THE WATSONS CELEBRATE GOOD NEWS WITH CARLSBERG

Arriving to Carlsberg brewery, Copenhagen

Neus Watson was found yesterday evening with symptoms of hypothermia in the Nyhavn canal in Copenhagen- the local police reported. She is fine. She is alive. This is the most wonderful news that The Watsons could receive after some hours of deep anguish.

The Grandma wanted to visit the Lego factory because she is a great fan of its products but after this news, The Watsons have decided to visit the Carlsberg factory to celebrate Neus is fine, drinking as beer as their bodies resist. At night, they are going to come back to Barcelona. They will have enough time to sleep during the flight but know it is time to celebrate life.

Carlsberg A/S is a global brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation.

The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg, named after Jacobsen's son Carl. It also brews Tuborg, Kronenbourg, Somersby cider, Russia's best-selling beer Baltika, Belgian Grimbergen abbey beers, and more than 500 local beers.

The company employs around 41,000 people, primarily located in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Carlsberg was founded by J. C. Jacobsen, a philanthropist and avid art collector. With his fortune he amassed an art collection which is housed in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in central Copenhagen. The first brew was finished on 10 November 1847, and the export of Carlsberg beer began in 1868 with the export of one barrel to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Some of the company's original logos include an elephant, after which some of its lagers are named, and the swastika, the use of which was discontinued in the 1930s because of its association with political parties in neighboring Germany. 

More information: Carlsberg

Jacobsen's son Carl opened a brewery in 1882 named Ny (New) Carlsberg forcing him to rename his brewery Gamle (Old) Carlsberg. The companies were merged and run under Carl's direction in 1906 and remained so until his death in 1914.

Jacobsen set up the Carlsberg Laboratory in 1875, which worked on scientific problems related to brewing. It featured a Department of Chemistry and a Department of Physiology. The species of yeast used to make pale lager, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, was isolated by Emil Christian Hansen at the laboratory in 1883 and bears its name; this was shared freely by Carlsberg.

The Carlsberg Laboratory also developed the concept of pH and made advances in protein chemistry. In 1972, the Carlsberg Research Centre was established and the Carlsberg Laboratory is an independent unit of the Centre. 

In 1876, J.C. Jacobsen established the Carlsberg Foundation, run by trustees from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, which managed the Carlsberg Laboratory as well as supporting scientific research within the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, philosophy, the humanities and social sciences in Denmark. 

Visiting Carlsberg brewery, Copenhagen

Because of a conflict with his son Carl, Jacobsen's brewery was left to the Foundation upon his death in 1887.

The first overseas license for brewing was given to the Photos Photiades Breweries, and in 1966 Carlsberg beer was brewed for the first time outside Denmark at the Photiades breweries in Cyprus. The first brewery to be built outside Denmark was in Blantyre, Malawi in 1968.

Carlsberg merged with Tuborg breweries in 1970 forming the United Breweries AS, and merged with Tetley in 1992. Carlsberg became the sole owner of Carlsberg-Tetley in 1997.

In 2008 Carlsberg Group, together with Heineken, bought Scottish & Newcastle, the largest brewer in the UK, for £7.8bn ($15.3bn).

In 2013 the company joined leading alcohol producers as part of a producers' commitments to reducing harmful drinking.

In November 2014, Carlsberg agreed to take over Greece's third largest brewery, the Olympic Brewery, adding to its operations in the country already and effectively transforming the firm into the second biggest market player in Greece.

The old brewery in Copenhagen is open for tours. In January 2020 The Brewery Tour is closed for a complete refurbishment. it is not known when it will reopen Carlsberg website.

Carlsberg is the flagship beer brand in Carlsberg Group's portfolio of more than 500 brands. It is a 5% abv pilsner beer, 3.8% in the UK and branded as Carlsberg Danish Pilsener, with a global distribution to 140 markets. It is also known as Carlsberg Lager, Carlsberg Beer and Carlsberg Pilsner. It was first brewed in 1904, and was created by Carl Jacobsen, son of Carlsberg's founder JC Jacobsen.

More information: Visit Carlsberg

The introduction of the Carlsberg pilsner also saw the reintroduction of the Art Nouveau-style logo that has been used nearly unmodified since 1904, and later became the logo of the entire company. It was designed by Thorvald Bindesbøll.

In Denmark the beer is often known as Hof (court) due to its Royal Warrant. This nickname was adopted into the brand in 1931 but discontinued in Denmark in 1991. The term is still used in other markets such as the UK and Sweden.

In 1901, at brewer Carl Jacobsen's initiative, the Architect Professor J. L. Dahlerup created a tower resting on four elephants carved in granite from the Danish island of Bornholm. Jacobsen's inspiration was the obelisk supporting an elephant on the Piazza della Minerva in Rome. The four elephants each bear the initial of one of Carl Jacobsen's children: Theodora, Paula, Helge and Vagn. This became known as The Elephant Gate and is a landmark entrance to the brewery.

More information: Carlsberg Foundation

To the west of the gate, Carl Jacobsen's motto was inscribed: Laboremus pro Patria (Let us work for our country). Since then, the Elephant has been a famous part of the Carlsberg family, especially after the strong Elephant Beer was created in 1955 under the name Export Lager Beer featuring the Elephant label.

The Elephant is still brewed in Carlsberg Breweries in Copenhagen and exported around the world. A few markets brew their own Carlsberg Elephant beer locally according to the original recipe.

Carlsberg's tagline Probably the best lager in the world was created in 1973 by Tony Bodinetz at KMP for the UK market. It began to appear in company corporate ads around the world from the 1980s onwards until it was replaced in 2011 in most regions by new tagline That calls for a Carlsberg. The voice over for the original ad in 1983 was voiced by actor Orson Welles, his voice has been used repeatedly over the years. Welles was not expensive and he liked the advertisements, so he kept his fees to a minimum. In some countries the tagline has been adapted to Probably the best beer in the world.

More information: @Carlsberg

I don’t go to the gym or practice yoga.

And the closest thing I have to a nutritionist

is the Carlsberg Beer Company.

I just have the appetite of a pigeon.

Colin Farrell

DEN LILLE HAVFRUE, THE GREAT SYMBOL OF KØBENHAVN

Visiting the Copenhagen sights

Today, The Watsons and The Grandma have visited some of the most interesting places in Copenhagen like the Tivoli Gardens, the Amalienborg Palace, the Rosenborg Castle and Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid).

It has been a wonderful experience. Tonight, they are going to visit The National Museum in a private visit.

Copenhagen has the essence of Vikings and the splendorous Middle Age in every corner of its streets. It is a unique experience that you must live at least once in your life but Copenhagen is also the city where lived and died Hans Christian Andersen the most popular tales writer.

The family has wanted to homage him visiting Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid) that is, probably, the most popular symbol of this amazing city.

More information: Copenhagen

The Little Mermaid, in Danish Den lille Havfrue, is a bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen, depicting a mermaid becoming human. The sculpture is displayed on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is 1.25 metres tall and weighs 175 kilograms.

Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon and has been a major tourist attraction since its unveiling in 1913.  
In recent decades it has become a popular target for defacement by vandals and political activists.

Mermaid is among iconic statues that symbolize cities; others include: Manneken Pis in Brussels, the Statue of Liberty in New York and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. In several cases, cities have commissioned statues for such a purpose, such as with Singapore's Merlion.

More information: Visit Copenhagen

The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen's Royal Theatre and asked the ballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue.

The sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue, which was unveiled on August 23, 1913. The statue's head was modelled after Price, but as the ballerina did not agree to model in the nude, the sculptor's wife, Eline Eriksen, was used for the body.

Den Lille Havfrue, The Little Mermaid

The Copenhagen City Council arranged to move the statue to Shanghai at the Danish Pavilion for the duration of the Expo 2010 (May to October), the first time it had been moved officially from its perch since it was installed almost a century earlier.

While the statue was away in Shanghai an authorised copy was displayed on a rock in the lake in Copenhagen's nearby Tivoli Gardens. Copenhagen officials have considered moving the statue several meters out into the harbour to discourage vandalism and to prevent tourists from climbing onto it, but as of May 2014 the statue remains on dry land at the water side at Langelinie.

This statue has been damaged and defaced many times since the mid-1960s for various reasons, but has been restored each time.

On April 24, 1964, the statue's head was sawn off and stolen by politically oriented artists of the Situationist movement, amongst them Jørgen Nash. The head was never recovered and a new head was produced and placed on the statue. On July 22, 1984, the right arm was sawn off and returned two days later by two young men. In 1990, an attempt to sever the statue's head left an 18 centimeters deep cut in the neck.

More information: Denmark

On January 6, 1998, the statue was decapitated again; the culprits were never found, but the head was returned anonymously to a nearby television station, and reattached on February 4. On the night of September 10, 2003, the statue was knocked off its base with explosives and later found in the harbour's waters. Holes had been blasted in the mermaid's wrist and knee.

Paint has been poured on the statue several times, including one episode in 1963 and two in March and May 2007. On March 8, 2006, a dildo was attached to the statue's hand, green paint was dumped over it, and the date March 8 were written on it. It is suspected that this vandalism was connected with International Women's Day, which is on March 8.

More information: Atlas Obscura

The statue was found drenched in red paint on May 30, 2017 with the message Danmark defend the whales of the Faroe Islands, a reference to whaling in the Faroe Islands, an autonomous country in the Kingdom of Denmark, written on the ground in front of the statue. About two weeks later, on June 14, the statue was drenched in blue and white paint. Befri Abdulle, Free Abdulle, was written in front of the statue, but it was unclear what this referred to at the time. Later, police said the writing was likely referring to Abdulle Ahmed, a Somalian refugee who has been detained in a high security unit in Denmark since 2001 due to a custody sentence. On 13 January 2020, Free Hong Kong was painted on the stone the statue is mounted on.

Visiting Den Lille Havfrue, The Little Mermaid

Although not regarded as vandalism since no damage is done to the statue, people have also repeatedly dressed it, either for fun or to make more serious statements.

In 2004, the statue was draped in a burqa in a protest against Turkey's application to join the European Union.

In May 2007, it was again found draped in Muslim dress and a head scarf. Other examples are times where a Christmas hat has been put on the head, or it has been dressed in the jerseys of the Norwegian or Swedish national football teams, especially the Danish and Swedish teams have a highly competitive rivalry.

Aside from the statue on display, which is a replica of the original, more than thirteen undamaged copies of the statue are located around the world, listed by Mermaids of Earth, including Solvang, California; Kimballton, Iowa; Piatra Neamţ, Romania; Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), Spain; Seoul, South Korea; and a half-sized copy in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The grave of Danish-American entertainer Victor Borge includes a copy as well. The Copenhagen Airport also has a replica of the mermaid along with a statue of Hans Christian Andersen.

Some statues similar to The Little Mermaid are In Sicily. The first it placed in 1962 on the seafront in Giardini Naxos, and measures about four meters high over a fountain. A second always portraying a mermaid Post on a depth of sea about 18 meters. Inside the Marine Protected Area of Plemmiro of Siracusa.

More information: Travel Triangle

A statue of The Little Mermaid looks out over Larvotto beach in Monaco. She was created, in 2000, with layers and layers of metal by Kristian Dahlgard, in hommage to the Danes who live in Monaco and for the late Prince Rainier III to mark the 50th year of his reign.

A copy of the statue forms the Danish contribution to the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake City. The half-size replica was stolen on February 26, 2010, but was recovered on April 7 abandoned in the park.

The statue is under copyright until 2029, seventy years after the 1959 death of the creator. As of 2019, replicas can be purchased, authorized for sale by the Eriksen family.

More information: The Culture Trip

A replica was installed in Greenville, Michigan in 1994 to celebrate the town's Danish heritage, at a cost of $10,000. In 2009 the Artists Rights Society asked the town for a $3,800 licensing fee, claiming the work violated Eriksen's copyright. At about 76 cm  in height, the replica in Greenville is half the size of the original, and has a different face and larger breasts as well as other distinguishing factors. The copyright claim was later reported to have been dropped.

There are similarities between The Little Mermaid statue and the Pania of the Reef statue on the beachfront at Napier in New Zealand, and some similarities in the little mermaid and Pania tales. The 1972 statue of a female diver, titled Girl in a Wetsuit by Elek Imredy, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was commissioned when, unable to obtain permission to reproduce the Copenhagen statue, Vancouver authorities selected a modern version.

Download The Little Mermaid by Hans Andersen

But a mermaid has no tears,

and therefore she suffers so much more.

Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid

DISCOVERING KØBENHAVN, THE CAPITAL OF DENMARK

The Watsons & The Grandma in Copenhagen

Today, The Watsons and The Grandma have been invited by Lord Mayor Frank Jensen to visit the Copenhagen City Hall. It has been an interesting visit where the family has been able to know the History of Copenhagen and its future plans.

Although the earliest historical records of Copenhagen are from the end of the 12th century, recent archaeological finds in connection with work on the city's metropolitan rail system revealed the remains of a large merchant's mansion near today's Kongens Nytorv from c. 1020. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century. The remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen.

These finds indicate that Copenhagen's origins as a city go back at least to the 11th century. Substantial discoveries of flint tools in the area provide evidence of human settlements dating to the Stone Age. Many historians believe the town dates to the late Viking Age, and was possibly founded by Sweyn I Forkbeard.

The natural harbour and good herring stocks seem to have attracted fishermen and merchants to the area on a seasonal basis from the 11th century and more permanently in the 13th century. The first habitations were probably centred on Gammel Strand, literally old shore, in the 11thcentury or even earlier.

More information: Copenhagen

The earliest written mention of the town was in the 12th century when Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum referred to it as Portus Mercatorum, meaning Merchants' Harbour or, in the Danish of the time, Købmannahavn. Traditionally, Copenhagen's founding has been dated to Bishop Absalon's construction of a modest fortress on the little island of Slotsholmen in 1167 where Christiansborg Palace stands today.

In 1186, a letter from Pope Urban III states that the castle of Hafn  in Copenhagen and its surrounding lands, including the town of Hafn, were given to Absalon, Bishop of Roskilde 1158–1191 and Archbishop of Lund 1177–1201, by King Valdemar I. On Absalon's death, the property was to come into the ownership of the Bishopric of Roskilde. Around 1200, the Church of Our Lady was constructed on higher ground to the northeast of the town, which began to develop around it.

As the town became more prominent, it was repeatedly attacked by the Hanseatic League, and in 1368 successfully invaded during the Second Danish-Hanseatic War. In the mid 1330s, the first land assessment of the city was published.

Arriving to the City Hall, Copenhagen

With the establishment of the Kalmar Union (1397–1523) between Denmark, Norway and Sweden, by about 1416 Copenhagen had emerged as the capital of Denmark when Eric of Pomerania moved his seat to Copenhagen Castle.

The University of Copenhagen was inaugurated on 1 June 1479 by King Christian I, following approval from Pope Sixtus IV. This makes it the oldest university in Denmark and one of the oldest in Europe. Originally controlled by the Catholic Church, the university's role in society was forced to change during the Reformation in Denmark in the late 1530s.

In disputes prior to the Reformation of 1536, the city which had been faithful to Christian II, who was Catholic, was successfully besieged in 1523 by the forces of Frederik I, who supported Lutheranism. The Netherlands had also become primarily Protestant, as were northern German states.

During the reign of Christian IV between 1588 and 1648, Copenhagen had dramatic growth as a city. On his initiative at the beginning of the 17th century, two important buildings were completed on Slotsholmen: the Tøjhus Arsenal and Børsen, the stock exchange. To foster international trade, the East India Company was founded in 1616. To the east of the city, inspired by Dutch planning, the king developed the district of Christianshavn with canals and ramparts. It was initially intended to be a fortified trading centre but ultimately became part of Copenhagen. Christian IV also sponsored an array of ambitious building projects including Rosenborg Slot and the Rundetårn. In 1658–59, the city withstood a siege by the Swedes under Charles X and successfully repelled a major assault.

By 1661, Copenhagen had asserted its position as capital of Denmark and Norway.

Copenhagen lost around 22,000 of its population of 65,000 to the plague in 1711. The city was also struck by two major fires which destroyed much of its infrastructure. The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest in the history of Copenhagen.

More information: Visit Copenhagen

A substantial amount of rebuilding followed. In 1733, work began on the royal residence of Christiansborg Palace which was completed in 1745. In 1749, development of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden was initiated. Designed by Nicolai Eigtved in the Rococo style, its centre contained the mansions which now form Amalienborg Palace.  Major extensions to the naval base of Holmen were undertaken while the city's cultural importance was enhanced with the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

In the second half of the 18th century, Copenhagen benefited from Denmark's neutrality during the wars between Europe's main powers, allowing it to play an important role in trade between the states around the Baltic Sea.

On 2 April 1801, a British fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker attacked and defeated the neutral Danish-Norwegian fleet anchored near Copenhagen. Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson led the main attack.

Visiting the City Hall, Copenhagen

The Second Battle of Copenhagen or the Bombardment of Copenhagen (16 August-5 September 1807) was from a British point of view a preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to yet again seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet.

The devastation was so great because Copenhagen relied on an old defence-line whose limited range could not reach the British ships and their longer-range artillery.

Despite the disasters of the early 19th century, Copenhagen experienced a period of intense cultural creativity known as the Danish Golden Age. In the early 1850s, the ramparts of the city were opened to allow new housing to be built around The Lakes, in Danish Søerne that bordered the old defences to the west. By the 1880s, the districts of Nørrebro and Vesterbro developed to accommodate those who came from the provinces to participate in the city's industrialization. Electricity came in 1892 with electric trams in 1897.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Copenhagen had become a thriving industrial and administrative city. With its new city hall and railway station, its centre was drawn towards the west.

As a result of Denmark's neutrality in the First World War, Copenhagen prospered from trade with both Britain and Germany while the city's defences were kept fully manned by some 40,000 soldiers for the duration of the war.

More information: Copenhagen Portal

In Denmark during World War II, Copenhagen was occupied by German troops along with the rest of the country from 9 April 1940 until 4 May 1945.

In August 1943, after the government's collaboration with the occupation forces collapsed, several ships were sunk in Copenhagen Harbor by the Royal Danish Navy to prevent their use by the Germans. Around that time the Nazis started to arrest Jews, although most managed to escape to Sweden.

On 8 May 1945 Copenhagen was officially liberated by British troops commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery who supervised the surrender of 30,000 Germans situated around the capital.

Shortly after the end of the war, an innovative urban development project known as the Finger Plan was introduced in 1947, encouraging the creation of new housing and businesses interspersed with large green areas along five fingers stretching out from the city centre along the S-train routes.

Motor traffic in the city grew significantly and in 1972 the trams were replaced by buses. Copenhagen Airport underwent considerable expansion, becoming a hub for the Nordic countries. In the 1990s, large-scale housing developments were realized in the harbour area and in the west of Amager. The national library's Black Diamond building on the waterfront was completed in 1999.

Since the summer of 2000, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö have been connected by the Øresund Bridge, which carries rail and road traffic. As a result, Copenhagen has become the centre of a larger metropolitan area spanning both nations.

On the cultural front, the Copenhagen Opera House, a gift to the city from the shipping magnate Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller on behalf of the A.P. Møller foundation, was completed in 2004.

More information: Lonely Planet

I was very affected as a foreigner

coming from Copenhagen,

which is the safest,

most liberal town in the entire galaxy.

Nicolas Winding Refn

THE WATSONS VISIT DENMARK, CORAIMA'S COUNTRY

Arriving to the Copenhagen Airport Kastrup

Today, in the morning, The Watsons have been preparing their next travel to Denmark. They have written budgets and some plannings to stay the next five days in Coraima's country.

The Grandma has also explained the importance of Sant Boi de Llobregat as a sanctuary city for European minorities during the Middle Age, especially gipsies and cathars.

Denmark, in Danish Danmark, is a Nordic country in Northwest Europe.

Denmark proper, which is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The southernmost of the Scandinavian nations, Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also includes two autonomous territories in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

During the flight from Barcelona to Copenhagen, the family has been studying some English grammar. They have practised Prepositions of Time (In-On-At) and they have played some word games like Scatergories, The Bomb, The Hanger and Simon.

More information: Prepositions of Time (In-On-At)

More information: How to Create a Budget

More information: How to Create an Effective Action Plan

Download Crosswords & Wordsearch

In the evening, they have arrived to the Villa Copenhagen, the hotel where they are going to stay during these five days in Denmark.

At night, they have gone to rest waiting to live an amazing experience in the country of Hans Andersen, the most popular tales writer.

More information: Villa Copenhagen Hotel

Copenhagen, in Danish København, is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. It forms the core of the wider urban area of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen metropolitan area.

Copenhagen is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand; another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and it is separated from Malmø, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.

Originally a Viking fishing village established in the 10th century in the vicinity of what is now Gammel Strand, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century.

The Grandma in Villa Copenhagen Hotel

Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a regional centre of power with its institutions, defences and armed forces. During the renaissance the city served as the de facto capital being the seat of government of the Kalmar Union, governing the entire present day Nordic region in a personal union with Sweden and Norway ruled by the Danish monarch serving as the head of state. The city flourished as the cultural and economic center of Scandinavia under the union for well over 120 years, starting in the 15th century up until the beginning of the 16th century when the union was dissolved with Sweden leaving the union through a rebellion.

After a plague outbreak and fire in the 18th century, the city underwent a period of redevelopment. This included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

After further disasters in the early 19th century when Horatio Nelson attacked the Dano-Norwegian fleet and bombarded the city, rebuilding during the Danish Golden Age brought a Neoclassical look to Copenhagen's architecture. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing and businesses along the five urban railway routes stretching out from the city centre.

More information: The Independent

Since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark; it is one of the major financial centres of Northern Europe with the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.

Copenhagen's economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become increasingly integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmø, forming the Øresund Region. With a number of bridges connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterised by parks, promenades and waterfronts.

More information: Visit Copenhagen

Copenhagen's landmarks such as Tivoli Gardens, The Little Mermaid statue, the Amalienborg and Christiansborg palaces, Rosenborg Castle Gardens, Frederik's Church, and many museums, restaurants and nightclubs are significant tourist attractions. The largest lake of Denmark, Arresø, lies around 43 kilometers northwest of the City Hall Square.

Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen Business School and the IT University of Copenhagen. The University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark.

Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs. The annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world.

The Watsons walk across Copenhagen at night

The Copenhagen Metro launched in 2002 serves central Copenhagen. Additionally the Copenhagen S-train, the Lokaltog, private railway, and the Coast Line network serves and connects central Copenhagen to outlying boroughs. 

Serving roughly two million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport Kastrup, is the busiest airport in the Nordic countries.

Copenhagen's name reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation in Old Norse, from which Danish descends, was Kaupmannahǫfn, meaning merchants' harbour. By the time Old Danish was spoken, the capital was called Køpmannæhafn, with the current name deriving from centuries of subsequent regular sound change.

An exact English equivalent would be chapman's haven. However, the English term for the city was adapted from its Low German name, Kopenhagen. Copenhagen's Swedish name is Köpenhamn, a direct translation of the mutually intelligible Danish name.

Copenhagen is part of the Øresund Region, which consists of Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm in Denmark and Scania in Sweden. It is located on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand, partly on the island of Amager and on a number of natural and artificial islets between the two.

More information: Arrival Guides

Copenhagen faces the Øresund to the east, the strait of water that separates Denmark from Sweden, and which connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea. The Swedish towns of Malmö and Landskrona lie on the Swedish side of the sound directly across from Copenhagen. By road, Copenhagen is 42 kilometres northwest of Malmö, Sweden, 85 kilometres northeast of Næstved, 164 kilometres northeast of Odense, 295 kilometres east of Esbjerg and 188 kilometres southeast of Aarhus by sea and road via Sjællands Odde.

The city centre lies in the area originally defined by the old ramparts, which are still referred to as the Fortification Ring (Fæstningsringen) and kept as a partial green band around it. Then come the late-19th- and early-20th-century residential neighbourhoods of Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro and Amagerbro. The outlying areas of Kongens Enghave, Valby, Vigerslev, Vanløse, Brønshøj, Utterslev and Sundby followed from 1920 to 1960. They consist mainly of residential housing and apartments often enhanced with parks and greenery.

More information: Rough Guides

Copenhagen is in the oceanic climate zone. Its weather is subject to low-pressure systems from the Atlantic which result in unstable conditions throughout the year. Apart from slightly higher rainfall from July to September, precipitation is moderate. While snowfall occurs mainly from late December to early March, there can also be rain, with average temperatures around the freezing point.

June is the sunniest month of the year with an average of about eight hours of sunshine a day. July is the warmest month with an average daytime high of 21°C. By contrast, the average hours of sunshine are less than two per day in November and only one and a half per day from December to February. In the spring, it gets warmer again with four to six hours of sunshine per day from March to May. February is the driest month of the year. Exceptional weather conditions can bring as much as 50 cm of snow to Copenhagen in a 24-hour period during the winter months while summer temperatures have been known to rise to heights of 33°C.

Because of Copenhagen's northern latitude, the number of daylight hours varies considerably between summer and winter. On the summer solstice, the sun rises at 04:26 and sets at 21:58, providing 17 hours 32 minutes of daylight. On the winter solstice, it rises at 08:37 and sets at 15:39 with 7 hours and 1 minute of daylight. There is therefore a difference of 10 hours and 31 minutes in the length of days and nights between the summer and winter solstices.

More information: Times of India

Denmark has long been regarded

as one of the world's most attractive nations,

for citizens and tourists alike.

My own visits there,years ago as a student,

were delightful.

Elliott Abrams