I stopped by the Palace at noon to watch the changing of the Royal Guards. With no music accompanying their baby-step marching, I knew no Royals were in residence. Tourists packed the square to see the performance, which lasted all of ten minutes. What I found far more entertaining than the furry-headed fellows was to watch the other guards who patrolled the area try and stop people sitting on the sidewalks and steps without actually saying anything. First of all they stomped their feet and banged their rifles on the ground. If that didn’t work, they’d attempt to make eye contact with the culprit and use an “all rise” hand gesture. And finally, as a last resort, one of them yelled, “Hey! Off!”

 

From there I walked along the water and paid the obligatory visit to The Little Mermaid. Bearing in mind the number of folks sprawling all over the poor dear wanting to get a photograph with her, I was amazed at the shot I came away with.

For the next couple of hours, I wandered around the Inner City trying not to get knocked down by the dozens of cyclists that passed by, many of which have small carts attached in front, like rickshaws, for carrying kids, pets and shopping. I didn’t do it but there are bike “borrow” points throughout the inner city whereby you pay a deposit of 20 KR, take a bike and then return it to any of the 110 bike racks. For more information on Bycyklen, visit http://www.bycyklen.dk/.

In addition to the Inner City, Copenhagen is made up of several distinct neighborhoods: Fredericksberg, Vesterbro, Norrebro, Christianshavn, and Islands Brygge. If you want to venture out to these by bike, you’ll need to rent.

I went passed the Round Tower, or Rundetårn, located on Købmagergade, but decided not to make the ascent for the panoramic city view, and then walked along Strøget, the main shopping street. Last stop was a walk-by Tivoli Gardens, before hopping a bus back over the bridge to pick up my bags.

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