Denmark: Copenhagen

Long weekend in Copenhagen in the beginning of September. Altho Copenhagen is just an hour away by plane, I had never made it there before. When Nordica offered some super cheap tickets I bought them without hesitation. It was such a fun weekend I would gladly go back soon.

Arrived around 7pm on a friday, met with Rene, Moe and Shanem for some Danish beers at an Irish bar "Old Irish Pub" downtown. There was this singer with the best taste in music, he even played Country Roads, oh what nostalgia, took me back thinking about WVU times. When they night progressed, we moved to the Meatpacking District. Another nostalgia, when I lived in NY I enjoyed going to Meatpackers a lot. And this looks a lot like the one in NYC, except this unlike in NYC is apart from bars, galleries and nightclubs still home to butcheries and slaughterhouses as well.

The Tivoli Gardens. The world's second oldest amusement park. The world's oldest is here in Denmark as well. 

Went on a free walking tour on Saturday morning. I've grown to love these tours on all my travels. Firstly, they are tips based, and secondly, they truly are almost always very informative and exciting. As a bonus, you meet great people on them, this one was no exception. I ended up hanging out with two lovely ladies for the rest of the weekend. 

We started the tour in front of the City Hall and headed to Christiansborg palace. The weather was warm and sunny, such a lovely extension of summer. 

Christiansborg Palace, located on the tiny island of Slotsholmen, contains the Danish Parliament Folketinget, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of State. The tower is Copenhagen’s highest tower, it is now open to the public, free of charge and open every day apart from Mondays. 

Put a ring on it aka Kunsthal Tower with an added accessory. The ring is part of an art installation called Things For A Symmetrical Tower, created especially to mark the opening of the 400-year-old tower to visitors.

The streets are cosy (hyggely), narrow and colourful. 

Nyhavn. The old harbor of Copenhagen, Nyhavn, is crowded with classy restaurants and cozy cafes, altho most are tourist traps as the prices are quite high. It was su much better to grab some famous hot dogs (with everything) from the kiosk, get some Tuborg's to go with them and sit on the pier alongside the river, enjoy the scenery (the beautiful colourful renovated houses are originally from the 18th century!), chat and people watch. 

In front of the palace. 

The Queen resides at Amalienborg palace and that is where the Royal Life Guards keep watch. They were enjoying the weather as well, if you look closely they were smiling and giggling a bit. According to the flags the queen was not home but some of the younger generations were there in one of the houses.  The whole palace area looked really relaxed and normal. 

Surrounding the palace square with its statue of King Frederik V from 1771, Amalienborg is made up of four identical buildings. These are Christian VII’s Palace that is used as guest residence, Frederik VIII’s Palace that's home of the crown prince's family, Christian IX’s Palace home of the Queen herself and Christian VIII’s Palace used as guest palace for Prince Joachim and Princess Benedikte, in the last on is also the museum. 

The Little Mermaid is a short walk away from the palace. The views are lovely on the way as well. 

Inspired by a fairytale from the famous children’s storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, the Little Mermaid is one of Copenhagen’s most famous tourist attractions. It's small and sad-looking. Yet, if you know the real Andersen's tale not the Disney version, it makes absolute sense. 

En route to Christiania island. What we thought will be a short walk there just to explore around, ended up as us staying at Christiania for 5 hours. Such a liberating little community. Very hygge!  

Freetown Christiana is a hippie commune in Copenhagen - car free and with a green mindset. It was established by hippies who occupied some abandoned military barracks and created their own independent society. Nowadays, around 900 people live in the area that has its own rules and regulations completely independent of the Danish government. Christiania has been famous for many years thanks to the permanent stalls along ‘The Green Light District’ that sells different types of cannabis, which are legal there. Until recently taking photos in Christiania was completely illegal, nowadays there are no huge signs declaring that anymore, but it's still often frowned upon. 

Sunday brunch time at Torvehallerne food market which has 60+ stands selling fresh fish to gourmet chocolate.. Literally, everything you wish for. It's unbelievably hard to decide, so take your time. We enjoyed our long brunch there, sampling the pastries (cinnamon swirls!) and fresh smoothies and well, these smørrebrød's were heavenly - avocado and shrimp - two of my favorite things. 

Also stumbled upon a food festival. There's a culinary competition going on with top chefs and all. 

For a sunday afternoon  sun session we picked a rooftop terrace in old town with a cool view over town and a busker playing on the square. Again, super hyggely!