The day started off with a visit to yet another castle. This one is Rosenborg, adjacent to the Botanical Garden and housing the crown jewels. While I was there, I noticed there were a lot of police motorcycles and chauffered limousines in the driveway. I later found out that there was an official Chinese delegation visiting. Not sure what the deal is with the Denmark-China connection.
The castle is filled to the brim with collections-glassware, brass, porcelain, etc, plus the usual tapestries and paintings. The Treasury in the basement though is the most interesting part of the tour. There is a collection of swords and other arms (rather beautiful ones too). A small cellar houses a wine collection which I learned had the oldest wines in Europe (something like 400 years old). Apparently the Queen takes a small pour to ring in the new year. The pour is small because the wine does not taste very good, according to the shop lady. The crown jewels are rather spectacular. There are actually 3 crowns, with one of the older ones encrusted with jewels. They also have a lot of jewelry sets on display including a stunning emerald set.
From the castle, it's an easy walk to the Norreport train station for the ride to the Louisiana Museum in Humlebaek. The museum started in a large home and has been added on to over the years, creating a modernist meandering structure with a beautiful view over the water. The property has several outdoor sculptures on display and is currently featuring an exhibit called Colour in Art. They do a wonderful job describing how different artists used art in different ways throughout the modern history of art from the time of the Impressionists. They do a very nice job with descriptive signage to talk about the significance of art for individual artists on display and there are some wonderful examples by Olafur Eliasson, Emil Nolde, and Dan Flavin, in addition to the expected Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, etc. One artist has created a small room of mirrors and water that endlessly reflects hanging colour changing light bulbs so that when you are in the room, you feel like you are floating in an endless sea of light. It's a wonderful juxtaposition to go from viewing some wild Fauvist paintings to Yves Klein's pure blue canvas to another area with Calder mobiles. Along the path through the exhibit are windowed corridors that show you the sea and sculptures outside. This may be one of the most beautiful museums I've been in and the sky is clear with the astonishingly dramatic clouds that I've seen all week here. The museum has a small cafe with a buffet with some typical Danish dishes, but I'm not much in the mood so lunch is a strawberry tart with an elderflower soda. The shop attached to the museum is filled with Danish-designed goods, clothes, children's toys as well as typical art books and postcards.
After my afternoon respite, I head back out to Stroget for dinner, this time stopping at Europa cafe, which is across the plaza from the Cafe Norden. They have a nice avocado salad with pine nuts, mozzarella, tomatoes and bread that is the perfect size. The cafe is a lingering kind of place, and they provide magazines and newspapers in all languages. I watch as people come in, join friends, sit and chat and eat. A woman shows her friend the crazy shoe that she just bought, another a red dress. On my way back I stop to check out the windows of Royal Copenhagen, Illum (a department store), Georg Jensen (sigh...so pretty and so expensive), Wolford (interesting patterned leggings), and some rather unique fashion boutiques.
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