 |
| Copenhagen |
Scandinavia
had been in hubby and my bucket list so we decided to hit a couple of the Nordic
countries. And, to celebrate several milestones in our family, we visited the
happiest country in the world, Denmark (rankings change yearly, but Denmark is
always top 3). We got a Copenhagen Card and checked out some top attractions
that were included. Apart from admission, the card included transit which was
very efficient and convenient. We managed to ride the Metro, S-tog (like a
streetcar), bus and regional train. We did not rent bikes as that would be
harder for Grandma. Bike rental was very accessible and there were bike lanes
everywhere. While there were so many attractions included in the card, here are
those we went to that could fit in our trip:
1. We
started our trip to Copenhagen with the Canal Tour. We wanted to just take it
easy, having come from a red-eye flight and wanted to situate the attractions
so we decided a canal tour would be perfect. We knew that we would not have a
chance to visit Christiana and the Church of our Savior so we just took a peek from our tour.
 |
| Church of Our Savior, view from Canal Tour |
As well, the Little Mermaid statue was reputed
to be so underwhelming and far from the rest of the attractions, so we wanted
to get those checked off our list via the tour.
 |
| The Little Mermaid statue |
The Stromma Canal Tours was great
and our guide, Peter, was funny! We learned a few things (and a few jokes) and
saw many sights. The Ved Stranden departure point is the one included in the
Copenhagen card as the Nyhavn location was more expensive. It was all fine
since the one-hour tour will take you to the same sights.
 |
| Opera house, Copenhagen |
 |
| Black Diamond, Copenhagen |
2. When
you Google Copenhagen, Nyhavn is one of the first things you will see in
pictures. It is a waterfront, canal and dining district lined by brightly
coloured 17
th/early 18th century townhouses, bars, cafés, and
restaurants. We took a leisurely stroll (and many photos) from Kongens Nyrtov
to the Inner Harbour. The buildings as well as the tall ships and sailboats
moored along the canal were so picturesque. Nyhavn is truly iconic.
 |
| Nyhavn |
4. Grandma,
the shopper, was looking forward to going to Strøget, which is known to be the
longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe at 1.1km. Here, we were also going
to check out the Lego store (which is based in Copenhagen) as well as other
Danish brands including Ecco and Pandora. Department store, Illums Bolighus (also
with a basement food hall) was also there among so many other stores.
5. But
before heading to Strøget, we went first to the City Hall where we checked out Jens
Olsen's World Clock (Verdensur).
 |
| Jens Olsen's World Clock (Verdensur) |
This astronomical
clock was intricate and so cool to see! We were only expecting to see the clock but
we were happy to find that the interiors of the City Hall was very nice as
well. The hallways and staircases were ornate and provided us with a few photo
ops.
 |
| City Hall, Copenhagen |
Outside, you can also find a statue of Hans Christian Andersen looking
over to the Tivoli.
 |
| Hans Christian Andersen looking at Tivoli |
The building itself was beautiful, having a tower which is the
highest structure in the capital. As well, the statues and fountain in front
made the edifice grander.
 |
| City Hall, Copenhagen |
After
the City Hall, we went to the National Museum of Denmark.
 |
| inside the National Museum of Denmark |
6. National Museum of Denmark - As we wanted to learn
more about Danish history and culture, we breezed through the top floor housing
Classical and Near Eastern Antiquities. The exhibits for Danish pre-history, Middle
Ages, all the way through to 2000s were very informative and we could easily
have spent a couple more hours (on top of the two we spent here) if we wanted
to read through everything. They also had a collection from various other
countries including Japan and Africa. However, the Viking exhibit, which I
would have wanted to see was unfortunately under renovation. It was a good
foundation to visit the museum to learn more about Denmark before exploring
other places.
 |
| one of the exhibits at National Museum of Denmark |
7. While
the girls thought the rides at Tivoli Gardens would not be able to compare to
the thrill rides at Canada’s Wonderland or Disney World, we still had to visit
the second oldest amusement park in the world. And we were so glad we did!
 |
| Tivoli Gardens |
Tivoli Gardens is a nice theme park from 1840s. The flowers in the gardens were
just beautiful and various birds were a delight to see across the grounds. The
different rides and shops were interesting, and they had a huge grassy area
where you can just get a lawn chair to relax. We watched a couple of shows—one,
of an up and coming local band, which we really enjoyed, and as well, a
Pantomime show which was too silly for us to sit through.
 |
| beautiful flowers at Tivoli gardens |
 |
| grounds at Tivoli Gardens |
 |
| Tivoli Gardens |
 |
| Carousel at Tivoli Gardens |
We stayed through the evening so we can experience the gardens with the lights and catch the light and sound show at 9:30pm. Fair warning, if you have seen fireworks at Disney or the water show at Bellagio, you will be really underwhelmed. It was still a nice enough show and surely the younger kids would have appreciated it more. Overall, we really enjoyed our relaxing stroll at the Tivoli Gardens, as we imbibed a bit of Hygge.
 |
| Light and Sound show at Tivoli Gardens |
8. Other attractions we passed by but were not included in the Copenhagen card were the Round Tower and the Trinitatis Kirke (no admission for this one).
 |
| Round Tower, Copenhagen |
 |
| Trinitatis Kirke |
We
wished we were able to go to more of the attractions that came with our
Copenhagen card but with the limited hours that we did spend on those that we
went to, we know we wouldn’t have been able to swing it. At that rate, we
averaged 15,000 steps a day and were definitely exhausted by the end of the day.
Nevertheless, Copenhagen had a lot to offer. I can actually imagine see myself living here!
