The Water Mother by Kai Nielsen
You can find this work of art in Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Nielsen is most famous for The Little Mermaid.
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Posts tagged little mermaid
Blue Hour Little Mermaid
@VisitCopenhagen #LittleMermaid #Copenhagen #Denmark
Flashback Friday to my neighborhood in Copenhagen last year. I really missed not being in the Inner City (Indre By) this year and hope to remedy that situation next year.
The Little Mermaid
Three years ago I showed you a similar image of Copenhagen’s famous Little Mermaid. I like how this one came out from the canal tour I took this past Sunday. Who knew mermaids had spines?
This famous statue was sent to China for six months during 2010 (its first trip ever), but now it has returned to the place in Copenhagen’s harbor where it has been resting for nearly 100 years. The move may have been a wise one for long-term tourism interest from the Chinese. I saw far more Chinese people in the airport this time than three years ago.
Danish beer
The only thing at the Danish supermarkets cheaper in Denmark than in the states is beer. Most things are about 2 times more expensive. But beer can be had for as little as US$.50 a bottle. On average it is about $1 a bottle, about the same as the states. That’s cheaper than bottled water here! At a bar or restaurant, though, you’re likely to pay much more in Denmark (about $6 to $9 a serving usually).
The above three bottles were purchased individually (not in six packs which is also different). The most expensive was only about $.75. The one on the right was quite potent at over 10% alcohol. The others were more typical pilsners at about 5%.
The Carlsberg Factory is not far from our apartment. After reading Guinness on the flight to Denmark I thought it might be fun to tour my first beer factory.
The rooms where you begin (Visitor’s Center) and end (Tasting Room) the Carlsberg Brewery tour are both quite nice. The tour is nothing special though. It is a self-guided tour and is more of a museum-like tour than an active factory-like tour. The coolest part is right at the beginning when you get to see the largest collection of different beer bottles in the world. Ironically, Guinness gives Carlsberg the distinction. You can read the Guinness notice on the wall.
If there was a Guinness record for largest collection of dusty beer bottles, Carlsberg would win that award too with the same collection. It didn’t look like anyone had done any cleaning in there for many years.
While tourists flock to the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, the one at Carlsberg sits all alone. It is an exact replica, done a bit smaller, and is part of the tour. The larger version in the harbor was a gift from Carl Jacobsen whose father founded Carlsberg Brewery.
At the end of the tour you enter a very nicely done tasting room. Included in admission is a coupon for two drinks (about a dozen different beers or soft drinks are available). This is the only part of the tour that includes a view of the operating brewery (through glass). Nothing was happening in that part of the factory while we were there though.
The price of admission for the tour is less than what it would cost you to purchase two beers at a restaurant or bar in town and the atmosphere in the tasting room was great. The walls are lined with sayings and other displays including the Ben Franklin quote near the top of this blog entry.
If you want a factory tour that allows you to see someone actually making their product then I’ve seen better (Jelly Belly Factory Tour and Harry & David Factory Tour). However, at the end of those tours there is no “Skål.”
Postcards from Copenhagen
When you see Copenhagen postcards, a calendar featuring Copenhagen or Denmark, or pick up a guidebook dealing with the place there is a strong likelihood that you will see one of only three pictures. That’s a shame because there is so much beauty here. I particularly like the brick buildings and architecture of which you’ll see much more of here on this blog during the next few weeks.
For today, we’ll quickly move you through the three postcard shots, with a minor twist. The twist is that you’ll see these postcard shots with people and/or from a slightly different angle.
The above is Stroget, a street almost a mile long that is only for pedestrians. There are actually many shopping streets that run parallel or almost parallel to Stroget that have little, if any, automobile traffic as well. The typical photograph of Stroget (actually Strøget) is early in the morning with little, or no, foot traffic or bikes. The reality is that there are usually lots of bikes and people on Stroget. Also, the normal camera angle is from further to the right and elevated. I think they take that shot from above a restaurant that you can’t see in the above picture that I took.
I have a mini tripod, but I don’t use it much. Therefore, we usually only get family portraits when someone sees me taking a picture of the rest of my family and offers to take our picture. So far no Dane has offered to do so. When I was taking a picture of my wife and kids a student from Singapore (from Copenhagen Business School where I am teaching) offered to take the above shot. Nyhavn is the place that our friends from Norway that we met at the White House said we should not miss. They were right. Nyhavn is a very picturesque harbor/canal that we enjoyed.
The most popular picture in Denmark, though, is the one I’ve saved for last.
There she is–The Little Mermaid. This isn’t how you usually see her though. Every photo I have seen of her has been from the land. The above picture I took from our boat so you get more of her backside, and you can see what is going on on the land (tourists photographing her). You only see the two guys in this picture, but there were actually about 30 or 40 people on the land taking her picture. She really isn’t that spectacular and isn’t worth the trip on land. You’ll end up with nothing but the same picture that can be downloaded off of a million sites on the internet. There is nothing else to see or do at The Little Mermaid statue location.
And there you have it–three postcards from Copenhagen. We saved a bundle on stamps and real postcards doing it this way. Actually, we just sent off several real postcards. If you made Ellie’s short list then you can expect it to arrive in the next few days.