Nationalmuseet, Carlsberg, Little Mermaid

We started Sunday with a walk along the canal to the Nationalmuseet. It was supposed to be crappy weather, so we'd planned an indoor day.

The Nationalmuseet is divided into two halves. One half has artifacts and displays on cultures from all around the world. It's pretty comprehensive and covers all continents and major groups of peoples. The only truly interesting thing on this side of the museum though, are the few small rooms dedicated to Greenlandic native peoples. Denmark "owns" Greenland, and so is probably one of the only places to see a collection of this type. Throughout the museum, there are explanations of everything in English.

On the other side of the museum, the displays are dedicated to documenting the history of the people of Jutland (modern day Denmark) from the time of Neanderthals. The exhibits are very well done and attractively displayed. One of the coolest rooms has about 10 rune stones, which were erected as tributes to the dead. They weren't grave stones and weren't erected anywhere near where the deceased was buried, but instead on a promontory or at an intersection of major roads, where they were more likely to be seen.

Next stop was the Carlsberg beer factory tour. Unfortunately, a major part of the building is under construction, but that didn't deter us. Despite the construction, you could still visit the Jutland horse stables and get two free glasses (each!!) of the beer of your choice from the bar. Not too shabby.

Next we tried to get lunch unsuccessfully for about an hour and finally decided to just get a snack and try again later. We decided to walk along the harbor. First, we passed the Marmokirken, or marble church. We didn't go inside because it's supposed to be much better from the outside and we weren't feeling churchy.

Immediately behind the church is the Amelienbourg Slot, or Royal Palace. Denmark still has a monarchy, including a Queen, prince, and princess. The palace is actually a grouping of four palaces, for all the different parts of the family. None of the flags were flying when we were there, I think because they were all probably at the pope's funeral.

Further along the waterfront, we spotted the new Danish opera building and an adorable little church.

And, finally, the main event, the Little Mermaid...

After that, it was time to head home to Zurich.