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LL HAVEA, Every now and then, when | meet someone and tell them | am Dutch, they assume | was born in Denmark. Coincidentally, a friend from Denmark experiences a similar problem in that people think she is from the Nether- lands. Totally bewildered by this pre- dicament, | decided to visit Denmark in an effort to solve the mystery. Copenhagen, Denmark's capital city was originally settled by German traders, which is probably why so much of the architecture resembles that of Western Europe. This is espe- cially true in picturesque areas such as Nyhavn (New Harbour) where the colourful buildings, which line the harbour, closely resemble Amster- im. jam. The city of Copenhagen lies on the Baltic Sea, a stone’s throw from Sweden. Its nearly two million inhab- itants enjoy the waterfront on a regu- lar basis and | wasted no time finding a quaint little spot where | could enjoy some herrings and a glass of Aquavit. | was fortunate the weather was perfect and once | became ac- customed to Scandinavian prices, | quite enjoyed my surroundings. One of the best ways to see Copenhagen is on a harbour cruise and | immediately secured the first available boat. The first thing | no- ticed was how picturesque the city is. A new opera house, affectionately known as ‘the toaster’, is by far one of the finest in the world and at a cost of $500 million, is certainly the most expensive in the world. My hotel was a former palace which had been renovated and was conveniently located next to the pedestrian mall. From Nyhavn to my hotel was about a 20 minute walk, however, the hundreds of unique 07. JULY FOCUS 64 pages.indd 63 The bronze statue of Hans Christian An- derson’s “Little Mermaid” has been on view for almost 100 years in Copenhagen. shops tend to turn a stroll into an all- day affair. Numerous designer out- lets and restaurants line the cobble- stone street, but nothing beats the site of a gigantic Lego store. Directly across from the hotel was the world famous Tivoli Gar- dens. This 15 acre amusement park was built in 1843 and is still one of the city’s finest attractions. Its main attraction is the wooden roller coast- er built in 1915. It is still in operation and is the oldest in the world. re are dozens of restaurants and interesting attractions, as well as many rides. Each evening around the dinner hour a military band marches along the main street while tourists admire and take photo- graphs. The most famous landmark in Copenhagen is the Little Mermaid, ANISH, PLEASE! fashioned after Hans Christian An- dersen’s beloved children’s story. The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg Beer, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairy tale in Copenha- gen’s Royal Theatre and asked the prima ballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue. The sculp- tor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue, which was unveiled in 1913. The statue’s head was modelled after Price, but as the ballerina would not agree to model in the nude, the sculptor’s wife was used for the body. In 1964 the statue's head was removed during an artist’s upris- ing and was never recovered. A new head was created; however, the statue was constantly being defaced and marred. In 1998 the statue was once again decapitated and the culprits were never found. Mysteriously the head was deliv- ered to a local television station and was once again replaced. This time however, it was filled with concrete to avoid further desecra- tion. The government decided to move the statue a few meters off the shore; however, in recent years it has been covered in paint, shrouded in a burqa, as a state- ment against Turkey joining the European Union and in 2003 was the victim of a bomb which sent it hurtling into the ocean. In 2010 the statue was moved to Shanghai and proudly sat in the Danish Pavilion at the world’s fair. It was the first time this famous landmark had ever left Denmark. It has been retumed once again, FOCUS - JULY 2012 63 12-06-25 11:32 AM