Once inside the tower, the children started up a sloping walk that went up and up and up. At the same time it went round and round and round, like a corkscrew. Every little while Chouse dashed on ahead and then came running back, barking joyously.
"This is the funniest tower I have ever seen," said Greta. "Does this walk go to the very top?"
"Yes," answered Anna. "They say that a long time ago, when Peter the Great, the Czar of Russia, visited Denmark he rode up here on horseback, and at another time the Empress Catherine drove her coach and four up to the very top of the Round Tower."
Greta stopped a moment to look at the winding, sloping walk. "I guess one really could drive a coach up here. It seems to be wide enough."
From the platform on the top of the tower, the girls could look out over the city and the harbor. Wherever they looked, they saw towers and spires—on the Parliament Building, on the Stock Exchange, on the castles, on the churches. Some of them were gilded and they gleamed brightly in the sunshine. Some of them were shiny green, like the dome of the Marble Church.
"What is that building whose tower has a crown at the top?" asked Greta.
"That is Christiansborg Castle, where the Parliament meets," explained Anna. "Would you like to visit it?"
"Yes. Let's go there next, if it isn't too far away," said Greta.
As they walked to Christiansborg, Anna told Greta a funny story about the Round Tower.