World Cruise Day 146/163 Viking Homelands - Copenhagen, Denmark - Mermaids, and itinerary changes

Cruise day: 146/163

Ports days: 76
Sea days: 70
Countries: 24
Continents: 5
Ports: 56

COVID update

Arlona continues to improve.  While she is still testing positive and will likely continue to test positive for months, she is definitely on the mend and feeling better each day.  I received my fourth consecutive negative after Arlona's positive indication, so at this point, I am in the clear.

This morning started early - really early.  How early?  At about 3:15AM.  Why, you might ask, especially when I make it well known that I typically have to get up around 3:30AM each night anyway.  But last night was different.  It was loud, like seriously loud - outside.  I stumbled out and opened the balcony - it was really loud.  But, I couldn't see anything, and it was chilly and I didn't want to step outside.  I figured it was one of the loud pilot boats that deliver the pilot to the ship to sail into port.  That seemed early - almost four hours ahead of docking, but what do I know.  I took care of business and went back to bed.  This morning, I found out what it was - a helicopter. A passenger had to be medically evacuated last night.  I have no further details, and frankly, it is none of my business.  Sorry to hear a fellow passenger had a serious enough condition that they have to be medically evacuated.  Like the COVID outbreak, that didn't happen on the World Cruise portion either.  Just sayin'...

Before I crawled back into bed, I did capture this other cruise ship off our port side, looking lovely against the early morning sky.

It was a smooth, albeit windy and cool sail-in this morning. We had sunny skies all day but with temps in the 50s to 60s and a stiff breeze, it was brisk all day. 

We saw lots of wind turbines again.  I learned that Denmark produces 52% of its electricity from wind power.  They also use biomass energy production systems and plan to be essentially off fossil fuel by 2030.  Like Aalborg, there are tons of electric vehicles here.

It was busy in port with the NCL Norwegian Getaway, Oceania Insignia, and P&O Britannia in port with us

This morning's adventure was the included 2.5-hour walking tour of Copenhagen.  Being a good passenger, I waited for the announcement that we were cleared to go ashore and headed out.  That was at 8:04AM.  My tour left at 8AM.  Seriously.  This was the first time that happened in 146 days.  They were only a short way down the pier.  I caught up and went along with the outgoing Excursion Manager, Rob, walking along with me.

The royal yacht

Memorial to merchant sailors that perished in WWI - the Goddess Nike is on top

This is called Efter Badet and that is Swedish for After the Bath - it might just be me, but I think it looks like he is shaving his legs

Remember The Little Mermaid?  You know, with Ariel, Sebastian - that crazy lobster, Ursula - the sea witch?  Well, that's the Disney version.  The original story by Hans Christian Andersen is a little different.  The basics are the same - she falls in love with a prince, gives up everything including her beautiful singing voice to gain legs and be with him, but can't express her love without a voice.  In the original story, the prince falls in love with another and the little mermaid is so distraught that she kills herself.  Not quite the Disney ending.

You can really see how sad she looks

We saw swans all over today

Ivar Huitfeldt Column commemorates the death of Admiral Ivar Huitfeldt and his men from the HDMS Dannebroge that exploded and sank during the Great Northern War.

Princess Marie statue

King Frederik IX

Entry to the royal palace grounds

Part of the moat and berm system that fortified the city

Gefion Fountain in front of St. Alban Church

St. Alban Church, built in the late 1800s

Gefion Fountain, donated by the Carlsberg Foundation - Norse Goddess Gefjon driving four oxen

ZinkGlobal sculpture

Copenhagen Opera House

The water buses are all-electric

The spire from the Church of Our Savior behind apartments and commercial buildings

This makes the third David that we've seen this trip

Another view of the opera house

Apartments

Looking into the palace complex

Looking back out toward the opera house

A royal carriage happened to come by

This is a 360-degree panorama inside the palace complex - you can tell because the same lady with her hands on her hips appears on both ends

The first view of Frederik's Church

The palace guard

The royal flag with the family crest

The dome of Frederik's Church

The look from the palace complex back toward the opera house - typical Danish design - everything lines up perfectly

Frederik's Church is more commonly known as the Marble Church which is interesting as it is not made from marble - it was the original plan but after starts and stops in construction, it was eventually built with limestone and finished 145 years after the first stone was laid

St. Paul's

Original Nyboder row houses were built in the mid-1700s for the royal navy

A tradition was keeping two dog statues in the window - when the sailor was home, the wife would face the dogs toward each other - when he was away, she would face them away - a signal to another that it was safe to come for a little hanky-panky

More of the moat and berm defense system

Valkyrie statue

WWII memorial for Our Fallen

Entry to the active military complex that still resides within the moat and berm defense system

Monument for Denmark's international efforts

This is an artificial ski hill

After the walking tour, I returned to the ship for lunch.  After lunch, I took the shuttle bus into New King's Square and walked around a bit.  The bus was interesting.  It was brand new and very nice inside.  It turns out it was all-electric - the first full-sized electric tour bus I've ever been on.  The seatbacks have USB charging ports and fold-down tray tables with the following warning label.

Of course, this begs the question: who goes onto a bus to get some work done, or perhaps sip a beverage, but...only when the bus is parked?  Anyone?  Anyone?

Like everything else I've seen in Denmark, the square was incredibly clean and bustling.

Hotel D'Angleterre

Nyhavn Harbor

Royal Danish Theater

Magasin Du Nord department store - six floors of shopping

Skylights that bring daylight to Magasin Du Nord's lower level

I wasn't in the mood to spend a lot of time, so after a brief stroll, I headed back to the ship.

Arlona continues her quarantine art efforts, this time leveraging some of yesterday's images and today's views to produce this wind farm interpretation.

More quality work from our budding artist

Between reading, snoozing, and painting, she's working through her days as best she can.  This is day number four of potential (and likely) ten days of isolation before she can return to the general population.  

Because of that situation, it means she won't get out until we are ready to fly home and it could potentially impact her ability to fly right away.  Given that, Viking has worked with us to extend our trip.  The Viking Star's next cruise leaves from Stockholm and completes a ten-day itinerary back to Copenhagen.  They are working out the details and return flight changes but given the real potential that Arlona might not be cleared to fly by the end of this cruise, it only makes sense.  So now, our plan is to return home on June 4, assuming they can work out the flight details.  If you look back up at the top, you'll see that the heading has now been updated from day 146/152 to day 146/163.  Many of the ports are duplicates from this cruise so that will allow Arlona to see the ports in person that she has only been able to see from her balcony. The adventure will continue, at least for another week and a half.

Tomorrow, we dock in Warnemünde, Germany - a port that serves Berlin.  We had a 14-hour excursion to Berlin planned, but that will get pushed off to the next cruise so we both can go.  I am taking an excursion to the nearby city of Rostock in the morning.  I am hoping to also walk around Warnemünde in the afternoon.  Until tomorrow.