Day 11: Copenhagen - Peach of a day!

"To travel is to live" Hans Christian Andersen

We had a slow start to the day today and enjoyed a very yummy breakfast at our hotel. The bread is not as good as in the Netherlands but the Danishes were very good as expected.

Our first stop was the National Museum which is the largest museum of cultural history in Denmark. We got there at 10am and there were already several school groups ready to enjoy the museum as well. We looked through three of their exhibits, the first being the Danish Prehistory which detailed the story of the first humans in this area. The first humans arrived in Denmark around 14,500 BC. We found this section to be particularly interesting as it told the story of humans in Denmark up until the Viking conquests. I am fascinated by our human journey and It was great to learn about the Danish experience. The next exhibit detailed Denmark through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and then we looked through the stories of Denmark 1660-2000.

After the museum we wandered back through the Christiansborg Palace and went up to the tower, Which is Copenhagens highest tower, and checked out the city from this vantage point, being able to look over a city always helps get your bearings. We were lucky as when we walked past the tower there was no queue so we got up the lift quite quickly but there was a lengthy queue yesterday when we walked past and as we left there was a lengthy queue again. Our timing was impeccable today.

After viewing the city from its highest tower we then caught a canal cruise and viewed the city from the water. This was an enjoyable trip and the tour guide was very informative telling us about the landmarks and a bit of the city's history as we cruised around.

It was time for lunch so we wandered up to the Stroget and found an Irish Pub. Lunch was accompanied by a couple of drinks as we sat there for quite a while enjoying the people watching and great weather.

After our extended lunch break we wandered along the Stroget, bought some souvenirs and then found the Hans Christian Andersen Fairytale House. I wasn't that keen on visiting this but Amy was however I was pleasantly surprised and found it quite interesting, it's also where I saw the above quote. I would encourage everyone to get out and see the world and I am very thankful I have the opportunity to do so myself.

It was then time to check out the Tivoli Garden which turned out to be the highlight of the day. It's a sensational place that has many rides, side show alleys and shows for all ages of kids, bars and restaurants for the adults and a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. We enjoyed watching the kids on the scary rides, they were having a ball. We also came across a band called 'Blondage' that was playing on a small stage, they were very good and the female singer had an amazing voice. We listened to several songs before continuing our exploration of the garden. We loved the Tivoli Garden and would rank it as a must visit for anyone coming to Copenhagen, it was lots of fun. After an ice cream it was time to head back to the hotel to put the feet up for a while and write this blog.

The weather today was perfect, very sunny but not too hot and we have had an excellent day. To be honest my first impressions of Copenhagen yesterday was not that great (perhaps my expectations were too high) but today has more than made up for that and I am really enjoying this city.Read more