You Go Nate!

KØPENHAVN - Part 2:

April 28th:

I slept quite well on that big air mattress and for breakfast we had fruit and cereal. It was Elder & Sister Jepson's "preparation day" which meant that they had some free time to show me around the city a bit.

It was a bit hazy as we headed out into the city, but later it would clear up. Our first stop was the Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady) (pictured below)...

Right outside we saw a group of kids on a school field trip. It seems everywhere we went we saw such groups. If you look closely, you'll see one kid sucking his thumb and another one sucking an orange...

The Frue Kirke is a very special place. The exterior is quite unremarkable when compared to many of the other churches in Copenhagen. The interior is quite simple and elegant. It feels clean and warm, and there is brightness about it that I find lacking in most European churches.

Behind the altar is a very famous and special sculpture...

This is the original Christus statue, created by Bertel Thorvaldsen in the 1820's...

A 3.4 meter replica of the statue stands on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

Matthew 19:14...

In addition to the Christus, Thorvaldsen made statues of each of the Twelve Apostles. Judas Iscariot is replaced by Paul...

After visiting the Frue Kirche we went to the Rundetårn (Round Tower). This tower was built as an astronomical observatory in the 1630's. It is quite wide across because the king at the time wanted to be able to ascend to the top on horseback...

From atop the tower, we had a nice view of Copenhagen in every direction. Here is the view towards the Rådhus (city hall)...

After descending the Rundtårn, we went to the King's Gardens which is one of the large main green areas of the city. At the edge of the park is a large royal military complex. Out front, guards were marching and drilling...

Next door lies the Rosenborg Palace...

...with its beautiful grounds (good example of poor photographic framing of a pretty subject)...

The Rosenborg Palace houses the National Treasury with the Crown Jewels. There were standing guards out front...

There was a group of kids on a field trip. Though these ones had moustaches...

There was a nice mini French garden...

Next we headed up to the old wharf. It was from here that many early Danish immigrants left for America including several thousand Latter-Day Saints...

Here is a statue called "Kristina" that was erected in memory of the LDS immigrants. It was sculpted by a missionary acquaintance of Elder Jepson...

Here's the accompanying plaque in English...

Not far north from the wharf is the blah blah blah.... :-)

She probably wishes she had listened to Sebastian the crab...

"You want thing-a-ma-bobs? I got twenty! Buy four get the fifth half price..."

Other statues, windmills, and cheeky kids...

Here I am at the Gefion Fountain...

According to the old Norse myth, Gefion was promised as much land as she could plow in one night, and so she transformed her sons into oxen and plowed the island of Zealand out of Sweden.

We headed back towards the main part of town passing through the Amalienborg Palace complex. This group of palaces still houses the royal Danish family including Queen Margarethe II (the dome structure is the Frederiks Church)...

There were official guards with goofy hats patrolling in front of each of the buildings...

Next we walked by the Frederiks Kirke. Inspired by St. Peter's of Rome, it is the largest church dome in Scandanavia...

For lunch the Jepsons knew just the place. A grand old department store lines one of Copenhagen's main boulevards. On the top floor is a reasonably-priced cafeteria serving modern Danish cuisine....

We found a table with a grand view overlooking the square and I enjoyed roast pork and fried fish...

After lunch we wandered over to the Tivoli Gardens. This is a large amusement park and recreation area right in the middle of town. Built in 1843, it is the second oldest amusement park in the world (the oldest is just 8 miles north of Copenhagen!)

The other missionary couple had a six-person season entry pass, so it was free for us to go in and take a look around (though we didn't bother riding any of the rides.)

There were several different pavillions for stage shows and other events...

There was a lake, a pirate ship, roller coasters, and other assorted rides...

All with a nice view of the City Hall...

There was a family celebrating a birthday with Danish flags. Seriously, outside the U.S. I have never seen a country with as much "street level" national pride. There were Danish flags everywhere...

The Japanese pagoda and roller coaster...

Hi Nate!

What time is it?

Old ladies...

We had a very pleasant afternoon. It was so nice to sit and enjoy the flowers, the fountains, and the sun.

Here you go Tom...

Everywhere we went that day we walked. By the late afternoon we were all fairly exhausted. So we headed back to the apartment.

Nearly on the doorstep of the Jepson's apartment is the New Theater. A Danish production of Phantom of the Opera was going on at the time. The man starring as Raoul is Tomas Kofod. He is LDS and played the role of Jesus Christ in the film "The Testaments" that was shown on Temple Square.

The Jepsons have gotten to know brother Kofod on Sundays at church and he has invited them to come see the show soon. If you want a great read, Tomas Kofod's story of how he came to be cast as Jesus is very interesting.


Once we got back to the apartment I crashed on the air mattress and enjoyed a small power nap. The Jepsons also rested a bit but had to get ready to go to an event at the church. The BYU Young Ambassador choir group was in Copenhagen and would be performing that night at the church and the next night at the Danish National Theater. Because the BYU is a bit closer to home than Copenhagen, I decided to spend the evening in the town.

Here is the view from the Jepson's back patio...

A better picture from the other side of the bushes... the main building here is the Tycho Brache Planetarium...

I took a nice stroll along the series of lakes that divide downtown Copenhagen...

I walked by the Rosenborg palace again to see the military folks playing football on the same field where they were drilling earlier in the day...

And I had fun with some night shots along the canals again, this time without the rain...

I passed the Tivoli entrance again as I walked back to the apartment...

I got back to the apartment and enjoyed another good nights rest. The next day I would be visiting another new country...

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