Copenhagen is enchanted.

My friend and I arrived at the train station in Copenhagen at around 12 pm. It was quite an easy journey from the Copenhagen airport to the city. The train only took around 10 minutes.

This is the view from our hotel room. It's the Marriott Copenhagen by the water. It's not in the center of the city but it was only 10 minutes away by foot. It had a fantastic view of the water and the island across from mainland . After staying at Happy and Young hostel in Paris, I will never stay in a hostel ever again. I showered in a stall that flooded with other people's hair and had my luggage opened. So I had to pick a nicer hotel this time around.

View from the hotel's 9th floor. The spire is from the Church of Our Saviour (Vor Frelsers Kirke). Not only is it unique and decorative, but the spire also serves as a staircase for visitor to climb and see the city. In the distance, which you can barely make out, is the Middelgrunden which is a wind farm in the sea. There are 20 giant turbines and they power over 3% of Copenhagen.

Another view of from the hotel. This picture shows one of the thing I love about Copenhagen--the city is so beautifully unified by the towers and green patina roofs. Each and everyone of the towers is unique but still they bring together a sense of uniformity for the skyline.

A closer look at the tallest tower from the picture above. It is the City Hall.

Don't really know what that building is, but that Christmas tree is powered by these bicycles that you can ride at the base of it. I got quite a work out from trying to light up the tree myself. It shows how Denmark is addressing the problems with energy and the environment. It's such an innovative solution to lighting up the tree. Throughout the city are also bicycle lanes. It's amazing how many people ride bikes here!

On the Strøget, the longest pedestrian-only shopping street in Europe, with another beautiful tower. But I don't know what it is.

The Magasin du Nord, the biggest department store in Copenhagen. Quite fancy with expensive Scandinavian fashion that I, sadly, could not afford.

The Royal Danish Theatre--reminds me of a smaller, less ornate Opera Garnier.

It's hard to believe that the building in the centre with the tower is home to the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The CSE is the oldest stock exchange in Europe. And that wicked tower is made up of the tails of four dragons twisted into a spire. It's unlike anything else huh.

The Rosenborg Castle--a former royal castle.
It houses the royal jewels but we didn't know that nor did we go in. Since we only had one and a half day in the city, we pretty much just wandered around the city. We thought going into museums and castles would have killed too much of our time. We wanted to see as much of Copenhagen as we could in the short amount of time we had. Thankfully Copenhagen is not a big city so we got to see just the right amount of sights during the time we were there. While I didn't know what was what, I still got to learn and appreciate the city just from the architecture.

The gardens of the castle.
Sadly, most of the leaves were gone.

Child strangling a goose with a lot, a lot, and a lot of leaves all raked into the fountain.

Row houses in a nice colour palette.

A windmill!

This was the sight as we walked to see the ever so famous Little Mermaid sculpture. The body of water that is closer to you is a moat surrounding a fortress.

The Little Mermaid!
...who looks quite sad and Survival of the Fittest featuring the Fat Lady, Justitia, sitting on top of a poor, starving African Man. It was put up for the UN Climate Change Conference. The sculpture is meant to symbolise the rich countries making "the best" decisions for poor countries.

The Copenhagen Opera House.
It's quite monumental and nicely designed. Don't you think so?

The Amalienborg.
This royal palace was kind of disappointing. No crowd was gathered there to take pictures like how people gather at Buckingham Palace. And it doesn't seem to have heightened security that shouts "if you trespass, we will shoot you." Queen Margrethe II, the reigning queen, is said to be quite beloved by the people. She's a major chain smoker and is friendly to her people.

The Marble Church!
I was completely surprised when we stumbled upon this. We were walking in, what we thought was, a residential area. The buildings were all kind of the same then we came around a corner to see this beautiful domed church. It was also free to go in. The inside wasn't as fantastic as the outside but we got to heat up a little bit inside.

The Nyhavn.
It's a canal lined with some very colourful buildings and restaurants. We ate there on our last night. I had a piece of deer, a chocolate cake, and the best mulled wine I have had. The mulled wine had some sort of nuts in it with raisins.

A closer look at the Church of Our Saviour.
It was closed that day but I got a peek of the inside which had an incredible altar piece.

Dinner on the first night.
We tried for like an hour looking for a place to eat that night. It was completely dark by 4 and a lot of restaurants were closed or asked for reservations. We finally found this place after walking around in the rain. That beer was also the beer I've ever had. It was a Christmas beer that is only made during the holiday season. I think it had cranberry juice in it.

The Tivoli!!!

Sadly, we didn't go in but it looked like tons of fun. They charge an admission fee and also a fee for each ride. Walt Disney is said to have been inspired by the Tivoli.

Tivoli at night.
All in all, I completely loved Copenhagen from start to end. I talked so much about it that my friends got tired of me. It was the perfect city for the amount of time we had. We did not need to take the bus or metro during our time there. It only took us 45 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Although the locals didn't seem particularly friendly at first, they were nice and helpful after you approach them. Best of all, they all speak perfect English. That made traveling, asking for information, and ordering food a lot easier.

The city was also a pleasant break away from all the other cities I have seen, especially Italy. I absolutely loved the green patina roofs that are scattered throughout the city, the unique towers, and the brick buildings that were everywhere. Like the title of the post suggests, Copenhagen is enchanted. ;)

Paris

I do not know where to start describing the beauty of this city. It's just so...fantastic!

I am the Sun King. Welcome to my gardens!

My gardens are grand and beautiful so there's no need to show you my chateau.

Beyond 24k gold.

Apollo driving his chariot.

He is breaking out of the rocks.

She is playing with roses.

My mighty fountain.

Okay, the truth is I did not have time to go into the Palace of Versailles and the gardens are free to enter. They are quite magnificent. Wouldn't you agree?

I Saw Queen Elizabeth II Twice

Last Wednesday, 18 November, was the State Opening of the British Parliament. It takes place once a year and there's a royal procession where the Queen travels from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster to deliver a speech written by the government. The speech, called the Speech from the Throne, outlines the agenda of the Parliament for the upcoming session.

There are tons of pomp and circumstance and ceremonial traditions involved in this event. Before the Queen arrives at the Palace of Westminster, the Yeomen of the Guard search the grounds of the Palace for any bomb. This tradition originated all the way back to 1605 when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Palace in the Gunpowder Plot (...Remember, Remember, the 5th of November.). To futhur ensure the Queen's safety, a member of the House of Commons is held hostage at Buckingham Palace.

Before the Queen's carriage, the Imperial State Crown travels to Westminster in its own carriage. As the Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, they play God Save the Queen. When the Queen arrives at Westminster, (and she arrives at her own entrance, the Sovereign's Entrance) she changes into the a special ceremonial robe to address the House of Lords and Commons.

The ceremony only takes around 30-45 minutes. So I waited for the Queen at Buckingham Palace when she left, then I walked to the Palace of Westminster to see her again as she left to go home. So I got to see her twice! Unknown to myself, I also got to see the Imperial State Crown and Princess Anne.

The Imperial State Crown traveling to Palace of Westminster.

Dozens of guards on horse arriving at Buckingham Palace to protect the Queen during her procession to Westminster.

The Queen's carriage arrives to pick her up.

Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen...!!!

It's the Queen again!!! I promise she's in there although Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is on the side closer to me.

Florence

After two and a half day in Venice, our next stop was Florence. As a major city in Italy, I expected Florence to be a big city. Instead, it is a small, very walkable city of uniform beauty. From one end of Florence to the other, it only takes 45 minutes on foot. You don't even need to take buses to get around. Throughout this walk, nearly all of the buildings have the same red roof. I have never been to a city quite like it. London, on the other hand, is a city of jumbled architectural styles.

The highlight of Florence was the Uffizi. A few month ago, I had featured Madonna with the Long Neck by Parmigianino. The painting is a bit smaller than I expected but it is just as exquisite as I imagined it. While I stood in front of for like three minutes viewing at various angles, it was sadly ignored by most museum goers. The most incredible two paintings, however, are Botticelli's Primavera and The Birth of Venus. There was an amazing sense of lightness to the paintings and the wind that is depicted is surreal.

From Venice to Florence

The Ponte Vecchio or the Old Bridge--it's a lot like the old London Bridge that no longer exists. Today, the Bridge is occupied by jewelers which makes it overwhelmingly touristy. The view from the Bridge, nonetheless, is still photo perfect.

The Rape of the Sabine Women

The Palazzo Vecchio or the Old Palace is the town hall of Florence. At the entrance of it, you can make out a replica of Michelanglo's David. The real David is house at the Academia which I also visited. Without a doubt, David is overwhelmingly majestic. When you enter the Accademia, you will see David at the end of a long, dimmed hall with a soft spotlight lit on David. All attention is focused on this 17 feet sculpture.

Duomo of Florence

Gates of Paradise

Mike Zhang, this one is for you.

Porcellino--this is Florence's version of "if you touch this, you will return." Sadly, I didn't touch it but hopefully I will return one day. =)

The food in Florence was absolutely delightful! I had some rabbit and boar meat. (The boar was fantastic!) The best dish though was a pasta dish with walnut sauce. No pasta will ever beat it!

The last thing I must comment negatively on is the condition of the museums and palaces in Italy. The Uffizi was intolerably warm and humid like many other Italian museums and palaces. It was strange to me that a country with such priceless artworks allows its works of art to be kept in such adverse conditions that can cause irreversably damages.

Greetings

Filmed at the Tate Modern's video postcard desk.

Santa Maria della Salute

The sky and atmosphere make Venice the most romantic of any city that I have been to. I cannot emphasize enough the beauty of the sky. The sky has a special glow to it which is probably due to the haze.

Along with the sky, one of the most beautiful spot in Venice is, in my opinion, Santa Maria della Salute. It's said to be the most photographed church in Italy. Although my friends and I were unable to go in to it, because we were not there at the right time, the exterior alone was enough to amaze me. The exterior is heavily discolored by pollution, but I thought it adds so much more character and drama to the building and its sculptures.

I took a few photos of the church from various points of view and time (The last photo is a view taken . I hope these photos can translate my feelings about Venice and the church into something you can understand and inspire you as well.