I left my last post on a bit of a cliffhanger saying I had something very exciting coming up. Well that something was a short trip to Copenhagen, somewhere I've wanted to visit for a very long time. We had an early flight on the 2nd and our return flight was very late on the 5th, so we had four full days there.
We stayed in a lovely hotel not far from Grand Central Station, so we were quite central and certainly within walking distance of all the major attractions, though we worked out how far we had walked over the four days and it turned out that we'd done over thirty seven miles, so the steps rack up even when you're quite close to everything.
Furthest from our hotel was the statue of The Little Mermaid, so we decided to visit that on our very first day. The bronze sculpture by Edvard Eriksen is based on the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen and sits on a rock by the waterside. I'd heard people say how small it is and that it's rather underwhelming so I must admit that I was expecting it to be smaller. I think it's quite charming and I don't think you could visit Copenhagen without seeing it.
Nyhavn, which means New Harbour, is famous for its 17th and 18th century colourful buildings which stand by the canal. Hans Christian Andersen lived in three of these houses and wrote some of his famous fairy tales whilst living there. It's a gateway from the sea to the inner city which was used to bring cargo and for fishermen to unload their catch. Now it's lined with bars and restaurants and it's a place to which tourists flock to get a photo of the picturesque houses.
There's other colourful buildings around the city too and some beautiful architecture.
Amalienborg Palace is the official residence of the Danish Royal Family. The flag indicates that a member of the royal family is in residence. It's actually a complex comprising of four palaces built around a courtyard.
We stopped to watch the soldiers on sentry duty, we'd missed the changing of the guard which happens at noon.
In the middle of the courtyard stands a statue of Frederick V and beyond that, you can see Frederik's Church which is commonly known as the Marble Church. The church isn't entirely made of marble, though this was the original plan. The foundation stone was laid in 1749 but the court architect died in 1754 whilst the church was incomplete and the project became abandoned. It stood, half built, for over a hundred years. In the late 1800s, the ruins of the church were sold on the condition that a church was built on the site following the original plans, however, due to lack of funds, much of it was built in limestone blocks rather than marble. The church finally opened in 1894.
The dome is said to be inspired by St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and with a span of 31 metres, it's one of the largest church domes in Northern Europe.
There's many squares in Copenhagen and lots of green spaces too, so many places to sit a while and people watch.
The Round Tower or Rundetaarn is Europe's oldest functioning observatory building, the construction being completed in 1642. Though it was on our list of places we wanted to visit, we came across it by chance as it's set in the heart of the city.
The tower itself is 35 metres high.
Inside, there's a ramp rather than steps which allowed a horse and carriage to transport books to the library which is built above the church, part of the complex, and equipment to the observatory. The ramp spirals 7.5 times before reaching the stairs which lead to the observation deck, and is 209 metres long.
Towards the top of the ramp is a recess where you can view the hollow core which extends from the bottom to the top of the tower. There's a glass floor which you can step on to but there was no way I was doing that, leaning over it was enough for me!
The observation deck gives a 360-degree view of the city.
It's fun looking for the buildings you recognise.
A narrow staircase takes you from the observation deck up to the observatory. It's manned two evenings per week between October and March. It was unmanned when we visited but we were still able to go up to take a look. Don't miss the Round Tower if you visit Copenhagen, it's such an interesting place to visit.
Obviously, many Danish pastries were consumed while we were there, we were in Denmark, it would be rude not to partake. They come in many different varieties, there's something for everyone.
What I didn't know about Copenhagen, or Denmark in general I believe, is that hot dogs are very popular there. They're actually elevated to another level from the humble hot dog we get here in the UK by the addition of distinctive sauces such as remoulade, a mustard mayonnaise, pickled cucumber, pickled red onions and crispy fried onions. They're delicious, let me tell you!
I think everyone must own a bike in Copenhagen, all the roads have bike lanes and there's a constant stream of traffic using them. You often see huge groups of bikes parked together like in the photo above.
We had hoped to visit Tivoli Gardens while we were there, it was a stone's throw from our hotel, but day three when we hoped to go was the day that Storm Amy hit. It was very windy and we got lashed with rain, and though we didn't visit Tivoli, we did still venture out around the city. Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park and it's believed it inspired Walt Disney when he came to design the US parks. It was closed when we arrived in Copenhagen as it was being prepared for Halloween, but opened on the 3rd all decked out in pumpkins. It's a shame we didn't make it but I don't think it would have been fun walking around it during a storm. We'll make sure it's top of the list when we visit again.
Yes, we're already talking of going back. We loved what we saw of Copenhagen and we feel we only just touched the surface, there's so much more we want to see. One thing I'd say though is that you need plenty of spending money as everything is so expensive. So, we'll save up and return one day. But wait, I've only mentioned what we did on three of the days we were there. On day two we ventured over to Sweden, but I'm sure you've read enough for one post so I'll tell you all about that next time.
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