The trip at the top of the world: Copenhagen, Day 21: Rosenborg Castle.

This morning, I decided to walk to Rosenborg Castle, that beautiful building we saw yesterday. I was determined to see it all.
on the way, I walked through a lovely little park, and decided that this is where I’d come back to eat my lunch. Yes, another couple of bread rolls pinched from breakie.

A bit of rough housing…

He reminded me of Mr Tumnus from ‘ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.’

I arrived at Rosenborg Castle and the first thing I heard was drumming. I had a few minutes to spare, so I raced around the corner in time to see this.

It’s a fairy tale castle if ever I’ve seen one.

I took this after I finished the tour. I loved this place and I took quite a few photos, but I’m only showing you the interesting stuff. No Crown Jewels… they’re the same everywhere.

This is a painting from Christian IV’s writing room, of his son Duke Ulrik with an incredibly ugly dog.

Here’s his writing desk, covered in gold because why not?

His loo. It was tiled from floor to ceiling, which, if it was true then as it is today, would have been very expensive. The loo led down to the castle moat.

A 3D ceiling which looked very impressive. It was in a room made from Italian imitation marble. Maybe the budget was blown in the loo.

Ivory carvings. Imagine the skill to be able to make a chain…

A clever little picture. Stand on one side and it’s a picture of the prince.

Stand to the other side and it’s a picture of his sister.

This face on the top of a mirror made me laugh!

I’m here for these legs. Loving them.

Christian V had this room decorated like the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.
There is a place on the floor that was also mirrored. Was he upskirting?

I tend to think he probably was. I’m sure many a private party took place here, especially as the guidebook says that he kept all his erotica in the next room…

This chandelier is made of amber. Isn’t it pretty? The tapestries were made in Berlin. Do you remember the embroidery that I bought in Vietnam? It’s the size of a regular picture and it took a woman 3 months to make. Imagine the time – and money – spent on all of the tapestries in this castle?

This birdcage has a mechanical bird in it. I included it because the Hans Christian Andersen story, ‘The Nightingale’, had a vain emperor who preferred an artificial nightingale over the real thing.
Life imitating art, perhaps?

Looking out of the window to what used to be the pleasure gardens.

Oddly enough, the top floor ballroom was one of my favourite places here. The open space made it easy to imagine what it would have been like to attend a function here.
There were thrones at either end of the hall, just in case the monarchs wanted to sit down, I suppose.

Now, this was ridiculous, but apparently it was a huge hit in its day.

All the LOLs.

Farting and wetting yourself… classic humour.

I can’t remember which king these armies were made for, but when he was a child, he was encouraged to play war games with them to sharpen his skills for warfare.

I included this collection of walking sticks because the one in the middle is made of a narwhal tusk. The lid at the top hides a space where the king could put scented lotions to sweeten himself up if he got a bit whiffy.

Can you imagine them ever slowing their boats to 5 knots an hour to avoid disturbing the narwhals, like we did in Greenland?

This is an example of ivory turning, which was, according to the information cards here, an essential part of royal education. This particular one was made by Princess Louise of England, who married a princess over here and them promptly died in childbirth, poor thing.

But look at the skill she had!

I couldn’t help showing you this. Zoom in on the dragons on either side. They’re exquisite.

Now this woman was really interesting. Kirsten Munk.

She was King Christian IV’s morganatic wife. She couldn’t be his official queen because she wasn’t royal, but she was his legal un-queen wife, giving him 12 children in 14 years.
Meanwhile, of course, while Christian was in love with her, he also had to have royal babies, so he was also legally married to royal ladies.

Unfortunately, their love came to an end, and it turned bitter. When he was dying, he asked for her, but she got there too late. Her children married into powerful families, so I guess she had the last laugh.

I so enjoyed my time here. For lunch, I went back to the park with the sculptures and found a bench to settle on, overlooking the lake.

And look who I met!
Silke, who is 9 years old, like Scout. What a beautiful girl.
I miss Scout…

Tonight we are on a ferry to Norway. The adventure continues.

Dad joke of the day: