Copenhagen II

I was up pretty early and we had breakfast together, my uncle had also come along and he made everyone some boiled eggs. It was our first day out together as a family in Europe and it was a cold, cloudy, and windy day. I found it to be even colder than Abisko if that was even possible.

Our first stop of the day was Nyhavn. I found it quite similar to Amsterdam where it had rows of colorful houses by the canals yet the difference lies in the parked boats. Their vertical masts ran parallel to the buildings coated in muted colors and they gave off such a distinct impression, so different from Stockholm which was quite surprising considering their distance from each other. I thought Scandinavian countries would just look the same.

We went to check out the bayside to catch a glimpse of the Opera House on the other side, braving the cold winds. My uncle had already disappeared under the station to avoid the chill. We stopped by a cafe and had lunch in the form of sandwiches, not much leeway here it seems, as the food was pretty pricey. The weather got a bit calmer after lunch and we walked on over to Amalienborg Palace which gave me even more confirmation on just how different the architecture and design sense of the Danish were compared to the Swedes. It was quite flat, with a monotonous color palette in shades of grey and bronze. Not saying it's not good, on the contrary, they looked timeless and superb. There were Royal Guards marching around the main square and right across was the imposing Frederik's Church. We walked on over and took a peek inside where my mom prayed for a bit. From there, it seems like the family was done with their day and decided to go home. I had time for myself so I decided to try and hit some spots.

My first site was the famed Little Mermaid statue, going there took me through the Kastellet where I saw some gardens, churches, and swans. The statue itself was beautiful and attracted a good crowd. From there, I continued the long walk towards Rosenborg Castle. My first encounter with Danish castles. It was impressive with its copper-green roofed towers and red-brick facade.

I pushed on towards the Round Tower only to find that I actually couldn't take a good photo of it from the outside and I wasn't really interested in paying the entrance fee so I moved towards Christiansborg Palace. A much bigger castle in terms of area than Rosenborg but not as colorful with only shades of black and gray. From the distance, I could already see the famous spire of the Church of Our Savior and made my way there next. It was already closed for the day but it was alright. There was one final place that I was thinking of checking out and that was Freetown Christiana.

The place was a hit or miss and attracted all sorts of people. Known as the hippie town, I found it to be quite a different place compared to the rest of Copenhagen. A bit of squalor yet it was contrasted by a lot of colorful artwork around town. It seemed to be trying to rise above a certain paradigm though the scent and sight of people smoking cannabis made me wonder how well that's going. I particularly liked the Troll which was one of the sights worth seeing. "The World is in Our Hands" hanged a sign above it, above its head was the Om symbol. Fitting.

Tired for the day, I went back to our apartment where another fabulous dinner awaited.Read more