Copenhagen

This is the first leg of our journey...

Friday, June 16

On our way to JFK, we stopped in Maryland to visit our new niece which was awesome because we don't get to see her nearly enough for our liking!  We made one other stop on our way to the airport, and that was to grab some lunch at Earl of Sandwich at one of the rest stops on I-95.  We arrived at JFK around 7:00, parked the car in long-term parking, and took the Air Train to the terminal.

Those of us who know us know that we are not fancy.  Whatsoever!  We are more than happy to fly Frontier and Spirit and pretty much any other "cheap" airline if it means we get to travel.  But C happened to find relatively inexpensive business class seats for this trip, so not only did we have super comfy seats, but we had access to the executive lounge before our flight, so we could relax and take advantage of snacks and drinks.  Not going to lie…it was pretty great!

Our flight ended up being delayed by about two hours, and much of that was spent sitting on the plane, so those lovely business class seats really made that delay a non-issue.  I'm sure I would have felt very differently if we'd been in our usual economy seats.

I took some photos as we descended into Copenhagen...just beautiful!

Saturday, June 17

Wanded in Copenhagen around 1 pm, took the subway to downtown, then a taxi to our hotel.  We stayed the Kong Frederik hotel right in downtown Copenhagen.  What a beautiful hotel this was!  There are some plaques hanging in the lobby with name of celebrities who have stayed there…Duran Duran, Rick Astley, The Stray Cats…be still my '80's-music-loving heart!!!

After we got settled in our room, we decided to venture out and find something to eat.  We happened upon this little hole-in-the-wall place called Fresh Bagel and decided to give it a try.  Oh my word!  It was SO delicious!  Such amazing sandwiches!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening wandering around Copenhagen before I FaceTimed with Ginny – always one of my favorite things to do when we are away!  She is hysterical…looking at the screen under the phone, around the phone, over the phone…I am so lucky my mom has the patience to move the phone around so the two of us can see each other!  Maddy, on the other hand, has little to no interest in FaceTime conversations with me!

Sunday, June 18

We ate breakfast at the hotel, and unfortunately, it was not the greatest meal we've ever had, so we decided we would not be doing that again during our stay.  We've had a run of luck on really great hotel breakfasts, so this was a little disappointing, but not a big deal.

We took the train to the Carlsberg brewery for a tour, which was a fun couple of hours, and after returning to the downtown train station, ate lunch before venturing over to the Hans Christian Andersen museum.  It was a cute place, but I guess I never realized just how depressing some of his stories are!  "The Little Match Girl?"  So sad!

We discovered a place called Taphouse that has more than 60 beers on tap, so we decided to stop in for a break and we loved it in there!  We ended up returning on two other days because the staff was super friendly and the beer was delicious!  After a few more hours of roaming around the city, we realized it was getting pretty late, and it was Sunday, and most restaurants were closing for the night before we really thought about dinner.  Thankfully we found a place that was open late and were able to enjoy a fantastic meal at an outside table and partake in some serious people-watching.

Monday, June 19

We returned to Fresh Bagel for a late breakfast before taking the train to Frederiksborg Castle, which was awesome.  I admit I pretty much love any and all castles, but this one was very pretty and had fabulous gardens to wander through.  The Great Hall was particularly stunning and I took tons of photos in there because the room and the chandeliers reminded me of the ballroom scene from Beauty and the Beast!

We stopped for ice cream before catching the train back to Copenhagen.  We decided to go back to our hotel to rest for a little while heading out to dinner and to Tivoli Gardens, which is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world.  It was also one of the places that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland!  We enjoyed the evening wandering through the park, admiring the elaborate theming, eating ice cream, and partaking in more people watching.  At the end of the night, we stayed for the "Tivoli Illuminations" water show, and then went back to Taphouse before calling it a night.  So fun!

Tuesday, June 20

We slept in and then grabbed a late breakfast at a place called Emmery's Café, which was great, and then went over to the National Museum.  While I'd love to report about all of the amazing exhibits, but we did not stay long because it was ridiculously hot inside the museum and therefore a rather unpleasant experience!

After leaving the National Museum, we went to the Round Tower, which afforded some nice view of Copenhagen, and the to a small local bookshop where I found the most amazing Harry Potter covers! I already have seven complete sets of the book series, but if it weren't for the thought of baggage fees for loading up our suitcase with heavy books, I would have bought them.  Alas, photos will have to suffice!  We also checked out the Disney Store, but there is nothing really noteworthy to share; it was pretty similar to Disney Stores you find in America (as opposed to the one in Toyko, which was fantastic!).

We took a canal boat tour that highlighted a variety of sights and was a great way to see the city.  Afterwards, we found a tiny little pizza place that upon first glance seemed like not the best choice, but we took a chance and the pizza was super good!  We got ice cream waffles for dessert at another little shop and then walked over to the Little Mermaid statue.  It is a very popular tourist spot, so there were a lot of people in the area, so we took some photos and then were on our way back to our hotel.

Wednesday, June 21

We went back once again to Fresh Bagel and got stuck behind a huge party of about 12 people, none of whom seemed to be able to make a decision about what they wanted to order – including the last person, who, when asked what he'd like on the FOUR sandwiches he ordered, replied to the employee, "You choose."  What?!?  Who does that?  It was a very irritating experience, but the payoff was worth it because the food there is so good!

After our late breakfast, we walked over to City Hall to see the World Clock, which was incredible!  The ingenuity that went into its creation is nothing short of awe-inspiring.  We then headed over to Christiansborg Palace and went up the tower, which gave us some amazing views of the city!  After that, we visited the national library, which is called the Black Diamond.  I absolutely love libraries and this one was beautiful!  As we wandered back through the city to our hotel, we had a super delicious crepe and then a final stop at Taphouse to cap off a great day!

Thursday, June 22

We got up early, packed, and went to a nearby café for breakfast, and then spent a few hours at the Tycho Brahe Planetarium.  We then went back to pick up our luggage, walked to the train station, and took the train to airport for the next leg of our adventure!

Final thoughts about Copenhagen:

- smoking is a major issue – people smoke everywhere – as a non-smoker, I was not happy

- there was no air conditioning in our hotel, which was less than ideal – and many shops/restaurants/businesses had no air conditioning, either!

- drinks (other than beer) were typically served with no ice and at room temperature

- at most restaurants, you have to pay for water, and soda is more expensive than beer

- in general, I found most of the people we encountered to be fairly rude – no holding the door for the person behind them, lots of cutting in line, not moving out of the way when people are trying to get past, etc. – although I acknowledge that these may just be customs that are standard practice to me, but not others

- restaurant staff don't try to run you out the door as quickly as they can – you are welcome to sit and linger for as long as you like!

- my least favorite thing about Copenhagen – there are bikes everywhere and the cyclists will run you over without looking back – they appear to have no concern at all for pedestrians OR cars!

- my favorite thing about Copenhagen – so many great things in walking distance of the city center and very easy-to-use public transportation make being a tourist a breeze!

- we walked 33 miles in Copenhagen!

- finally, I found a bunch of Disney movies:

You can also read about the second part of our journey when we visited Prague!

Happy Tails to you!