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Saturday, December 17, 2011

City of The Little Mermaid




The aircraft took a circle to descend, as the lovely Oresund Bridge connecting Copenhagen and Malmo on the straight which separates Denmark with Sweden appeared in sight. It looked tantalizing, with a constant flow of vehicles, as viewed from mid air.  While landing, the heart almost skips a beat to see the sea on either side of the runway as Kastrup Airport is located on the island of Amager. As we walked out of the airport and proceeded to the hotel we came across more sights which were straight out of fairy tales! One cannot help but fall in love at the first sight with this mesmerizing city, the birth place of Hans Christian Anderson!

Copenhagen is seeped in history of past and modernity. There is a sharp contrast between the historical pearls like the Royal Castle Amalienborg , Rundetaarn( the Round Tower- the oldest observatory), and Church of Our Savior at one end to the modern building equipped with latest technology to conserve power by light sensing devices to turn on/off the power in the rooms and passages! This is perhaps the only city where an amusement park called ‘The Tivoli Garden’ stands majestically in the city centre! It has beautiful gardens, roller coaster rides, gourmet restaurants bars and out door stages.

Our next halt was the statue of The Little Mermaid!

The statue of The Little Mermaid sits on a rock in the harbor of the capital of Denmark. Based on a tale by Hans Christian Anderson, the small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction. It was a moment to relive the fantasy of childhood to see the demure structure of the nude mermaid looking for the ‘prince charming’. I stood awestruck, imagining that she was the one who would appear day after day from the sea to look for him.

The small size of the statue surprises tourists visiting Langelinie. The Little Mermaid statue is only 1.25 metres high and weighs around 175 kg. The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg the 5th largest beer manufacturer in the world. He 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. The sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913. The statue's head was modeled after Price, but as the ballerina did not agree to model in the nude, so the sculptor's wife Eline Eriksen was used for the body. The site draws huge crowds of tourists and school children.

The sky turned dark as the light faded. The neon lights had come on converting the city into a dream world with glitter of lights! The Nyhavn, water front area and the longest pedestrian street Stroget( almost 3.2 km long) come to life! It is a shopper’s paradise with the classiest shops and department stores. We felt happy to have had a brush with the fairy from such close quarter and flavored the modern life of this lovely city!

 The Statue of Little Mermaid
 Rundetaaren
Stroget


PS- Images kind courtesy Google

30 comments:

  1. I would love to visit someday. it sounds magical

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  2. When will I get to see such lovely places. Your narration makes them more desirable...:)

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  3. 'Denmark at its best'. This trip to Denmark should be etched in your memory for a very long time!!!

    From: www.sriramnivas.com

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  4. Sounds great. Oh Gosh! When will I get my turn to visit all these?? I would love to make a travel blog to share my traveling experiences. These pictures make me feel like calling. lol ;) Enjoy!!

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  5. seems like an intresting place:)thanks for sharing

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  6. like others i would also love to be there..:)

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  7. Is this part of a world tour?
    I really envy that you and your wife have the time to visit all these lovely places and enjoy it. It is really wonderful reading about your travels.

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  8. The Little Mermaid is so famous and yeah its sort of anti climax when you get a glimpse of it. Its small. Yeah, are you on a world tour?

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  9. I've always loved The Little Mermaid :)
    I wish I could visit such a place :)

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  10. You narrate perfectly... would love to visit this place :)

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  11. Wow, sounds magical! Would love to go there someday.

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  12. Wow. I love your travel stories. You should publish a book with these travel snippets.

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  13. wow... mermaid... interesting..
    i watched mermaids in animated as well as real movies...
    story behind dis is very interesting..
    loved it Sir...

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  14. I envy you, Rahul. I would love to visit this place someday in the future. I am fascinated with mermaids.

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  15. Wonderfully described Rahul ji. I could visualise the place very clearly in my head as your narration was so precise.
    Would love to visit the place someday.
    Hope you are having a nice week.

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  16. Lovely photos and writing, Rahul. Hope you had a great time and hope you tried some Danish butter cookies!

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  17. The Status of the Little Mermaid. Wow :O
    All the places as a matter of fact, too beautiful .. Your narration is perfect!

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  18. Great shots of Copenhagen!

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  19. Hello All, Thanks a ton for your wonderful comments and liking the write up!. These stories are from my travel taken at different times and some scrap records made..:)I am not on a world tour but am foot loose and look forward to each opportunity to travel! I was away after this post, in accessible to net most of the time on a place close to Ganges basin in Bay of Bengal at a place called Raichak near Kolkata. My stories would be meaningless without your lovely comments and support.I read your posts with gusto and missed them while I was away :)

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  20. I feel like visiting the place. Very beautiful pictues and nice description.
    Wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.
    You are welcome at my new posts-
    http://urmi-z-unique.blogspot.com
    http://amazing-shot.blogspot.com

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  21. Mermaids are magical - and so is your post! Merry christmas and a happy new year to you!

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  22. To tell you the truth...I hate copenhagen....I had a terrible working experience over there so now it's banned form my favorite places in the world....

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  23. @Urmi- Thanks a lot! Wishin you the same
    @ Martina- Yes they are! Thanks for liking
    @ Francesca= Sometimes bitter experiences leave bitter memories of a place!So I can empathiZe...

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  24. WOW NIce places

    Love
    http://www.meghasarin.blogspot.com

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  25. Thanks you , Megha! Best wishes for the New Year !

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  26. Copenhagen is considered to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
    consider yourself blessed for seeing all these places.
    :)

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  27. Thanks harman! Yes I consider myself blessed to have seen this place!

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