Our first day in Copenhagen, we were busy little tourists, meaning that for day 2, we decided to take it a bit slower and relax.

The gardens of Rosenborg with the castle in the background. And do not worry, there was a moat!

The castle was originally built as a Summer House by Christian IV in 1606 and was a royal residence until 1710. The House is divided up into sections based off the various royals who lived there. There isn't much details in the signs, so it may be worthwhile to invest in an audio guide if you're hoping for more information on the history. The castle has 3 floors - many filled with relics from the past inhabitants. My favorite was the top floor which included the thrones. His and Hers thrones flanked by lions, with the his throne made of narwhal tusk.

The Kings Throne on the left, the Queens on the right

After the interior, we ventured down into the cellar area for the true sight to see - the Royal Treasury. The only other treasury I have visited was the Tower of London; while London has more in their collection, you're able to get more up close and person with those at Rosenborg and don't need to worry about the crowds surrounding the jewels.



After picking out my future jewelry, we finally headed to Tivoli Gardens.  First, we stopped for a quick bite before heading out to the true attraction of the gardens. While there are some gardens and greenery as the name implies, the biggest reason to visit is the amusement park. Full of roller coasters, games, bumper cards and little eateries, it's like a European Six Flags.



I am not a fan of roller coasters (it's been at least 10 years since I have ridden one), so while I ventured out to a few of the tamer rides at first, I decided to avoid anything that went upside down. I did well at first, being a great purse holder and photo taker while the others enjoyed their crazy dangerous rides. We then took a break at an Augustiner beer garden to enjoy a litre of beer, which turned out more successful than our last trip to a beer garden.

Sarah and I at Tivoli Gardens

After our break, we continued our rides. I was, however, talked into joining this time. I tried a couple different ones, and while I would not say I'm a convert, I survived my time at Tivoli!

One of the roller coasters I did NOT try in the background

We wandered the park, eating, talking, enjoying the rides until the park closed. The last thing we were able to catch were the beautiful lights, reflecting on the water and a special lights show for the evening.

Another coaster I didn't ride (swear I tried some though!)

I have never been what you would call a foodie - maybe because I dislike a lot of things that seem to be included in good food, such as mushrooms and sea food of all kinds. But, earlier this month, we went with some friends to Copenhagen who do know what they are talking about when it comes to food, so much of our trip was spent eating all kinds of weird, yet in many times surprisingly good, Scandinavian food. And luckily, it was a 3 day weekend with the bank holiday, so we had some time to fit in some sightseeing with our food.

We started off our first day in the city with a segway tour. After trying them in Budapest and St. Petersburg, we liked to think we were pros and were excited to see the city. In 2 hours, we saw everything from the Little Mermaid Statue to the Royal Residences, to the canals and harbors. Riding segways through a walking & biking city like Copenhagen always makes you a spectacle. It's so funny to see people's reactions and we had quite a few people stopping to take photos of our group as we zipped around the city.

Getting comfortable on the segways

Royal Residences - there are four matching buildings around the circle. One for the Queen, two for the Princes and one for guests

The Little Mermaid Statue - we were sad to learn that H.C. Andersen's version ended much more sadly than Disney's - she loses her tongue and legs, and is stuck in purgatory for 300 years, or something similarly sad

 But don't be fooled, riding segways is hard work, so after our ride, we were ready for our first true Scandinavian meal. We stopped in a little shop off the main walking (and shopping) street of Strøget to try a smørrebrød. These are open faced Danish sandwiches, with rye bread on the bottom and whatever your topping may be. 

3 "smushis" at the Royal Smush Cafe. I had a ham one, chicken salad and fake duck (aka pork).

After being much replenished, we were ready to hit the road again. This time, we headed to the other side of the harbour to look a bit more closely at the Church of Our Savior which we had seen from our segways. This is a Baroque church was built in the 1680's, however the most captivating part of it, the tower, was built about 50 years later. The unique part of it is the spiral staircase that goes around the outside of the tower, almost as if you could walk to heaven. We climbed the many steep steps up to the top and started to wind our way around the top of the spiral. Unluckily for me and my fear of heights, it was very crowded and windy that day, almost feeling as if the steps were shaking beneath us. After queuing up to get to the very tip top, I decided it was close enough, I could call it a day.

At the top of the staircase is a globe with Christ on top. While he looks tiny here, he is actually 3 meters tall.

Views of the city from the top of the church

As a prize for making it so far, we stopped for a dessert at a pastry shop/cafe our friends had researched and enjoyed a bit of people watching.

Next up - Christiania. This was an area the hippies took over in the 1970's and set-up almost as a separate city within Copenhagen. They have their own set of rules (although I'm not sure how much is actually followed) and act independent of the city they are surrounded by. I have to say, I was not impressed. Sad little shacks, dirt streets littered with trash, graffiti which may or may not be art and people that obviously do not have their brain functioning at full speed. A quick walk through was enough for me before we headed back towards the hotel. We detoured by the Opera House to lounge on the lawn European style before we took the ferry back across.

The Opera House - people had all kinds of things to say about it when it was built, including people who were afraid the roof would be blown away??

Sunset behind the Marble Church

 That night was our biggest foodie adventure yet. We went to our first Michelin star restaurant (or at least the first one I've been aware of!) - Grønbech & Churchill. The interesting thing about these restaurants is that so much of it is about presentation. I'm used to greasy, sloppy, yet more often that not delicious Tex-Mex, BBQ and other Texas favorites. This was much prettier looking, and because there were so many courses, much smaller portions with each plate.  Three hours later, we came out of the restaurant stuffed and pleased with our meal.

Opera House at night

To work off some of the food, we strolled along the canal, snapping some photos and chatting before calling it a night to rest up for our second day in Copenhagen.