Copenhagen - just the two of us

We said our farewells and left our friends to scatter to other Nordic cities, then caught the ferry to Copenhagen.

Copenhagen on a hot Tuesday was absolutely bustling, with bikes, buses and cars (and oblivious tourists) all competing for the same road space, miraculously never touching each other.

And it was hot. No more thinking about which jumper to take - it was shorts weather for our entire visit.

There seemed to be so many things to see here - we looked at countless palaces and buildings and streets, all of them incredible, and still didn’t cover it all.

But first spare a thought, if you will, for the burden that comes with being the symbol of a city. We took a look at Copenhagen’s symbol and found a tired half-lady, shoulders bowed, alone on a rock facing thousands of cameras every day. She should get a pay rise!

Palaces they seem to have in countless numbers. We first visited Amalienborg, a residence of the second Australian member of a royal family - Dame Edna, Duchess of Moonee Ponds, having been the first- with a nice changing of the guard, then Rosenborg, with magnificent gardens. Then came the Danish seat of government at Christiansborg, with stables, a library, a parliament, you name it.

The waterfront areas were also attractive and busy, from the old harbour area of Nyhavn to the busy waterfront near the Opera House.

For a change from the city, we journeyed out into the country, to Hillerod, and Frederiksborg - yes, another palace. It became a museum after the Royal Family tired of one fire after another, and the tour was extensive to the point of brain-numbing, but it was a fantastic way to spend a few hours.

The architecture seemed to epitomise Scandinavian building styles, and the gardens were magnificent in themselves.

Near to our hotel was the Meatpacking District. Repurposed from the original meat processing factories and dating in parts from the 1800’s, it was chock full of bars, restaurants and - most importantly - an ice cream shop. The queue was out the door but the ice cream, according to good authority, was absolutely fantastic.Read more