Denmark 2005
All these shots were taken on a VERY cold day in Copenhagen
A tall statue near the Copenhagen town hall of Two Vikings blowing horns.
Me sitting at the feet of the Hans Christian Anderson statue.
The Little Mermaid Bronze Statue. The statue is based on a mythical sea king's mermaid daughter who, according to the Hans Christian Andersen tale, falls in love with a prince and must wait 300 years to become human. Vandals have often targeted the 90-year-old statue - She has been beheaded twice. Once, her arm was amputated. She has been doused in paint at least six times. Each time, city officials fix and clean the statue, which draws at least 1 million visitors a year. In 2003, vandals tried to blow her off her base with explosives. She had a 2.8-inch wide hole in the knee and a smaller hole in the wrist and deep scratches on her face.
A glass drinking horn in the city museum. It was very ornate and it is amazing that it had survived intact all these centuries.
A large rune stone. There were about 30 of these behemoths that filled a room as they had once sat in a field.
While I was in the museum avoiding the snow, they put on a 17th century fashion show and I took a bunch of pictures for Laurel. This is just one of the more ornate dresses – the embroidery on the skirt was very detailed.
A crazy-ornately carved honeymoon bed. According to the plaque, the bed would be brought out in front of the wedding guests and the marriage would be consummated in front of everyone. Talk about pressure and the possibility for stage-fright…
A fantastic statue of St. George slaying the dragon – my very favorite medieval theme! This one was from a church somewhere in Denmark and was amazing in its detail. Probably the best one that I have ever seen.
Viking drinking horns. It was easy to imagining Olaf and Sven drinking mead and speaking of plunder and of conquered women while looking at these horns that were probably reserved for special occasions – plundering is a special occasion…
A very ornate drinking horn with matching dinner knife.
Copenhagen town hall. A wedding was taking place there as I snapped this picture.
The weather as I drove out of the city. It snowed and snowed.