Maybe you heard that the Danish Queen abdicated and so there is now a new king in Denmark?
Less than a week before the proclamation day* of the new king I suddenly felt like I needed to be in Denmark for that. Not so much for the proclamation but because of the, now retired, Queen. I wanted to be there to celebrate her, since she has abdicated and so she is still alive. Contrary to how the previous monarch is usually dead when a new one is proclaimed… So we could…I dunno… say thank you to her.
So it was a mad dash to find some (luckily) cheap plane tickets and a hotel to stay in. My mum decided to come to Copenhagen too (they live in a different part of the country) so we got to have a nice weekend together.
*There is no coronation in Denmark. The statsminister (prime minister) simply announces three times from the balcony of Borgen that “previous monarch is dead (usually, but not this time since Queen Margrethe abdicated), long live the new monarch”. And that’s it. Denmark has a monarch by the grace of the people and the parliament, not by the grace of god and a feudal system. ;-)
It was cold in Copenhagen! This is the day after the proclamation when we went to Amalienborg to see the changing of the guards. With the wind chill it was -10°C. Thankfully, it wasn’t that cold the previous day when we waited for several hours to see the proclamation from the balcony at Christiansborg (Borgen), the Danish parliament building.
Below are pictures of some food I had and a couple of pictures from Sommerfuglen, a lovely yarn and embroidery shop. :-)
I made a little video of the trip which you can watch here.
I came back from Denmark with a cold that put me out of commission for most of the rest of January. So I’m still feeling like I’m behind with everything. But it was worth it. I got to see history being made! And I had a lovely weekend with my mum and I was in Denmark and there was snow and really what more could you ask for? :-D
Places to eat some vegan food: Rossopomodoro, Cafe Kaf, Espresso House and Eden Jaxx.
I am not Danish (I’m from the US), but I have alwasy admired Queen Magrethe from afar. I don’t have any knowledge of the Danish government, but she always seemed to me to have an interesting personality and be a faithful monarch. Personally I love all her artistic endeavors, both of the fiber arts variety and in other areas (stage design and stuff). I’m glad you got to be there for the changeover, and I hope she will have a wonderful and enjoyable retirement!