SUMMARY We slept-in due to our late night of music rattling our hotel windows. Had a very nice breakfast included with our room then took off walking. Red Cross thrift store first then the Botanical Garden - famous for their greenhouses of tropical plants (and steamy hot atmosphere!). On to the Rosenborg Castle and the Danish Crown Jewels. Sadly they had sold out of tickets for the day. Stopped at one of Copenhagen’s food halls (Torvehallerne) for smørrebrød, aka open-faced sandwiches! Onward to the Round Tower for a corkscrew of a hike up to the observation deck. Chilled for a while in the lounge at our hotel then went to Tivoli Garden, an amazing 180 year old amusement park. We did not partake of any of their Very Scary rides but did enjoy the screams of those who did. Dinner from another food hall then another hard rock lullaby from the Pride Festival venue. - Karen
DETAIL
Today we slept in til 8:30. We got to bed late last night due to the music from the Pride Festival venue across the street so it’s probably a good thing. Breakfast is up on the 6th floor and is included. We’re supposed to have made a reservation, but we didn’t. They accommodated us anyway. The place is big and brightly lit with windows on two sides. It’s thronging with people getting breakfast from the buffet. There’s lots of cheese, cut-your-own bread, rye crisp, black bread, yogurt, fruit, eggs, sausage. It’s a good breakfast and we fill up, even having Danish from Denmark. It seems appropriate.
We head out into the bright of the day. We’re walking down H C Anderson Street. The locals here talk about a Mr H C Anderson like we talk about H G Wells or J S Bach. It’s never Hans Christian Anderson, as we know him. We’re headed for a big Red Cross thrift store. Røde Kors in Danish. We buy Scott a pullover to replace the old fleece he’s misplaced. US$6 The city has many many vintage clothing stores, but most are said to pretty pricy. Red Cross is the recommended exception.
The botanical garden is our next stop and it’s just a few blocks down. It’s warm and we stop for an “is”, pronounced Ice and it’s ice cream, yum. It’s a small tub each (~1 cup) of local ice cream and the label says it’s made with Birch juice. That’s a first. We tour some of the outdoor parts of the gardens and then pay maybe US$12 to tour the many glass green houses there. There are tons of exotic plants. Some are tiny and some are multi-stories tall. We go from a glass house that’s stiflingly hot and humid to another that’s cool and delightful. We see lots of cactus and then butterflies. Great fun.
Next we walk to the royal castle. Maybe one of the old ones. It’s pricy to tour but recommended by our friends. We could see the Danish Crown Jewels! Alas all the tickets for the time slots for the remainder of the day have already been sold.
Rumblings in our stomaches remind us we haven’t had lunch. We head to a charming food court Karen knew about. It really was nice. Lots of shops and lots of people shopping and eating. There is a long food hall on one side, then a bunch of plant merchants and then another equally long food hall. We wait in a long, but quick moving line and bought two amazing smorebrød. Chicken salad and salmon salad. They were exquisite, washed down with pink wine and Belgian Tripple beer.
On our way back to the hotel we stop and walk up the round tower. This is that tower the king had built that goes round and round where the king’s coach and horses could get to the top of a tower to do astronomical studies. It’s in great shape and very popular. The view from the top (of the city, not the stars) was good, too.
Back on terra firma Karen stops at the famous pastry shop “La Glace” buys two elaborate, yummy pastries. We wait til we’re back in the room to eat them. Next I need to work on this diary (for yesterday) and so we head back up to the 6th floor, where we had breakfast this morning. In the evenings it’s called “The Lounge”. They have free unlimited good beer, wine, champagne, and snacks for the guests. Bad idea. I did get a bunch done on the diary before getting into a long conversation with a mom and her charming daughters from France. I spoke with them mostly in French and they did French and some English (to practice). Karen had been talking to her sister but joined us at the end.
With the day running out we headed down the street to tour Tivoli Gardens. We had dinner in yet another food hall (“Tivoli Gardens Food Hall”) and toured the gardens themselves. We watched the thumping rap music performance, and the crazy rides that were making the riders shriek. We observed some cheesy midway carny games, and lastly watched water/light (laser) show. Not too late we headed back “home”, bouncing to the loud Pride Festival music thumping in the background. The music once again ended at midnight again, this time for the final time for this year’s festival. Time for beddy-bye.
Photos
The first thing we saw when leaving our hotel. Those bright colors woke us up!
US$6 for my new pullover. Deal! Why do I look so pained? Karen was taking the picture from a traffic lane and I was genuinely worried>0
A few of the oh-so-many impressive buildings in Copenhagen as viewed from across one of the oh-so-many bodies of water in Copenhagen.
Many glass houses (green houses) in the Copenhagen Botanical Garden, all linked. Maybe five in back, two in front?
Inside the biggest of the glass/green houses. This one has a spiral staircase up to the top to look down on the plants from above.
So many cacti. We thought we were back in Texas.
Beautiful butterflies. Only had one thing on their minds, it seemed.
Herb plants for sale, a food hall in the background
Beer and wine and smørrebrød. So good!
The round tower. If you're king, you shouldn't have to hike to the telescope on top.
The design. How the king, with his coach and trusty steeds, could get to the top without walking (other than the horses walking)
What the horses saw
One of the desserts we didn't get at La Glace. (It does look good, though)
SOME of what we saw on the walk back to our hotel.
Tivoli Garden at night
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