Copenhagen was definitely the most lively of the three cities that we visited. Stockholm and Bergen both seemed to have early dinners and early bedtimes (which suits my Midwestern heart just fine). I’m not sure if that’s the culture in Sweden or Norway – or – as a friend later pointed out, it could just be that people were on holiday themselves and things move a bit more slowly when that happens. In any case, I happily dubbed the Swedes and the Norweigans the “Midwesterners of Europe.”
We took another short Scandinavia Air flight from Bergen to Copenhagen and about 90 minutes later, we were descending into Denmark. Just coming from Norway, you notice how flat Denmark is.
Copenhagen is the largest city and the capital city of Denmark. A large city in Scandinavian terms, Copenhagen seems like a mini-city when you compare it to its counterparts in continental Europe. Copenhagen has about 1.5 million people in the greater metropolitan area.
We had a very, very short time in Copenhagen. First stop, check in at the hotel and drop off my luggage. Hoping for a view of the water from my hotel room, I was instead greeted with a fantastic view of….IKEA.
Given our limited time, we decide to head to Tivoli Gardens Amusement Park. About a mile walk from our hotel, we had the time to see some sights. Located in central Copenhagen, Tivoli is an amusement park and so much more and it’s been in operation since 1843. Walt Disney apparently took great inspiration from Tivoli in creating Disneyland. (I greatly prefer Tivoli). There are delicious restaurants here including a great food hall where I enjoyed a lobster roll and a beer. The gardens are stunning. The people watching here is sublime. It’s THE place to be on the weekend. There are amusement park rides here, yes. And I rode a couple of them, two of which made my middle aged self slightly dizzy.
Scandinavia has a reputation for being incredibly safe. At Tivoli, my friend and I had the chance to see how safe. We boarded a roller coaster with our small cross body bags and were told by the attendant that our bags would have to remain at the entrance of the ride in some cubbies. I cannot tell you the amount of sheer terror that crossed through my American brain. “I have money in my bag. I have a credit card in my bag. My hotel room key is in my bag.” At home, someone would have likely walked off with my bag. Not in Copenhagen. No one even looked twice at it. In talking with our Copenhagen tour guide the following day, being able to leave your belongings or BABY unattended is totally normal in Denmark. Mommies leave their babies in strollers while they enjoy a meal in a restaurant. We saw a mommy leave her baby in a stroller in the shade while she enjoyed the sun and water on a nice summer’s day. It could be that Denmark has a relatively homogenous population and with high taxes, everyone lives a similar lifestyle and so crime diminishes. It also reinforces my notion that the more I travel, the more I notice how many problems we have in the United States of America.
Back to Tivoli. I highly recommend this park no matter your age. You can ride the rides, you can eat well, you can just stroll and enjoy the manicured grounds or you can take in a free show or concert. We even found a place that will take a close up photo of your eye. The Iris Galerie created the photo below. (The opinions on whether or not I was crazy to have this done are about 50/50. I don’t care. I love my giant eyeball and it’s currently hanging in my living room).
Tivoli is lovely, particularly after dusk when it’s all lit up.
A nice walk back to our hotel, and we settled in for some sleep in preparation for our last day in Denmark which includes a whirlwind tour. It’s the first time on our tour that I felt like we were rushed. We all piled into a small van and hit all of the sites in Copenhagen in a chaotic morning, and it was almost too much for me.
We did get to see the famous Little Mermaid statue inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen tale. She sits in Langelinie Pier and is much tinier than you think. Brewer Carl Jacobsen, the story goes, commissioned sculptor, Edvard Eriksen, after he fell in love with the story (and maybe the ballerina) after seeing a performance at Royal Danish Theater. The ballerina refused to pose nude for the sculpture and so the sculptor’s wife posed instead. The Little Mermaid sits a top a rock with a view of a recycling plant in the distance.
On to two of the palaces in Copenhagen. (Yes, Denmark also has a royal family!) Amalienborg is one of the palaces in Copenhagen and while we did not go in, you can tour the palace. We also quickly dropped by Rosenborg Castle where the treasures of the Danish kings and queens are guarded. We drive by a few other sights in a hurry and end up back in a central plaza in the city.
Here we end our crazy morning tour and decide to slow things down a bit. We enjoyed lunch outside and then decided to take a boat tour. Copenhagen is designed to been seen from the water and the boat tour was a welcome change of pace from the morning. There are several boat tours that leave regularly from several points in Copenhagen. Most boats have both covered and uncovered seating. I’d recommend sitting uncovered if the weather is nice. (Do take sunscreen and/or a hat).
Copenhagen’s canals are the perfect viewing point for the monuments and historic buildings in the city. On a nice, sunny day you can also people watch and enjoy viewing all of the ways the sun-loving Danes find a piece of real estate to sun bathe. The scenes on the canals also remind me that Americans don’t relax like the rest of the world either.
After our leisurely boat ride, we take another quick walk to our final stop of the afternoon.
The Glyptotek Art Museum is fairly close to Tivoli Gardens. It is a collection of art exhibits curated from the private collection of Carl Jacobsen, and art collector, that includes pieces from ancient Egypt (including a couple of mummies), Rome and Greece. The building itself is stunning. Head up to the roof for a great view and grab a snack at the cafe.
A farewell dinner with my fellow travelers, a very quick night’s sleep (a nap really), and an early morning cab ride to the airport and I’m headed home…snuggled back into my KLM pod, knowing full well that I didn’t have nearly enough time in Scandinavia.
Want to see more of Copenhagen? Click here.
The Travels and Misadventures of Miss HeatherLynnP 