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Day Nine - High School Graduation, Parks, Palaces, and a Canal Ride

Bikes! Bikes! Everywhere! It would seem almost everyone rides a bike in Copenhagen. There are swarms of them on the bike paths and sidewalks and even more parked in the town squares. You have to be careful when veering off the sidewalk or crossing a street, as there will almost certainly be a bike or two approaching at high speed.

As I walked around this Friday, I noticed a lot of kids wearing these little oval hats. I wasn't sure what they were for at first, then I stumbled upon an outdoor high school commencement and it all made sense. What comes after commencements, however, is rather unique. The kids and parents decorate various buses and trucks and drive around the city, singing, screaming, waving and drinking. They stop at all the city squares and get out and dance and climb up on statues and sing. It's quite an impressive sight. This went on all day and again on Saturday.

Some of the Many Bikes Around Copenhagen
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High School Graduates Celebrating
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Graduates Dancing Around the Town Squares
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Kongens Have, which translate to "The Kings Garden," is the oldest park in Denmark, being layed out in 1606, when Christian IV commissioned the building of Rosenborg Castle. It contains many stone and steel sculptures and receives 2.5 million visitors a year. The castle itself has been used as a royal residence only sparingly over the years, the last time being the 1801 British attack on Copenhagen. It is surrounded by a still present moat.

One of the Many Statues in Kongens Have
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Rosenborg Castle
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One of the Busts on Rosenborg Castle
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Churchill Park was named in honor of Winston Churchill and contains the WWII Memorial, as well as the Citadel, and St Albans Church, among other things. It's a popular area for families to picnic and for walkers and hikers. There is a lot of water and many animals and birds throughout the park..

Adjacent to Churchill Park is the Langerline Park and Wharf, where the oft-visited Little Mermaid statue sits. The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen’s Royal Theatre and asked the primaballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue. It has been victim to vandalism on many occasions, including two decapitations and many political statements. As unfortunate as that is, the staue in the harbor has always been a copy, with the original being housed in an undisclosed location.

WWII Memorial in Front of the Citadel
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St Alban's Church
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The Little Mermaid
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The canals in Copenhagen are a result of a canal project that was meant to transform the city into the Venice of the North. It stopped short of being complete due to limited resources, however enough canals are present to make for an interesting city. I hopped aboard a chilly boat for a canal tour and learned quite a lot about the various islands that make up Copenhagen.

Nyhavn Canal
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Low Tunnels on Nyhavn Canal
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Colorful Houses Along Nyhavn Canal
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I finished the night back at the Old English Pub, meeting up this time with a group of wild Swedes and a girl from Poland. I got them to drink some Hoegaarden and we exchanged travel stories, while listening to the band. Another fun night.

 

Day Ten

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