First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in getting this posted, it has taken a long time for me to figure out exactly how I wanted to recount the incredible journey that was my trip to Copenhagen. To be honest, I have started and stopped this post many times, at one point I even considered deleting it all together, but I decided I need to do this, not just for you, the captive reader, hanging on every word (you know you are, don't try to hide it), but for myself as well. Pictures only tell a part of the story, so I've decided, instead of writing out a minute by minute expose of my week-long trip, I would make this more of a journal entry, including pictures where they may be of service. So, without further ado, let's begin.
The Road to Copenhagen
Obviously I won't spend too much time here, considering most of this leg of the trip was spent sleeping (or rather, trying to sleep, I'm not very good at sleeping on airplanes). I'll just say that the flight from Denver to Reykjavik was quite pleasant, up until the point when our plane didn't pull up to a gate at Keflavik airport and instead we were asked to descend down a flight of stairs that had been brought up to the plane, at 6:30 in the morning local time (that's 12:30am Denver time) and run across and icy tarmac in freezing temperatures after sitting on an airplane for the last seven hours. Needles to say I wasn't a happy camper at this point in the journey.
The second leg of the journey was much shorter and enjoyable, considering I had time to wake up, use a bathroom, and the flight from Iceland to Denmark was only about three hours time, and the view from the plane was breathtaking.
The First Few Days
I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed by this (or if everyone else does the same thing whenever they travel somewhere new) but most of my personal trip to Copenhagen revolved around food, and might I just say that the food in Denmark was extraordinary. Well, the French, Italian, and Spanish food was amazing, Danish food leaves much to be desired, but more on that later. Our first outing into the bustling and glittering city that is Copenhagen, after successfully hailing a taxi, arriving at our hotel and lugging our suitcases up three flights of stairs (the lift was broken. Of course...) was to find sustenance, since we had not had a proper meal since Denver, which was about twelve hours and five thousand miles ago. We managed to find a tiny little restaurant on the basement level of a building that looked suitable. We managed to squeeze inside (literally, there were three tables and five people inside already. This place was tiny) and had our first encounter with real live Danes and the Danish language, as well as the cost of food and the decadence and adorable-ness that are Spanish tapas. Okay, enough about the food (again, for now...) let's get to the good stuff.
The first morning I woke up in Copenhagen, I was awoken by church bells chiming and the bright blue of the sky over Denmark. We ate breakfast at the hotel and wandered through the streets in search of the nearest metro station (and yes, the song Shake It did pop into my head each time I said the words "Metro Station" over there) along with another American (who actually lives in London now and had just flown in from Geneva. Some people...) and after determining the difference between the Metro and the S-Train, we managed to make our way onto a train (headed in the right direction!) towards one of the older areas of Copenhagen which houses the National Museum as well as the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. We spent hours meandering through incredible displays from the eras of the Kings and Queens of old, and even older to the Vikings and first settlers. We walked through halls where Princes and Princesses played and lived, as well as where fires and floods had ravished the land. I saw works of art by Monet, Degas, Van Gough, Manet, Picasso, and hundreds more. I saw ancient Greek and Roman statues, and walked through halls filled with more history than I thought possible.
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| The entrance hall to the Royal living quarters at the National Museum |
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| The Princess' bedroom |
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| The atrium inside the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek where we had the cutest little macarons with lunch! |
After thoroughly exploring the museums we emerged onto the streets of Copenhagen to a light rain, which changed so much about the look and feel of the city and I had a marvelous time the rest of the day, being out in the refreshing rain.
Hamlet's Castle and Sweden
After getting settled into the groove of Copenhagen, we decided to switch things up a bit and take a day trip up the coast to Helsinor, a small town with a big castle, and Helsinborg, Sweden, a big town with a little castle. We took a regional train (the Danes really like their trains) up along the glittering coast away from Copenhagen and reached the quiant and quiet town of Helsinor, where shortly after exiting the train station (which was beautiful in it's own right, seriously, every building in Denmark is exquisite) you see a castle. A real, moat-surrounded, towering, looming, incredible castle.
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| It's hard to catch the grandeur of a castle like this, especially while it has scaffolding on it for repairs, but it was truly incredible to walk up to (and you can see me walking in the lower right-hand corner there!) |
Kronborg Castle, or Hamlet's castle as it is affectionately called, was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Many of Denmark's Kings and Queens called this castle home, and the way it was been preserved, with the two moats and grounds kept in tact was incredible. Plus, you can see Sweden from the upstairs windows!
Sweden is without a doubt the most beautiful country I have ever had the pleasure to visit. Don't get me wrong, Denmark is incredible in it's beauty, but there's just something about Sweden. I'm not quite sure how these countries can seem so different considering there's only four miles of water separating them, but there is a difference. Helsinborg is the cutest town, with grey cobblestone streets and giant pots of brightly colored flowers blooming in them. We started meandering our way through the town, admiring the buildings and people milling about. We noticed a giant set of stairs leading up to a very old looking tower and guard post.
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| Some of the beautiful flowers blooming in early spring in Sweden |
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| Hey look, another castle! This one is old, even by castle standards |
After allowing my sister sufficient time to explore the castle tower, we meandered our way back towards the ferry station only to notice an H&M. Of course I was enthralled, how many people get to say that they've been to an H&M in Sweden?? But alas, H&M was closed. One note about Sweden, everything closes down on Sundays. EVERYTHING. Did we know this when we decided to visit Sweden on a Sunday? No. Do we regret this decision? No. Although I do feel like we missed out on some shopping and interesting places to eat, we still managed to experience Sweden and I was able to purchase some lipgloss from a Swedish brand, so I was happy that I came back with a memento from Sweden. We also managed to find a small restaurant right on the water where someone spoke english (note: another area where Denmark and Sweden differ is that not nearly as many people in Helsinborg spoke english as there were in Copenhagen. This could simply be due to the size difference between the cities or that Helisnborg is not nearly the international destination as Copenhagen, but whatever the reason, there was a language barrier) and had an incredible meal while watching boats move in and out of the harbor.
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| The shopping street where we found an H&M and some cool clothing and design stores. |
By the time we got back to our hotel that evening, we had visited another country and used three methods of transportation to do so (four if you include walking). We were exhausted but I had trouble sleeping that night because I was trying to remember every detail of the day because it was too incredible to forget.
Other Awesome Parts of the Trip
Den Bla Planet (The Blue Planet, Denmark's aquarium)
Seated right on the coat, across the bay from the Copenhagen airport and an enormous wind farm, the aquarium was a neat experience, not only for the fish and sharks (they had TONS of piranhas and Hammer Head Sharks!) but to see how Danish families interact. On that note, Danes are not afraid to push if you are standing in their way. The Danes are mostly friendly and helpful people, that is until you are standing between them and somewhere they need to be.
The changing of the guards
Just about four blocks from our hotel was Rosenborg Slot, one of the older and smaller castles in and around Copenhagen. Rosenborg is also where the guards begin their march to Amelienborg Slot, the castle where the current Danish Royal family lives. The march of the guards takes a while and winds through the streets of Copenhagen (which, in fact, is the reason we were able to find TopShop and H&M in Copenhagen. Thanks royal guard!) Another cool part of the Danish Royal Guard is that they're pretty chill and allow you to take pictures with them and will even chat with you (just a little, although that's apparently more than the British guards will do)
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| Rosenborg Slot and some of the beautiful grounds surrounding it |
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| Amelienborg. This is only about a quarter of it. It's enormous |
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| The changing of the guard outside Amelienborg Slot |
The Little Mermaid
After watching the changing of the guards, we trekked out towards the bay, towards the more industrial area of Copenhagen, in search of The Little Mermaid, the famous statue by Hans Christian Andersen. This was one of the more emotional parts of the trip. During our stay we were notified by my Grandmother that my Grandfather, after battling leukemia and surviving his chemotherapy treatments, had passed away. One of the last things we had talked about with him before we left was about the Little Mermaid and how he wanted us to say "hi" to her. We spent a decent amount of time with the statue, battling chilly winds and salt spray, taking the time to appreciate this little statue for my Grandpa.
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| The whole fam in front of the Little Mermaid |
Nyhaven
We were lucky enough to have the sun shinning down on us when we rounded a corner and saw Nyhaven, which is most likely the most famous street in all of Denmark. The street was bustling with shoppers, tourists, and street performers. Boats for touring the harbors sat swaying at the docks and people sipped lattes and Carlsberg outside at the cafes lining the road. Every building was a different color and we ended up eating at Nyhaven 17, an orange building, where we enjoyed being able to sit outside in the sun, until it clouded over and startled sprinkling.
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| Nyhaven |
H.C Andersen's Grave
On our last full day in Denmark (Dad's birthday), we decided to walk across the lakes (they're just called lakes, they're actually just four strips of water that are, supposedly, remnants of the old moat that used to surround the city) and explore a new part of Copenhagen. We meandered our way through small streets past dark buildings and finally arrived at an enormous cemetery with a wide lane through the middle where young mothers pushed their babies in buggies and men on bicycles whizzed by. After turning off the main path, we started wandering amongst the drooping trees and moss covered headstones, some of which dated back hundreds of years. H.C Andersen's grave didn't look much different from the others, other than the fact that it had some small relics and candles placed by it by admirers. Staring at his grave, you realize how much this man has contributed to parts of my childhood (The Little Mermaid and Frozen were both based off his stories, as well at Thumbelina) and, I'll be honest, I teared up a little bit.
Carlsberg Brewery
I feel like I must put a disclaimer here: I do not care for Carlsberg beer. I'm sorry! I tried it, but it just isn't for me (neither is coors or Budweiser for that matter, but that's besides the point). Despite this fact, however, the Carlsberg brewery tour was very enjoyable. They have the world's largest bottle collection, as well as the Carlsberg horses, which were absolutely adorable. The grounds for the brewery were both beautiful and haunting, with old buildings no longer in use and remnants of different times (the four elephant statues that stand guard over the brewery all have different symbols on them, one of which is a swastika, which had a much different connotation when the brewery was built). Overall though, I had a great time touring the brewery with my parents and enjoying a nice coke at the end of the tour ;)
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| My coke alongside mom and dad's beer |
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| The giant elephants outside the brewery |
THE FOOD
As I mentioned earlier, Danish food by itself is not very good. However, the Danes know how to make a lot of other types of food very well. We managed to find what looked to be a farmers market/ fish market from the outside, with two long glass structures behind the array of flowers and produce that were carefully set up outside each morning. Inside the glass buildings, however, was rows and rows of food stands, with everything from fish and meat stands with whole pigs heads in them, to gourmet soaps and candles, paleo food, espresso and tea stands, French pastry stands, wood-fired oven pizzas, gelato, and porridge stands. Everything was made fresh in front of you, and honestly, eating there every meal for five days was still not enough to try everything. The beignets at the french pastry shop were literally to die for (we had them for dessert almost every night) and the porridge was like something out of a dream (dulce de leche porridge? Are you kidding me??). I had a lovely conversation about British football with the Italian man running the gelato shop, and had an interesting conversation with the Brit at the Paleo place. Every morning we were at breakfast here, munching on melt in your mouth pastries and sipping on rich and creamy espresso and hot chocolate and every evening we were mingling with locals and other tourists, fighting for a seat at the bar to watch the people behind the counter dance to music as they make your meal. Possibly the best part of this food market, beside the experience of trying a new food every day and meeting people from all walks of life? The price! Everything here was a quarter of the price of restaurants and easily ten times better. If you are ever in Copenhagen, you must find this place (I'm so sorry I don't remember the name of it, the locals will be able to point you to it though) and tell that cute guy at the noodle place I say hi. :)
Well, I think I've Covered Just About Everything
If you've stayed with me this long, thank you, I hope this post wasn't too boring or long winded. It's very hard to fit everything that happened in a trip like this into one post, there's plenty of things I've left out, but there were plenty more that I remembered again while writing this. I had one of the best weeks of my life exploring Copenhagen, and I miss it every single day. I miss the buildings, I miss the color of the sky and the smell of the wind, I miss the bike lanes and having to watch your step so you don't twist your ankle on cobblestone streets. I miss the smell of the ocean and the way it shimmers when the sun is out. I love seeing and hearing people from all over the world and wondering what brought them to this city. I am counting down the days until I can go back, although now it's time for me to look forward, because my next big city is... drumroll please... London!! And don't you blog readers worry, you will have plenty of new reading soon enough, London is less than a month away!
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