Copenhagen Day 3

 Last day in Copenhagen, a short trip for sure.

I woke up and took the metro to the Niels Bohr Institute just to get a picture of the hallowed physics ground. Then I walked to a bakery for breakfast and a coffee.

Then back to the apartment to get Bailley to start the day.

We only have a few things still on our list, which is good because I'm pooped and Bailley is a bit under the weather. We jump on the metro and get off at østerport, near Kastellet (citadel). We walk through the park to Den Lille Havfrue (the little mermaid) statue. Perfect instagram vs. reality moment right there. 

                    

Then a walk to the center of the park to see the windmill. Wow, beautiful. 

Then metro ride over to Christianshavn to Vor Frelsers Kirke (Church of Our Savior). We had to buy time slots again, so there was an hour wait. But it was nice as we did set in on a mass for a bit.

 

If we went in the church, what's the time slot for? Why to climb the spire of course!

 It was quite the climb, with the near vertical stairs winding their way around the church bells. I made it to the first platform and saw the view, but chickened out on climbing the spire. Bailley did not. These are the great photos from her trek to the tippy top.

 

 

Whew, once death defying was done, we hit some shops for souvenirs and finally grabbed a lunch of smorrebrod, which is a Danish staple, open faced sandwich. Very very tasty.

Then a quick walk back for our online family mtg.

After the family meeting, we rested a bit, then summoned the energy for one last endeavor. Right outside the apartment, we rented bikes and started biking to Reffen. We got down Nyhavn (200 yards?) before having to turn around... Copenhagen's Ironman was in progress. Hmmm, we went over a few streets, back tracked and finally made it onto the route. We crossed the bridge, then nice flat roads with bike lanes... 

 

awesome. We made a turn to go by Noma (world famous restaurant) and couldn't seem to find it. We did find a fairly large nude beach, but not Noma, We turned around and yeah, we had turned just before it, It was closed, but we got to see it :) . 

 

Then we pushed on to Reffen. We locked the bikes and entered the grounds... man, what a great place. Tons of drink places and foods from all ethnicities all in shipping containers, with a big open beach area with a DJ playing music. After drinks and food, we rode back to Nyhavn, left the bikes, and went to the apartment. What a great ending to a wonderful trip.

Copenhagen Day 2

 I got up early and walked and ate breakfast. It was too much food, but I had to have the bun and a pastry. Black currant pastry for the win!

I walked a loop to get to a grocery store, more bodega than HEB, to get washing detergent. Then made my way beside Nyhavn and back. I threw on a load to wash and waited on Bailley to rustle. Once she was up, we stepped out, she grabbed a bun at a coffee shop right beside the apartment and a walking we went. 

The plan was to go to the National Gallery. On the way, we decided to stop at Rosenborg Castle. 

 

We had the CPH card, but needed an assigned time ticket, and the earliest was 12:50. So, we pocketed the ticket and went to the National Gallery which was very close. 

Great museum, lots of stunning works, but after 20,000 works of art, I was totally zoned out. 

  

We sat outside a minute before walking back to Kongens Havn (King's Garden) for a drink at a cafe and then on to the castle. And very castle-y it was. A crazy beautiful interior stuffed to the brim with artwork... even the ceilings. 

   

Also, Bailley thinks she found her doppelgänger, Duchess Charlotte Frederica of Macklenburg-Schwerin. She what you think.

Enough castle, as I was running out of gas. We took a route back to the apartment that went by the Round Tower so I could buy a painting from an artist and Bailley could get some jewelry she wanted. And I'll be... the guy selling his paintings wasn't there. Oh well. We pressed on and Bailley stopped and got her jewelry. Then we found a place to eat and rest, before walking the rest of the way back to the apartment. 

We get to King's New Square and there's people selling things, so we start looking, hoping to find a painting. We go around and Bailley say that person selling jewelry was beside the artist yesterday, so we kept looking and sure enough, there he is. What luck. I was able to get the painting after all.

Then promptly back to the apartment to collapse a bit.

Well, it wasn't until 8:00, but we mustered the energy to get back out. We took the metro to Tivoli Gardens, the world's second oldest amusement park. But so much more was going on, with different cultures architecture and food as well as a concert. We got to hear a little Danish hip hop as we made our way to the exit. Metro, then apartment.

 

Copenhagen Day 1

Today started with a short walk to BUKA bakery for a traditional breakfast bun (seeded sourdough bread with butter and cheese), pastries, and coffees. The French have nothing on the Danish people.

Today was explore day. We started off with a self paced walking tour to get a better feel for where things are. Started with passing Nyhavn

then to Kongens Nytorv (King's new square)

and on to the Radhuspladsen (City Hall)

 

Tivoli Gardens and Hans Cristian Anderson statue

Christiansborg Palace. This is the Danish parliament building.

The old stock exchange, with the coolest spire (in the city of spires) with three crowns and dragons.

Stork fountain and a nice pedestrian street. We found and talked to a local artist for a while. I couldn't decide, so if I want a piece of art, we'll have to go back tomorrow, weather permitting.

Rundetaarn (Round Tower)

Then after a great day of walking and exploring, things tumbled. Well, I tumbled.  Crossing a street, my shoe caught a cobble and down I went. The coolest part of all, my head rams a large metal thing (trash bin? mailbox? something) at the curb, so it made a huge sound to draw even more attention. Some nice bicyclists stopped to make sure I was ok, I was, other than my embarrassment. So now back to the apartment to wash my bloody hands. 

Once cleaned up and rested, we ventured back out. We walked to the end of Nyhavn and went to a bar on a boat that had craft beer. A great way to kill time while we waited on a boat tour.

 

We waited in line and had to take the second boat, so it ended up being quite a while. But the tour was nice. We got to see more sites and from the water this time. We also got to hear more history in between all the reprimands telling people to sit down (lots of low bridges on the canals).

 

After the tour, we grabbed a quick lunch/dinner combo at a converted gas station, Gasoline Grill. A local, hyped place to grab a quick burger and man it did not disappoint. Then back to the apartment to rest. Bailley said her watch said 5.5 miles walked, but my hip says 25.5 :) .