Denmark: Day IV (Copenhagen)

Friday, June 10^th:

Christiansborg Palace:

            Our last full day in Copenhagen was a fun one and a beautiful day! We again went to a Koffe café, this time called Makkekafe, for breakfast, again scooping a croissant and some tea before heading to Christiansborg Slot (Palace). Christiansborg Palace was the site of six different castles that were destroyed, renovated, or burned down before the current one was built in 1928. The first of these castles was built in 1167 by Copenhagen’s founder, Bishop Absalon. This building is particularly unique in that is houses all of Denmark’s Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches under one roof—one of the only buildings of its kind in the world. It is also used as a reception hall and gala venue for events held by the Queen of Denmark.

            Tourists can purchase a three-part ticket that allows them to visit the Royal Reception Rooms, the Ruins Museum under the Palace, and the Royal Stables. I should note that the Royal Stables have weird, weekend-only hours and we did not make it to see them, and also that the Parliament is available for tours if called ahead for. No photos are allowed inside the palace, per request of the queen. The first stop we made was the Royal Reception Rooms, which were absolutely magnificent. My favorite of the entire palace was a massive hall in which hang a couple dozen tapestries, made in 2000 by a Danish artist, depicting major episodes and events in the history of Denmark in a very modern style with bright colors. It was spectacular enough to prompt me to purchase postcards of all the tapestries so I could look at them more at a later time and to admire them. After going inside the palace, we went underneath it to the Ruins museum to see ruins of the old circular wall surrounding Bishop Absalon’s palace dating back to the 12^th century. There were also other ruins of the old palaces, including the famous Blue Tower that served as a prison inside the palace for over a century.

The Old Stock Exchange Building of Copenhagen:

            We continued our day by walking towards the Christianshavn district, walking past the beautiful Old Stock Exchange building. We crossed the canal bridge and stopped to finally indulge ourselves with some Danish pastries! We stopped at a bakery called Lagkaghuset, again recommended to me by my friend Matt Collins. We purchased three items at this bakery, and each was delicious! First we tried a Christianshavnerkage, a little nutty cake with cream frosting on top. Second we tried a Hindbærbronbærkage, another little cake but this time more crunchy and covered in berries on top. Finally, we tried a Hindbærsnitte, which is basically a Strawberry Poptart but with real frosting and real jelly inside. All three were equally decadent, and I realized that if I lived there I would be a very large person.

Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Savior's Church):

            We walked from the bakery next a short way to my favorite non-palace building of the trip so far, the beautiful Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Savior’s Church). What makes this church so stunning is its sheer beauty both inside and out. Outside, on the top of the church, is a snail-shell shaped spire ramp leading up a gold and purple spire. At the very top is a modern statue of Christ, holding a flag, and standing on the globe in bright gold. Inside the church is a massive baroque wooden organ façade that dates back to 1660. Now that is what I am talking about! Furthermore, tourists are allowed to purchase a ticket to climb up the spiral ramp, or taarn, of the spire! Jen and I went up to the top and looked over Copenhagen on a particularly windy (which made it slightly frightening) but beautiful day. The ascent to the spire itself is really cool as you climb a series of super steep and old wooden stair sets through the bells and clock-workings of the tower. You can also see the Swedish coastal city of Malmö on the other side of the sound, and the largest car/rail bridge in Europe connecting the two countries.

The Baroque Organ Inside Vor Frelsers Kirke:

            After visiting the church we walked again the short distance to Christiania, the freetown society that we had visited two nights prior. It is much less creepy and sort of charming during the day. Pusher Street is still very weird and sometimes sketchy, with its “soft-drug” booths, but the rest of the town can be peaceful and pleasant, however there is always the faint aroma of marijuana in the air as youths and adults alike flock to “legally” indulge. We found our way through the parks to a restaurant in the back of Christiania called Morgenstedet, which means “good” or “pleasant morning.” It is a vegetarian restaurant, and I had a cheese and pasta lasagna with carrot and apple salad with almonds and radish in it. Jen ate rice and steamed broccoli with a tofu and mushroom teriyaki sauce, and both lunches were very tasty. We walked around Christiania some more, taking in the weirdness of the place and the bustling nature at the big café and concert area called Nemoland before heading back to the hostel.

The Gate to Christiania, Front and Back:

            We hung out at the hostel for a brief time before heading back out to dinner at a restaurant called Café Sari where I had a House Casserole of sausage, beef, chicken, mushrooms, and peppers. Jen ate some baked salmon and pasta with cream sauce. We were planning on going to the Tivoli Gardens that night for a brief visit before they closed at 1am, but the dinner ended up taking far longer than we thought, so we went back to the hostel for a few games of Foosball and a couple beers before finally getting to bed around 2am. Tomorrow morning we would have to wake up at about 5:30am to make our flight to Prague. All-in-all, Copenhagen is a wonderful and lively city. I will return to Scandinavia in the future (and to Iceland later in my trip), however I hope that some of the prices come down as the countries as a whole are all very expensive, but fun nonetheless. Farvel Danmark!