Love is a supreme experience of life, and when it is sacrificed, it is certainly a supreme sacrifice.
Perhaps the most famous tale of sacrifice is that of the Little Mermaid, the magical fairy tale told by the 19th century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Of his numerous fairy tales, Little Mermaid is the most beloved of characters: immortalized in a bronze statue, she sits on a granite boulder close to the shore of Langelinie, in Copenhagen, wistfully waiting for her prince, towards the harbour entrance. The bronze sculpture was made by Edward Erikson and given to the city of Copenhagen in 1913 by Carl Jacobsen, a famous brewer of the Carlsberg Brewery of Copenhagen.
Copenhagen, or “Koberhavn” as the Danes call it, is a bustling seaport, commercial centre and the capital of Denmark. The city is divided on two islands-the eastern coast of Sjoelland Island, and the Amager Island, joined by a bridge. A fishing village until the 12th century, Copenhagen became a place of commercial importance because of its harbour.
Among the places Copenhagen is famous for, besides the Little Mermaid statue, is Tivoli. This place is a combination of an amusement park and an extensive garden with innumerable beautiful flowers, just in the heart of the city. Hundreds of thousands of tulips carpet the garden. Tivoli is also a place of lights, which makes it a very special place to visit once it gets dark. You can imagine the sight of about 100,000 colourful lamps beaming through the garden at night. In daytime the abundance of flowers, and in nighttime the many lights create two different atmospheres.
The famed park has been operating for over 150 years. All the usual fun-park attractions, like roller coaster, Ferris wheel, open-air performances, carnival games and food pavilions are all there. There are also traditional folk dances and a forge concert hall hosting international symphony orchestras and ballet troupes.
The main attraction for little children visiting Tivoli is the clown ‘Peirrot’ — who has a white face and a big red mouth. He asked my 9-year-old sister for her opinion on Tivoli. She said, “I don’t know how to describe it.” He replied with a big toothy grin, and quite an interesting answer. He said, the best way to describe it is just to spell the word ‘TIVOLI’ backwards! It almost reads ‘I love it’. And truly, these three words describe it very well.
Walking out to the northern corner of the Tivoli compound you find yourself on the world’s longest pedestrian mall, Stroget.
Stroget is a long chain of five streets that is replete with shops and eateries, as well as a myriad of entertainment options including street theatre. In fact, the main design of the city comprises of narrow streets, winding canals and old buildings dating back to the 17th century.
The Danish Royal Theatre (Det Korgelige Teeter) is a venue for theatre, opera, ballet and music. The current building was opened in 1874. The world famous Carlsberg Brewery is guarded by 4 giant granite elephants. Then there is the Amalienborg Palace Square, enclosed by four palaces. The Queen’s Palace and the Royal Palace are one of them, residence to the world’s oldest monarchy.
The Nyhavn Canal is a harbour front neighbourhood, lined with picturesque houses, as old as 300 years. It has been a favourite area for sailors. The old buildings and a number of old sailing ships retain the authentic maritime atmosphere.
The Round Tower (Rundetarn) dates back to 1637, when its foundation stone was laid. It is now a combination of a church, an extensive library and an observatory still used by amateur astronomers in the wintertime, making it the oldest functioning observatory in Europe. Walking round the spiral-winding walk up the 35 meters high tower is nevertheless tiring!
Entirely made of polished dark granite, the Black Diamond is an extension to the Royal Library of Copenhagen. This beautiful building reflects the water and the sky, and contains more than 300,000 books. Of the dozen or so museums in the city, the Nationalmuseet (National Museum) is sandwiched between Tivoli and Slotsholmen, a small island in the city centre. It has the biggest collection of Danish historical artifacts, dating from the Upper Paleolithic period to the mid-19th century, the main object being the Sun Chariot, which is over 3500 years old.
The Oresund Region is Europe’s most exciting region. Better known as The Human Capital, it is a strait in northern Europe separating Sweden on the east from Danish island of Sjoelland on the west. It forms part of a shipping passage between the North and Baltic Seas. The most beautiful sight is that of the bridge that connects Sweden and Denmark — the Oresvndbroen. The bridge was officially opened with an interesting ceremonial activity. Two trains, carrying the Queen of Denmark in one, and the King of Sweden in the other, departed simultaneously from their stations. The trains approached the Oresund Bridge and at each side of the bridge, the trains broke through a ribbon. This marked the bridge’s opening. While, a royal limousine, breaking through a ribbon at the border of the two countries, marked the official opening of the bridge’s motorway. Driving over the Oresund (tine ‘Sound’) bridge is an exhilarating experience in itself, since on either side of the bridge, you only see the stretching azure waters.
Love is a supreme experience of life, and when it is sacrificed, it is certainly a supreme sacrifice.
