Rundetaarn (The Round Tower)
Between our visits to Glyptotek and Vor Frue Kirke, mentioned in yesterday’s entry, we had a nice lunch at Pasta Basta. It was relatively inexpensive by Danish standards but still set us back at least 4X more than what we usually pay for lunch at a restaurant in the states. After lunch we headed for The Round Tower, a place I had read about many years ago in a wonderful book called, Blind Watchers of the Sky. At least I think it was in that book. If not, I’m sure it was discussed in Music & Silence.
The Round Tower (or Rundetaarn) is a most interesting building. You gain access to the top by going up a long, spiral, brick ramp.
From the top there are outstanding views of the city. And on the very top there is a functioning observatory. We were even able to use the telescope at the top! I believe it’s the oldest functioning observatory in the world at nearly 400 years. There can’t be many older since the telescope has only been around for 400 years.
There wasn’t much to see on a Sunday afternoon with no sunspots. If you really want to see something impressive out of this telescope you’ll want to visit in the winter. It doesn’t get that dark in the summer in Copenhagen.
From the top of the tower you have a great view of Rosenborg and the Statens Museum for Kunst.
In the distance you can see the bridge linking Denmark and Sweden. You can also see an airplane coming into Kastrup, Copenhagen’s airport. The far away, spiral, church steeple is part of Vor Frelsers Kirke on Christianshavn.
As previously mentioned, the Star Flyer ride at Tivoli offers incredible views of the city. These people are in swing seats way, way up in the air. The large tower obscuring the rest of the riders is the Copenhagen City Hall tower.