Three days in Copenhagen is not enough!

It's not cold enough for the locals, but it is pretty cold for us. It was 3 degrees Celsius early this afternoon in the centre of town, but despite that we have had a great time here in Copenhagen. We are staying within walking distance of the main shopping street, the botanical garden, and many other interesting places. Yesterday we trolled the Stroget (main shopping street), ogling the beautifully designed objects for sale and dropping a bit of cash at Illums Bolighus on Arabia Moomin china.

The weekend before Lent appears to be a time of celebration here in Denmark and we watched some of the festivities - a small childrens' parade, a childrens' concert and 'barrel beating' (actually we missed the barrel beating but I suspect it's a bit like a pinata...).

This is the Round Tower. It was built by King Christian IV, completed in 1642 and stands 36m high. The interesting thing about it is that inside, instead of steps, there is a 210m long spiral ramp, constructed so that the aging King could get to the top in his carriage. It's much easier to climb a ramp than stairs and any child will tell you that a ramp like that is an irresistable challenge to run down ....



There's a very old toilet in the tower - it was built so that 'waste' would empty into a humus pit under the ground at the base at the tower. Various famous people have used the latrine, including Hans Christian Anderson - we know this because he used to spend hours studying at the University library that used to be housed in the Trinitatis church building that connects to the tower.

Today we headed back into town to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket. This is an extensive collection of ancient art, from cultures around the mediterranean, acquired by the brewer Carl Jacobsen and donated to the people of Denmark between 1888 and 1899. As well as the most interesting collection of Roman statuary I have seen, there was Phoenician, Etruscan, Mesopotamian, Palmyrian, Egyptian and Greek artefacts and artwork on display. The piece de resistance was a marble staircase leading down into a dimly lit room containing two wooden Egyptian sarcophagi (one dating back to the time before mummification was practised), three magnificent mummy cases and two wrapped mummies. Wow. There was also a collection of French and Danish impressionist paintings and sculptures from the late 19th century, including Rodins and Gauguins (who had a Danish wife, apparently) but the building housing the paintings was closed until March ... But wait, there's more ... an elegant winter garden with full-sized Phoenix palms and a well-appointed tea room, where we played ladies and had a cup of tea and a dainty cake (see below).