Hans Christian Andersen Statue and the Tivoli

May 2nd was a very full day for us. We spent the morning at the Thorvaldsen Museum as I have already shared. The afternoon was spent exploring more sites and ended with a visit to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. We stayed at the Scandic Palace Hotel, right in the heart of historic Copenhagen and very close to one of the most famous Hans Christian Andersen sites in Copenhagen, the bronze statue of HCA looking at the Tivoli. Probably the Little Mermaid in the harbor is only more famous for HCA sites in Copenhagen. Sorry, I failed to get a good picture of the Andersen Castle at the Tivoli and hadn't realized it. You can see the statue to the left in the picture above. 

The Tivoli is an amusement park and entertainment facility, one that charmed HCA when it opened. The gardens inspired him to write "The Nightingale" according to Tivoli's historical timeline:

On August 15, 1843 the garden gates were opened for the first time and the guests were awestruck by the elegant and exotic gardens. Among them was the one and only Hans Christian Andersen, who was inspired to write the fairy tale the Nightingale .

Within the gates is one ride inside inspired by Andersen's tale of "The Flying Trunk." We didn't visit due to time priorities and weather. It was cold! I don't know how people were standing to be on many of those rides. The Andersen Castle isn't a museum for Andersen, by the way, it's just a building named after him. I was fine walking around and bundled up, but getting onto a breezy open air ride would not have been my definition of fun. It was colder than usual according to the locals.

And while I am here, I will highly recommend the Scandic Palace Hotel. We were there for four nights and were quite comfortable. The staff was wonderful and I was thrilled with the history of the place, too, for many famous people have slept within its walls, including Audrey Hepburn. The hotel is across the City Hall Square from the Tivoli and literally right next door to the HCA Museum, which I will post about soon. And I will sound fully like a spoiled Tennessean when I say it also had some of the largest rooms we've slept in when traveling in Europe. It's nice to not trip over your luggage when changing time zones has one stumbling around sleepless but exhausted in the dark in a new hotel room. The hotel was also quiet despite being in the middle of the city. The only sounds we heard at night were the clock tower bells which I wish I could hear every day and night. I love them.

Anyway, it took three days but we finally had good sun so I stopped to take pictures of HCA after having only greeted him the previous days for I saw him each day of our stay in the city.

He needed a good cleaning on one side but his knees were shiny from plenty of tourists climbing on his knee. A graffiti artist had tagged the book in his hand recently, too. Poor HCA!

One of the most important rules of travel--and life actually--is to not only look around you but up and down as well. Looking down by the statue treated me to two sewer covers that also honored Andersen, the only two I saw. The rest were ornate but not Andersen related. I wonder if there used to be more. The one above has an inset with the Steadfast Tin Soldier on it. The other was missing its inset figure. Wonder what it was? Thanks to whoever the selfish tourist was who took it! I'm assuming, but I feel pretty safe in doing that.

Wonder what Andersen would have thought about having sewer covers with his visage on them? Rather a dubious honor when one considers it.

Bargain Ebook: Baltimore,: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire

Baltimore,: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden is on sale in digital format for $1.99.

Book description:

From celebrated comic artist Mike Mignola and award-winning novelist Christopher Golden comes a work of gothic storytelling like no other. Reminiscent of the illustrated tales of old, here is a lyrical, atmospheric novel of the paranormal—and a chilling allegory for the nature of war.

“Why do dead men rise up to torment the living?” Captain Henry Baltimore asks the malevolent winged creature. The vampire shakes its head. “It was you called us. All of you, with your war. The roar of your cannons shook us from our quiet graves…. You killers. You berserkers…. You will never be rid of us now.”

When Lord Henry Baltimore awakens the wrath of a vampire on the hellish battlefields of World War I, the world is forever changed. For a virulent plague has been unleashed—a plague that even death cannot end.

Now the lone soldier in an eternal struggle against darkness, Baltimore summons three old friends to a lonely inn—men whose travels and fantastical experiences incline them to fully believe in the evil that is devouring the soul of mankind.

As the men await their old friend, they share their tales of terror and misadventure, and contemplate what part they will play in Baltimore’s timeless battle. Before the night is through, they will learn what is required to banish the plague—and the creature who named Baltimore his nemesis—once and for all.

New Book: Steadfast: (Elemental Masters #8) by Mercedes Lackey

Steadfast: (Elemental Masters #8) by Mercedes Lackey is officially released today. I haven't been as entertained by the more recent books in this series, but I am intrigued with a novel drawing inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's Steadfast Tin Soldier. This is one fairy tale that doesn't get many retelling treatments, especially novel length ones.

Book description:

The new novel in Mercedes Lackey’s bestselling series of an alternative Edwardian Britain, where magic is real—and Elemental Masters are in control.

Lionel Hawkins is a magician whose act is only partially sleight of hand. The rest is real magic. He’s an Elemental Magician with the power to persuade the Elementals of Air to help him create amazing illusions. It doesn’t take long before his assistant, acrobat Katie Langford, notices that he’s no ordinary magician—and for Lionel to discover that she’s no ordinary acrobat, but rather an untrained and unawakened Fire Magician. She’s also on the run from her murderous and vengeful brute of a husband. But can she harness her magic in time to stop her husband from achieving his deadly goal?

New Book: The Wilful Eye (Tales from the Tower)

The Wilful Eye (Tales from the Tower) edited by Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab was released earlier this month. Originally released in Australia in 2011, it has finally been released here in the US. A companion book, The Wicked Wood (Tales from the Tower), will be released in August.

Book description:

A dozen of the most exciting and unique writers for young people have chosen fairytales as starting points for their own original stories, in this surprising and spellbinding two-volume collection.

Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels), Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland (Worldshaker), Margaret Mahy (The Seven Chinese Brothers), and Martine Murray (Henrietta There's No One Better) have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, tales like "Beauty and the Beast," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and "The Snow Queen." This collection carries universal themes of envy and desire, deception and abandonment, courage and sacrifice. Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate, and, sometimes, they kill. Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery. Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.

And from the publisher's site:

Six of the world's most exciting and best-loved writers have chosen fairytales as inspiration for this spellbinding and subversive short-story collection.

Six writers - Margo Lanagan, Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland, Margaret Mahy and Martine Murray - have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, tales like 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier' and 'The Snow Queen'. This collection carries universal themes of envy and desire, deception and abandonment, courage and sacrifice.

Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate and, sometimes, they kill.

Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery.

Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.