Baltics (1 of 7) - Copenhagen, Denmark

My family and I just returned from a Baltic cruise through seven countries starting and ending in Copenhagen, Denmark. What a feast for the eyes both on the water and at the ports of call! Whether it was art galleries, all the colorful buildings, graceful sculptures, early sunrises, dramatic cloud formations or white caps on the water, it was an artist's dream vacation. The cruise ship was also beautifully decorated with plenty of fine art everywhere.

This painting (left) with its sunkissed buildings flanking the canal was hanging in the ship's art gallery. The artist really captured the mood of Copenhagen. I don't recall which direction the sun is coming from but if I had to guess I'd say it was at sunset. My photograph (right) is much grayer, but you can still see the reflections of the buildings in the canal. The canal tour was also very informative.

My daughter and I got up quite early the day after our late arrival and walked around along the edge of the canal in search of the Little Mermaid (by Edvard Eriksen). We saw a copy of Michelangelo's David with the artist's name misspelled! Luckily for us, not many others were up at 8 a.m. and the buses full of tourists hadn't yet streamed in to swarm the shores. We were able to stroll through a very large park as well. At its entrance were statues of Greek Gods, Hermes and Poseidon.

We had three days to explore Copenhagen prior to boarding our ship, The Hop-On-Hop-Off buses were an affordable and convenient way to see the city and all the sights to be had.

This unusual tower atop the 17th-century Old Stock Exchange (Borsen) is adorned with four dragons whose tails intertwine to form a spire. It's difficult to see them, but there are three crowns on the very top that symbolize the Scandinavian empire (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden).

Unfortunately, the tower was destroyed in a fire in April of 2024, almost 5 years after our amazing trip. Like the cathedral of Notre Dame, at least we were able to see it while it was still intact. So very sad!

We visited two palaces -- Amalienborg and Rosenborg -- and two art museums -- Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK) and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek -- each with plenty to see. The SMK link will take you to the painting of Amalienborg Palace Square (1896) by Vilhelm Hammershøi, and my photo (right) shows you what it looks like today.

Among my favorites at SMK were: Rembrandt, Kirchner, Munch, Matisse, Picasso, and Modigliani.

"Landscape from Saint Rémy" (1889)

See Link, Camille Pissarro (1901)

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek was so impressive that I have to highlight my five favorites. They are Van Gogh (left), Pissarro (right), Monet (below left), Manet (below right), and Degas.
Degas sculptures were also on display, along with Rodin's "The Kiss".

"The Absinthe Drinker" (1858-9)

'Pyramids', Claude Monet (1886)

Monet's 'Pyramids' (1886) was quite impressive in person. 

It was fun to see the collection of works by Manet. 

My daughter pointed out that she could see faint outlines of the 1st dancer's arm behind the column.

At Rosenborg Castle, I saw a kind of painting I've never seen before. It was pleated like a chef's hat and behaved much like the interference pattern of a hologram but instead of producing a 3-dimensional image it contained two different portraits. So glad I didn't miss that! My students will love this!!