Lovely Lille and Delightful Denmark - Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen, Denmark
My time in the UK has come to an end for now and I had an early flight from Dublin to Belgium on Thursday then a bus in the afternoon to take me to Northern France. 3 countries in a day, very European! I could not have been happier to see Camille waiting for me at the bus station in Lille after 3 weeks without seeing anyone that I knew. She has only just moved to Lille 2 weeks ago herself to start her Masters degree. We spent the afternoon catching up and had a delicious dinner in the old city. It was great to just hang out and relax and know that I didn't have to get up the next day and get on a bus. Camille had university in the morning and then in the afternoon we did some shopping and walked around the city. It is very typical European with the narrow cobblestone streets. We had dinner that night at her apartment with her flatmates and some other friends which was nice. I've heard mixed reviews but I give the food in France a thumbs up (in particular the desserts on offer!). We of course had croissants for breakfast the next morning - I couldn't go to France and not eat a croissant! My bus back to Belgium was in the early afternoon so Camille took me to the station and I made my way to the airport for my evening flight to Copenhagen. My friend Margot was arriving 5 minutes after me which was great timing, so we just met at the airport before going to our hostel.
Our first day in Copenhagen was spent doing a walking tour of this beautiful city. We did the Sandemans New Europe Free Walking Tour which covered a lot in 3 hours! We actually had an Aussie guide, but you wouldn't even know he wasn't a local. This is a snapshot of what our tour covered:Copenhagen Town Hall - a staple of any city tour!Tivoli Gardens - which is the 2nd oldest amusement park in the worldPicturesque Nyhavn harbour - colourful buildings and lovely restaurants line the harbour of CopenhagenNazi Occupation - our guide Nick told us all about the Danish involvement in WWIIStrøget shopping mile, which is the largest pedestrian shopping street in EuropeThe Lur Blowers - a statue of 2 vikings which was a gift donated to the city by the Carslberg factoryDanish ParliamentThe Royal Danish TheaterThe Academy of Fine ArtsCopenhagen Opera HouseOur guide also took us to a number of different neighbourhoods in Copenhagen and told us a lot of interesting stories and facts about Denmark. The country has some of the highest tax rates in the world, but the people are some of the happiest. They have such an amazing sense of community here. I have found Danish people to be really friendly and always willing to help out tourists. Their English skills are also incredible!
We finished up the tour at the royal residence, and we stood right outside where Princess Mary lives. The flag was up so the family was home, but unfortunately we didn't see them :( After the tour ended we did some more walking on our own. We went to see the Little Mermaid statue and got a late lunch at a sushi restaurant. The weather wasn't the best but we walked around some more before heading back to the hostel. We did some more research about attractions we wanted to see in the next few weeks, and Margot cooked us a delicious dinner. I feel bad because she is quite the foodie while I am better at the simple dishes. I need to work on that I think! But she prefers to cook so I did the cleaning, I think that system will work fine. In Europe there is not much open on Sundays and Mondays, and we didn't feel like drinking. It is ridiculously expensive here, around $10 just for a beer at our hostel. We decided to just have a quiet night and go to the movies. All movies here are in English with Danish subtitles, so we were able to see Jobs. We both really enjoyed it and thought Ashton Kutcher did a great job at playing Steve Jobs. We did not have a great night once we got back to the hostel though. We tried to go to sleep around midnight, and soon after this one of the girls staying in our dorm came back with a guy. I don't think I need to say more about what they were doing, but I will say I have learned my lesson and will be sleeping with headphones under my pillow along with my phone in case I need to drown out any noise :/ It was quite an uncomfortable experience to say the least.
On Monday morning we set off to find the Torvehallerne. It is not a supermarket – it is a super market. Delicacies and fresh produce of the highest quality are what we found at this market place. There are over 60 stands with everything from fresh fish and meat, as well as small places where you can get a quick bite, which is what we did for breakfast. We also had the most amazing coffee at a place called the Coffee Collective. Although it stings to pay $8 for a coffee (the standard price here), it was well worth it! We then spent the next few hours exploring the neighbourhood of Norrebro, which is known for being trendy and popular with upcoming artists. It has a cool atmosphere and was great to walk around. After lunch back at the Torvehallerne (we spotted some amazing looking salads when we were there for brekky!) we visited the Rosenborg Castle, home of the Danish Crown Jewels. They were so spectacular! The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around Christianshavn, famous for its canals and houseboats. We arrived back at the hostel around 7pm and Margot cooked us another amazing dinner of salmon and veggies. She got a few funny looks considering the standard hostel cuisine that people cook ranges from toasted sandwiches to pasta. Needless to say I am lucky to have such a great cook as my travel partner!
For our last full day in Copenhagen we were treated to an amazing blue sky, so we put off our plan of going to a modern art museum and instead did another self guided walk! First on the agenda we walked up the stairs at the Church of Our Saviour to get a beautiful view of the city. After that we went down the road to Christiania, which was a very interesting place. It is a 'society within a society'. Civic authorities in Copenhagen regard Christiania as a large commune, but the area has a unique status in that it is regulated by a special law, the Christiania Law of 1989 which transfers parts of the supervision of the area from the municipality of Copenhagen to the state. It was closed by residents in April 2011, whilst discussions continued with the Danish government as to its future, but is now open again. Marijuana trade was tolerated and openly sold here until 2004, but it is no longer that way and that has been the cause of a lot of the problems in this area.
After we had done our sightseeing we decided it wasn't worth going to the museum, as it was getting late in the afternoon and it was a 40 minute train ride away. We definitely didn't regret making the most of the good weather though, as by this stage it was getting overcast again. That night we went out to a restaurant Margot found called Madklubben that was recommended in lonely planet and had amazing reviews online. It definitely didn't disappoint! I had the best pork I have ever tasted and Margot got the fish which was also delicious. After dinner we went to the Tivoli and stayed there until it closed after the light show. It was a great way to end our time in Copenhagen.