What does it mean when the Danish queen has a birthday? It means that suddenly the population explodes and more people than I even thought were in Denmark suddenly crowd into central Copenhagen. It also means they bring the flags out in full force.
Angela and I arrived at Amalienborg Palace about 45 minutes before noon, and it was already crazy crowded.
I was despairing of being able to get a good photo, but when a royal historian is determined…nah, turns out many of the Danish are quite adept at finding open spaces in crowds, and so in the beginning we followed people weaving their way in and out. Then, we found a pretty decent spot, and learned that you could not stay in a place, no matter how good it was. The crowd was like an amoeba, pulsing and changing. At one point, when the changing of the guard moved by and opened up some space, we surged forward, and I ended up being closer than I even thought we would get even with our crowd maneuvering skills. Also, I noted that the most vicious crowd cutters were the old ones. Interesting.
Fully ready to be Danish for a day.
This man's hat wins every possible award. If there was a mass of cut-throat elderly folk, there was also a mass of adorable children. Kindergarten classes were all out for the day to witness the spectacle, although how they saw anything, being the passive ones in the back, I have no idea. However, a few had prime spots on their parents’ shoulders and tip-top national spirit!
Three quarters of an hour passed a bit slowly, with me very antsy, but at last…shadows in the window! And then the clock chiming noon, and a roar from the crowd, a sudden rattling of hundreds of flags whipping back and forth.
Hello royal family!! My finger went trigger happy with the camera, and thanks to my wonderful wonderful camera, a little bit of cropping made for some pretty good photos.
First came the queen. 
And then Prince Henrik
And then the whole beautiful family.
I call this one "Denmark". It is purposeful art, and not my flag getting blown into my camera right when I took the photo.
Look at them - what a happy family!
The children probably enjoyed the day the most - the family came out onto the balcony three (four?) times, and after the queen's first appearance, it was always the children running back, leading the way.
The band playing a birthday song for their queen.
Goodbye!Denmark singing happy birthday to Queen Margarethe II:
I apologize for the poor quality - my arm was getting a little tired.
Angela and I thought we would try to leave as she was getting hungry and had class, but every direction we tried we were roped in and trapped.
The Danish are rather insane, sometimes...However, in our efforts to get out, we ended up right in the place to be in the second row of people right at the street where the queen and her husband drove by in their carriage. No photos, though, because I attempted to take a video, and when I thought I had pressed the button, my camera decided to be finicky and not actually start recording, which I didn’t realize until I could only record her back driving away. Ah well, still saw her within a few feet. Mission accomplished and exceeded.
Angela went off to class, and I met up with Julia and Marcin A. to head over to Tivoli and meet Marcin F., Andrzej, and Kasia. We were a bit worried about it being crowded, but turns out everyone was much too concerned about the queen, even after the celebrations were over, and it was not even moderately crowded until around 4:00. It was a day of lots of silly fun and riding rides until my head hurt (it’s my one and only day in Tivoli due to the ludicrous price, and so we got our money’s worth).
Can't get to Tivoli that way - better go around!
The sight that greeted my eyes upon entrance to Tivoli.
Vikings vs. Pirates was the theme of this ride - how do I choose? 
I like that they make me look short! 
The Tivoli Gardens is, in fact, a garden.
Two-seater giraffe on a carousel? I wish to give whoever thought of that a high-five. 
Isn't she supposed to be in China?
My least favorite ride - *eep!*
Of course, the Polish guys were prepared, as always, and had brought in (unallowed) snacks and tea, so we were able to keep going until utterly exhausted and freezing at eight. Hurrah for an amazing day!
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