Arriving in Copenhagen for a Cruise through the Norwegian Fjords and Scottish Isles

We arrive in Copenhagen in the late afternoon the day before departure of our cruise through the Norwegian fjords and then over to the Scottish isles, check into our hotel, and immediately head out into the city.  Our hotel is near Tivoli Gardens, the second oldest amusement park in the world, but we first head the other direction, toward Vesterbro, the renovated former meatpacking district, now trendy clubs and great restaurants, to find something to eat.

 Arriving in Copenhagen

 Dining in the meat-packing district

After dinner, we walk over to Tivoli Gardens and enter a fabulous wonderland.  Tivoli Gardens was named after the Tivoli Gardens in Paris (Jardin de Tivoli amusement park located near the current site of the Saint-Lazare train station) and opened in 1843, occupying 82,717 square meters (20 acres, 8 hectares) just outside the original west gate of the city.  From the beginning, Tivoli included exotic buildings, a theater, band stands, restaurants, cafes, flower gardens, and amusement rides.

 Tivoli concert hall, open air stage

As soon as we enter, we hear the sound of happy people enjoying themselves.  Families, couples, friends, and people on their own fill the park with joy.  Everyone is having fun and so do we.  This is a magical place!

We first wander and see some of the rides scattered through the park, some calm, some terrifying.

Rides

Not only are there exciting rides, but all through the park there are beautiful lakes, gardens, and buildings containing displays of fragile and/or tropical plants and flowers.

 Beautiful grounds and gardens

As we walk by one of the lakes, the fish are all begging for some sort of treat.  We don't have any, but others offer them something to eat.

 Feed me!

As the sun gets lower in the sky, we stop for a glass of wine and watch the lights come on along the paths and walkways throughout the park.

Getting darker

Leaving Tivoli, we cut through Copenhagen's fabulous Central Train station, serving Denmark, Sweden, and European destinations since 1911, the most direct path back to our hotel where we'll crash after our long day travelling from San Francisco (through London) to Denmark.

 Copenhagen Central Train Station

National Gallery in Singapore

I spend a night in Singapore, flying in from Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon and out the next morning to San Francisco.  I see that there is an impressionist exhibition from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris at the Singapore National Gallery and I head over there to enjoy some of my favorite art.  I am in for a great treat!

The Singapore National Gallery holds the world's largest collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian art, located in the former Supreme Court Building and City Hall joined together.  The Gallery has 64.000 square meters (689,000 square feet) of display space throughout the buildings and is itself an architectural treasure, beautifully restored and transformed into this new venue.

 Incredible restoration and merging of the two buildings

I head immediately to the special Impressionist exhibition.  I recognize many of the paintings (especially the Monets) from visits to Musee d'Orsay in Paris, but they're always great to see again (over and over).

 Impressionist special exhibition

Leaving the Impressionists behind, I wander into other galleries of the National Gallery and find more great treasures.  One exhibition contains works by two of Southeast Asia's leading 19th century artists Raden Saleh and Juan Luna.

 Raden Saleh

 Juan Luna

Other galleries focus on Chinese art and artists that combine Chinese and Western art traditions in their practices.

 Chinese artists

And, to round it all out, a collection of Southeast Asian art from all over the region.

 Southeast Asian regional art

There is so much here that I could go on for a long time, but we're coming to the end of this blog entry, having conveyed a sense of the National Gallery, and the end of this trip.  I'll wind up here and meet you at our next destination.