Copenhagen Day 3

It’s my last day in Copenhagen, and it started out a little cloudy but then cleared up and was beautiful. Good thing for all the people doing the Copenhagen Ironman today. The run went right past my hotel and it was fun to see some of the athletes, but it took all day so what a grueling challenge. The finish line was right in front of the Christiansborg Palace, and if you watched Bergen on Netflix that’s where most of it takes place.

I also got to see the Little Mermaid statue from the front. It’s actually fairly small. Kind of like seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. She has been vandalized a couple of times - once losing her head and once her arm. Really? What kind of person hates on the Little Mermaid? But now she has lights and more security so she’s doing pretty well. A huge crowd of people so she’s very popular. A cool seaplane in the background.

Next stop Amalienborg Palace. This is where the current queen actually lives. The top picture is her residence, but there are 4 basically identical houses that look like that around a central courtyard. One for the reigning Queen or King, then one for the next in line, one a guest house, and one a museum. They have royal guards that stand just like at Buckingham Palace and have the changing of the guards - but if the queen is gone then it’s far less of a production. That was the case today since she is in France. Bottom right picture is of their church. It’s called the Marble Church and is right between two of the houses. Quite stunning. Also the statue of the man on the horse is Frederick V.

Then I headed over to an area called Christianshavn. It’s across the bridge from the central part of town and very residential and beautiful. I read that it used to be a merchant’s district and fell into bad condition until a couple of decades ago when it had a resurgence and is now considered very desirable with wonderful renovated apartments and condos, cool restaurants and great canal walks. I researched a good restaurant to have a staple here in Denmark - the open face sandwich for lunch. It did not disappoint. They recommend 3 per person but I couldn’t even finish two. They are served on amazing rye bread. Top right was potato, red onion and a crab cake. Bottom right was beetroot with fried goat cheese on top. They have at least 20 different combinations - some with sea food, beef and chicken in addition to vegetarian. Delicious!

I just wandered around and sat on a few benches and enjoyed all the boat traffic through the canals. So many beautiful boats including some that looked like people might actually live on them.

They have a church in Christianshavn called Our Savior’s Church that you can pay a few dollars and climb the 400 stairs to get to the top of the tower. I thought about doing it but it wasn’t the 400 stairs that made me say no - it was the fact that the top part is totally open and there is no way I wouldn’t have been gripping the wall and totally freaking out with my fear of open height. I could actually see people climbing those spirals and it made my head spin. But looks amazing even from the outside. So if you’re there ever check it out and it might be right up your alley. They say you have a great view of the whole city and I totally believe it.

Here is a good picture of the new Copenhagen library. It’s enormous and called the Black Diamond. It angles up so larger at the top than the bottom. It picks up the reflection off the water and shimmers on a sunny day. It’s connected to the old library right behind it so a perfect example of the old and new working together. A fantastic wonderful resource for all the people of Copenhagen.

Something I’ve never seen before - rent an umbrella. I’ve seen rent a bike and rent a scooter, but I guess since it rains quite a bit up here you can just rent a nice big umbrella. I haven’t seen this in the states yet but I think it’s a great idea for big cities where people walk a lot like NYC and Chicago. Thoughts?

I’ve mentioned how people really enjoy the water here and it’s been a bit of a surprise how much swimming I’ve seen. There are some areas cordoned off that appear to be where you’re supposed to swim, but people put down towels just about anywhere that is close in height to the water and just jump in. And you see structures like this one along the boardwalk too. Pretty creative. Who needs a waterfront summer house in Copenhagen when you can jump in anywhere.

Copenhagen has really exceeded my expectations. Such a beautiful city with so much history, but also really embracing the future with new designs and energy efficiency. The people are friendly and helpful and appear to really enjoy life. I highly recommend putting it on your list and I may add it back on mine for a return visit. Next stop Sweden! Check back and thanks for coming along! 🇩🇰