Copenhagen Part 2

Having returned from the island we now had little more than a day to explore Copenhagen city

Dropping our bags at our hotel, we discovered our hotel was actually in the Leisure Centre and included a giant climbing wall on the outside – interesting!  Although our room was located off a long locked corridor that looked like a prison wing the room was comfortable and we were pleased to discover free coffee on offer at reception all day and night as long as you hung on to your original cardboard cup!

Climbing Wall at our Hotel

Copenhagen is a very walkable city and that is exactly what we did.  We waked through the very pretty Orsted Park onwards to the similar but even more stylish Botanical Gardens.  This included a huge glass dome like the one at Kew Gardens and contained tropical plants but as the temperature was a soaring 29 degrees today, we didn’t need to be in an even hotter indoor glass bubble for any longer.

Botanical Gardens

So onwards passing by the Rosenborg Castle, The Town Hall and The Round Tower in the Latin Quarter, we appreciated the outstanding architecture of so many buildings in such a small space in the city.

Although a bit touristy, we couldn’t resist stopping off for lunch at one of the pretty cafes in the scenic Nyhavn Harbourside area whose picture is on the front of every guide book for Copenhagen.   Those of you have seen the film the Danish Girl will recognise it also.

Nyhavn Harbour

Then still on the tourist trail we took the canal boat tour, stopping off first at the Little Mermaid.  We had expected the famous statue to be about as impressive as the Manikin Pis in Brussels i.e. not significant.  However, we thought that although overrated in some ways, we actually quite liked this world famous statue on the water’s edge.  We were pleased that we hadn’t taken a non-stop canal tour at this point as those boats just passed by the back side (literally) of the Mermaid whereas we could see her in all her glory. 

Next up was a stop at Christianhavn over the other side of the water.  The canal journey reaching here was beautiful floating down the little waterways on the sunniest day we have experienced all year. The most impressive site here was a helter skelter style church called Our Saviours Church with its 400 steps which given the heat of the day, we decided not to climb. 

Our Saviours Church

However, the place that I had long wanted to discover is the hippy community Christiania which was set up in the 70s with its own set of rules and with street names like Pusher Street, it doesn’t take much imagination to work out what it was all about.  Guide books now advice that the area is vastly cleaned up and conventional and that visitors are welcome if they refrain from taking photos.  We entered the psychedelic  graffiti painted enclave and we instantly felt like we were at a Danish version of Glastonbury festival.  Bands were playing, people were lying in the grass eating and drinking and there were stalls selling food, drink and other wares.  Then we turned the corner and entered an area known as the “Green Zone” with even bigger signs prohibiting photos and telling people to “have fun but not to run!”  The stall holders here were wearing masks to cover their faces and the smell of cannabis was overpowering.  If this is cleaned up and conventional, we wondered what it was like beforehand, as we were clearly in the zone where cannabis was being sold and used freely.  This was the point when we decided it was time to move on and out of Christiania.

Outside Christiania

By now it was evening and time to eat.  We had been recommended a place on the Harbour Front serving Street Food.  The venue was an enormous warehouse style venue situated on the canal edge and containing hundreds of little stalls selling food and drink from all over the world.  We were spoilt for choice but wanting to eat something local, I opted for the smorrebrod – open sandwich with rye bread and topping with crayfish – delicious. John opted for warm flatbread filled with soft cheese and salad – equally delicious. 

A few final thoughts on Copenhagen: What really strikes you is how happy people are. The cyclists are scary and have right of way. By some miracle we both narrowly  missed death by bicycle. Sometimes it's the simple things that make the biggest impact like a pleasant bar with pictures from the 1930's, coffee and croissant, or chatting to other travellers over a light lunch.  Or the town hall that looked like a cross between a palace, a prison and something out of Harry Potter and the Copenhagen adventure.

Overall one of the most friendly, happy places we have visited. Finally many thanks to our Servas hosts Per and Birte.

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 [JJ1]