We still wanted to do a lot of things today, so we started with the freshness of 10 am at the National History Museum. It is a good exhibition that highlights the many ups and downs of Danish history. You would not guess it because the people of Copenhagen are so laidback, but as a nation they were involved in many wars with their neighbors, and tried to do their fair share of colonial imperialism. They had colonies in Ghana (and were active participants in the slave trade), the Danish Antilles (now the US Virgin Islands), and India.
Regarding the kings engaged in European wars, it is a bit difficult to keep track of who is who because the names Fredrick and Christian got reused time and again for the different kings.
Our next stop was at the Copenhagen History Museum, which was not great in terms of museography, but showed some vignettes of the city through the two World Wars, the post-war reconstruction period, and the progressive development of the city we see today. A couple of days ago, while we were in the bikes, coming back from the Heritage Palace, we crossed through many suburban areas dominated by single-family homes, which together with clusters of modern apartment buildings add considerably to the housing options of this city. Lucas and I got talking and we both agreed that Copenhagen is a much more attractive city than Stockholm or Helsinki and has much more of a vibe to it. For example, this week is Pride Week, and every night there has been a big concert in Nørreport to prime the crowds for the big Pride Parade that will take place on Sunday.
Still fascinated by the royal palaces, we visited Amalienborg, which since the fire that destroyed Christianborg has become the home of the royal family. It is formed by four separate houses that had been built by aristocrats, who under considerable royal pressure sold them to the crown, so all the family can "live together", just like if it were an old Mafia complex. The King Christian X (who seems to be well loved by the Danes) and his wife live in one of the houses, the dowager Queen lives in another, and cousins and uncles share the other two. The Amalienborg museum conserves the working offices of the last three kings, shows they were messy packrats, and also houses the jewelry designed by Fabergé (but only one small egg).
After a bit of rest in the house we headed out again, intent on seeing the solar eclipse. I had not seen much excitement about the eclipse around the city (remember Lucas had a hard time finding eclipse glasses), but by the time we got to the metro a considerable throng was heading for the Amagerstrand beach, a short barrier bar on the east of the city, but with enough of a lagoon to promise a good view of the sun. At its maximum the Moon was to cover only 80% of the sun, at 8 pm and at an elevation angle with the horizon of only 6 degrees. Thanks to our glasses we were able to follow the progress of the eclipse from 7:10 pm to its maximum coverage at 8:03 pm. The surrounding light was a bit subdued when the eclipse reached its maximum, but you could not look at the sun directly and no corona was formed. Lucky the people in Spain who had a full totality!
The return home was crowded, but it is amazing at what rate the metro can move people with a new train coming every five minutes. Tomorrow I will use the same metro, which runs all night, to go to the airport and start on the way home.
So I said goodbye to my dear Géraldine and Lucas. It was great to have traveling companions to explore Scandinavia. I must, however, go back to a very hot California (but all of Europe is going through a heat wave so we all seem to be in the same boat) to get ready for the new semester, which starts next week. I will be teaching my regular Development and Management of Water Resources, and two classes I have not taught for years: Sedimentary Rocks for the upper division students, and History of Earth and Life for lower division students. It should be a fun semester.
My route back will be Copenhagen to London Heathrow, a two hour layover, and an 11-hour trip London to San Francisco. I am not looking forward to the latter.
Finis
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