Copenhagen 2
The morning light illuminated a building on the corner with a tower also designed by Rosen
the whole streetscape an assemblage of distinctive masterpieces
After a light breakfast, a short tram ride took us to the downtown central square encircled by towered Victorian period buildings,
before one of which Jan posed to add to our collection of City Hall portraits.
The Radhuspladsen was still free of the crowds, noise and litter that packed it later in the day, adding impact to its central fountain depicting the ferocious and beautiful battle between a bull and a dragon.
Entering City Hall we were dwarfed by a grand rectangular space
adjoining a more modest chamber available at low cost for private weddings. In a corner near the entry, we noticed a cluster people preparing balloons, bags filled with food and bottles of champagne.
A couple of blocks away we found the National Museum and started in on the medieval collection, both of us having studied Anglo Saxon what seemed as far in the past as the material itself. (Jan earned an M.A. in medieval comparative literature at Columbia in 1969).
Next to another fierce battle with a dragon, this one carved in wood, we were intrigued by the display of one of the earliest printed artifacts, an actual indulgence signed by the Pope’s representative in 1517 guaranteeing that the purchase by the living would shorten the term of torture in Purgatory of their dead friend or relative.
The massive promotion and sale of these early Crypto items was a major source of funds for the Catholic Church, and objection to the scam was a major energizer of the Protestant Reformation in Northern Europe. As we chortled knowingly over the case, we heard a loud voice from behind call out “Janet and Steven,” which I recognized immediately as belonging to Diana W., a fellow medieval literature student with Jan with whom we’ve had widely spaced connections since then in Canada and California.
Turns out she was in Copenhagen with her daughter who was attending an international conference. That brought the excursion in medieval history to an end with a lengthy catch-up session in the coffee shop.
After a late siesta in the hotel we took the tram to Krogers Familiehave a garden restaurant recommended by the driver from the airport the day before as a genuine Copenhagen hangout. The service was slow and the food forgettable, but the setting was lovely and we sat next to a large multigenerational multiracial family with whom we shared excited conversation.
