Today was overcast and cooler - maybe Denmark's summer is finished. We left early in the bus to drive north to Fredenborg, the palace where the royal family lives April to June and September to November. They are away at the moment so the public is allowed in /photo 1. In a separate wing adjoining the stables is the home of Frederick and Mary and their four children / photo 2. (Not in the tent as David suggested. )
Our tour was of the official palace, lived in by Queen Margarethe and her consort Prince Henri. We split into two groups and put plastic overshoes on to avoid damaging the floors. No photography allowed. First thought: every room has at least four doors - how un-cosy is that! And how splendid the rooms with dark paintings and wall coverings, gilt and white stucco everywhere. Four little children in here? Our guide was a delightful Danish girl who at the end of the tour thanked us for giving them Mary.
A coup for Merryle: she arranged a hard-to-come-by tour of the Fredenborg Palace gardens with a landscape gardener, another lovely Danish girl. The garden was originally Italian Baroque in style, changed by Christian 6 to French Baroque then updated by one of the Freds to English style where it remains. (Danish kings alternate between Christian and Frederick except for the current much-loved Queen.)
The garden looks very green and formal until you walk into it and see its features - a rose garden (not very good this year because the deer ate it), the perennial garden, the kitchen garden /photo 3 and the Orangerie.
Most of the food and flowers for all the palaces is raised in the kitchen garden and it has everything. A huge asparagus bed - so they must love asparagus.
The Orangerie is less than 20 years old and is where big tubs of citrus and figs etc spend the winter out of the snow. In the summer it's used for parties and F&M hosted a brunch for 200 friends the day after the wedding. /Photo 4.
We drove to the nearby Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, so named because its founder has three wives all named Louise (how convenient.) We had lunch here - finally getting to have the famous smorrebrod, open sandwiches on rye bread. Once again no photography except in the grounds which are on the sea facing Sweden. There is an exhibition on featuring the work of Yoko Ono - quite confronting though some things really nice like the Wish Tree. As I tied my wish on the lady next to me said "I am wishing the blow-up horse will fly away. It was cute but no longer." /photo 5.
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