Good day for mermaids. 8/30/18

We are in Copenhagen, Denmark where it is a good day for mermaids, and also for fish, ducks, and umbrellas. The weather has really been superb with no rain and temperatures in the upper 60’s and low 70’s during our trip. But today it is raining. We don our weather gear and go looking for the Little Mermaid.

Straight from the pages of Hans Christian Anderson it is the Little Mermaid forever gazing towards land looking for her prince.

We spend the next two and a half hours with Sherman, our guide, as he walks us around Copenhagen and lets us in on the secret of why Denmark is the world’s happiest nation. Could it be their glorious past? They have a lot of statues reminding them of it.

This is a statue about the mythological founding of Zealand, the island where Copenhagen is situated. Swedish King Gylfi promised Gefion all the territory she could plow in one night figuring she would only be able to manage one acre. Crafty Gefion turned her sons into oxen and plowed up a lot of land which they threw into the sea creating Zealand. The hole became Lake Varnen in Sweden which is about the same size and shape as Zealand.

Gefion driving her four oxen sons to plow the land for Zealand

And then there are the statues of former Fredericks.

King Frederick V who spent so much money that he had to keep having wars to grab land from Sweden that he could sell back to them
King Frederick IX who started the welfare state and encouraged women to have a place in the work force

Finally sometimes it is good to put up a statue to remind you that you (Denmark) did some terrible things in the past that you wish to atone for. This statue of the slave, Queen Mary, was erected this year.

I am Queen Mary is a depiction of a female slave who started a rebellion on St. Croix (at that time under Danish rule) in 1878. Even though slavery was outlawed in 1792 it continued in the Caribbean well into the 19th century.

Sherman tells us that the Swedes are their sworn enemies. It seems like Sweden and Denmark have been feuding for years. Really? It is hard to tell all these blond people apart. Even though Sherman tells us that Denmark has become very good at surrendering, we can see traces of their militarism.

Changing of the guard at the Queen’s palace
Look! A cannon and a windmill at their Citadel
Finally here are some army personnel standing at attention after riding their bicycles to headquarters

Maybe churches make them happy? Denmark is mostly Lutheran although not so many people attend services.

Marble Church which isn’t really marble because King Frederick V did not have enough money to finish it
Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church built in the late 19th century because Princess Dagmar married the tsar-to-be Alexander

As we wind up the morning tour we must face the fact that although they pay 50% of their income in taxes in exchange for free health care, generous maternity/paternity leave, free higher education (actually the government pays you to go to college), job retraining if you quit a job you don’t like, old age pensions, liveable wages, etc. they are not miserable. In fact they are the happiest nation in the world.

During our afternoon tour we find some other reasons they are happy, great food! John and I take the Food Lovers tour which centers around the Copenhagen Market. The guide gives us so many treats that it is hard to swallow them fast enough.

At the end of today we are feeling pretty happy too!