of the world’s most expensive cities, it is also one
of the most liveable. Copenhagen has
some of the highest gross wages in the world but their taxes are also super
high. They pay a 8% “gross tax” BEFORE
they pay their income tax which can be as high as 51%.
It has many companies and institutions that focus on
research & development in the biotechnology and life science sectors. They also have 94,000 students in
universities here. Tourism is
increasingly important to the economy also.
It also has one of the highest number of restaurants and bars per capita
in the world and is home to Carlsberg Beer.
Average
temperatures during June, July, & August are in the upper 60’s with 10
rainy days per month. Average winter
temps are lower 30’s to upper 20’s.
Docked in Copenhagen
After 16 days and slightly over 4500 nautical miles our first journey has come to an end. We docked here right on our scheduled 8:00 am arrival time despite our 2 hour delay back in Geiranger because of a nation wide security threat. There were 650 (ship's capacity is 700) passengers on this last cruise and there are 91 of us who are staying on board for the next 10 day cruise of the Baltic countries. The rest are now leaving the ship and new passengers will begin to board around noon. The ship sails again at 6:00 pm today for Warnemunde, the port for Berlin, Germany.
We again had room service breakfast and met at 8:50 for a 2 hour tour, "Highlights of Copenhagen". The narrow pier street was lined with buses taking people getting off the ship to the airport and other places so we had to wait for our tour bus to get here. We had a wonderful guide who talked fast and packed 3 hours of sight seeing into 2 hours. There are 8 cruise ships in port so the city was packed with tour buses and people. The streets are laid out in a mess so I was lost even with a map. I am putting on the photos I took this morning and the ones I took this afternoon when I returned to the city center on foot. I cannot identify many of the buildings I took photos of, unfortunately, as they are not marked well on outside. Jane went with me this afternoon and we were lost most of the time. A nice man asked if we needed help (I guess we looked very lost) and got us pointed in right direction at least. While on our walk we got caught in a down pour rain shower that lasted about 10 minutes. The sun came back out and I'm sure we both now have sunburns. It has been sunny most of the day and hot (80F). The locals are really complaining about this heat as has been warm for a week now. I told them that this is cool compared to Dallas.
Going to the life boat drill now then will shower for cocktails and dinner. Dining at 7:30 in Prime 7, the steakhouse. I would like to wish our lovely daughter-in-law a very happy birthday today. We love both Jeff and Tae-young so much and love cruising with them occasionally.
The palace is made up of 4 buildings
One of the 4 palace buildings
New Opera House
Parliament Building
Pedestrian shopping street
Bikes everywhere! Our guide said bicyclists are the terrorists of Copenhagen as they will run over you.
"David"
Monument to WWII soldiers
Newer version of The Mermaid. Bigger boobs!
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