gordon@bolton.UUCP (Gordon Partridge) (03/23/84)
I failed to catch the name of the person who wanted information on Holland and Scandinavia, but here is a little input on Denmark at any rate. Denmark is *very* expensive. Food costs about three times what it does here. I was last in Copenhagen in November 1979, and at that time a hamburger at Burger King was about $1.50 US equivalent. If you are there in the summer, be sure to see Tivoli Gardens. It is the most beautiful amusement park in the world. One of the rides is a sort of tunnel-of-love that takes you through a sea of tropical fish. It is a few minutes of utter beauty and tranquility. Tivoli Gardens has free performances of all sorts of music and dance every evening. There are a number of restaurants that cost maybe a little less than the ones outside Tivoli's gates. Go to a beer garden in Tivoli. The atmosphere is *very* friendly. Most Danes speak English not merely well, but like British natives. In Copenhagen still, be sure to see the Glyptoteket museum. I cried in front of the statue of the Slave Girl, and the statue of the girl holding a dead bird. There is another small work, about 15 x 15 inches, that you come on suddenly as you make a turn in a narrow corridor. I won't tell you any more than that. You must see it in the context of the unexpected. I use a slide of this work in my lectures to students at The Boston School of Ballet to emphasize the importance of recognizing our own emotions in the context of art. The Kunst Museum in Copenhagen is a "good" art museum, has a lot of furniture and works of art, but in my opinion not in the same league as the Glyptoteket. Visit a brewery, such as Carlsberg. If you are very lucky, you might see a performance of The Royal Danish Ballet, in my opinion either the second or third best ballet company in the world. Their theatre is at Konigs Nytorv, a major square in Copenhagen. Walk the length of the Stroget, the no-cars-allowed shopping street. There are a *few* good buys, but in general you get what you pay for and you *pay* for what you get. My wife wanted me to bring back a goosedown comforter, but it seemed rather expensive. We found one at Bloomingdale's, same size, for about $75 less than in Copenhagen. Try to see the church that looks like organ pipes from the front. I don't recall the name, but the Danish tourist office near the Copenhagen RR station can tell you from this brief description. There are a number of castles in or near Copenhagen. All allow visitors, and the admission fees are low. Right downtown you will see one which is used for government offices mostly, but has certain rooms open to visitors. I think this is the Christiansborg palace, but I may have it confused with another. Behind the downtown palace, and part of it, is a little gem of a ballet museum attached to the old Royal Court Theatre. The tourist office can tell you how to find it. The entrance looks like the door to a custodian's room. You'd never suspect what lies behind. Hamlet's palace at Helsingfors [our Elsinor] is open to visitors, but the hours should be checked in advance. Everyone agrees that if Hamlet ever *did* exist, he died centuries before this palace was built. But it's fun to pretend. Re food once more: some of the restaurants along the eastern shoreline, 20 or 30 miles north of Copenhagen, have Sunday brunches that make the best brunch in the U.S. look like a hamburger stand! Did you know there are at least four types of pickled herring? These are expensive meals, but you've got to pig-out sometime. Gordon Partridge, GenRad, Inc., Mail Stop 98, Route 117, Bolton, MA 01740