Day 31 - Thursday 6 July

We docked close to Copenhagen just after breakfast. The guide on our bus tour was the best yet. It was another sunny day with little traffic because of summer holidays. This is the beginning of a 3 week period when most Danes take their break.

The tour included the outside of the royal palaces - don't think in terms of Buckingham Palace as each palace is more like an historic apartment block. The queen has one palace and her eldest son is next door with Mary from Tasmania whom he met during the Sydney Olympics. I hope the refurbished interiors are more impressive than the outsides.

There are dozens of copper rooves and towers which are green as a result of about 300 years of oxidation. I was taken by this structure which has been reclad because the nails corroded. The green top is obviously original. It will take more than 20 years for the new copper to oxidise to the green hue.

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