COPENHAGEN, DAY 1

Hello my dear readers, hope you are all well

After spending two days full of excursions and sightseeing in the Swedish capital, it was time to  say good-bye to Oslo and travel to our next stop - Copenhagen, Denmark's capital.  We took a short walk to the Stockholm Central Station where we caught a train to Malmö, the third-largest city in Sweden, situated on the southern point of the country.  After travelling through this part of Sweden for about 4 hours that were spent by watching the tranquil scenery from the big train windows or, reading or munching on some snacks, we disembarked and loaded onto the bus crossing the Oresund Bridge that spans over Oresund Strait between Sweden and Denmark.

On arrival in Copenhagen we checked in to the historic Admiral hotel, situated on a beautiful quayside with proximity to the major city's attractions.  We had lovely, spacious room with the windows overlooking the waterfront and from which we watched people who stayed in the hotel and were taking a plunge in the cold water.  I assume it was, as it was late August and the outside temperature didn't rise past 18C.

We first visited Copenhagen in back in 2010 arriving from Japan and hungry for big portions of food which would mainly consist of a big bowl of roasted potatoes and a humongous steak.  You would hardly see any potato dishes outside McDonalds where a Big Mac and a bag of French fries would set you back $30 AUS. As for steaks, you can only find them in the fancy restaurants that are a part of the big hotel chain, the biggest would weight 90gr!!!! and would cost you more then $100 AUS.  I am talking 15 years ago.  Don't get me wrong, Japan is a fascinating country, but when it comes to food, if you don't like miso soup for breakfast and don't eat sushi and not a fan of other Japanese food, you either have to be prepared to pay big bucks for European food or go hungry.  But I digress.

As for Copenhagen, they know how to feed a hungry punter.  We stayed there for three days and had a lovely time.  We even scored a lunch at famous Noma restaurant, thanks to a last minute cancellation.  To this day, we still talk about that meal. It was an amazing experience. As a matter of fact, there is a detailed post on my blog about our lunch at Noma. Pity, it was closed down. So for us being back in Copenhagen 15 years later was like walking down memory lane.

After dropping our bags, we went downstairs to join our group on a walking tour to learn more about the history and culture of the Danish capital.

Again, as in Stockholm, the city is crisscrossed by the waterways and canals that makes walking around it very pleasurable and quite exciting.  When you are on a bridge, you have such a broad view of your surroundings and get a clearer perspective and understanding of a city's layout.

There was on thing thought that I wasn't very happy about - a number of untamed bicycles on the streets.  You have to be on alert when they are approaching the traffic lights as they are coming from every which way and not always obeying the traffic lights.

The last time I saw so many bikes on the roads was when we visited Amsterdam in 2010, right after Copenhagen.  But these days their number is quadrupled and with it came the danger of being hit by one of them.

What I love about Copenhagen is the modern architecture blends harmoniously with the historical building and famous landmarks.

During our walking tour we came across a magnificent statue of Bishop Absalon who is historically credited as the founder of Copenhagen in XII century.

The other statue that caught my yes that takes centre stage in City Hall Square and is called The Lure Players that shares its space with swanky Scandic Palace Hotel.

When we came to the another public square called Axeltorf, we saw an sculpture installation of nine bronze amphoras called Zodiac where each amphora represents a planet in our Solar System.

We kept on walking along more gems of the city.  

This St Alban's Church designed in the  Gothic Revival, is the only one Anglican church in the country.

We stopped to have a closer look at Frederik's Church, popularly known as the Marble Church for its Rococo architecture and it has the largest dome in Scandinavia.

Our last historical stop for the day was to see an impressive equestrian statue of King Frederick V in Amalienborg Square and Amalienborg Palace (the home of Royal Family) in the distance.

Visitors are not permitted inside the Palace but we managed to glimpse the tradition of the Changing of the Guards that takes place every day at 12pm.

Our tour ended at well known Nyhavn harbour, central canal port easily recognised by the  colourful narrow houses lined along both sides of the canal and the multitude of boats, masts and sails constantly bobbing on the its surface.

It was in one of those houses in the restaurant called Heering where our group dined together at the end of the day.

By the time we finished our desserts (chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream which was simply divine) and were back on the street, the sun had gone and the evening was settling in over the city.  

Our itinerary for Day 2 was as busy as it was for Day 1, so my husband and I both agreed that if we want to keep going, we'd better find the way to our hotel and have a good nights rest.  And with that, we bade farewell to our fellow travelers and were gone.

Stay tuned for Day 2.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo