Copenhagen Adventure

For pictures, click here.

May 1, 2019

We left home on May 1 at 8:30 am for our airport. We were there early enough to get through TSA. Since I haven’t flown in years, I didn’t know what to expect. We boarded our plane for Atlanta on time at 12:36 and arrived on time. Then we boarded our plane for Amsterdam. That is when the fun began. First, we had to return to the terminal because two seatbelts were broken. Then we were on the runway and we had to go back for more fuel. This made us almost 90 minutes late which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Amsterdam. They had to rebook us and sent us to Gothenburg, Sweden after a 4-hour layover.  Our next plane was to Copenhagen but was a SAS flight and we worried that they were still on strike. Luckily this flight was not affected. 

May 2, 2019

We got to Copenhagen around 4pm on so it took us almost 27 hours to reach Copenhagen.

Next, we went to claim our luggage to find out that it never arrived in Copenhagen. We hope that maybe it was left behind in Amsterdam and they can find it tomorrow. Then they can send it to our hotel

We hunted for the information desk to claim our Copenhagen Card for unlimited rides on the public transportation that we bought (5 days). We checked into the Copenhagen Go Hotel which was one train stop away from the airport. It also was only 2 blocks from the train station. There is also a 24-hour grocery story right near the train station.

After checking out our nice room, we got back on the train and went to the City Center to explore. We found Tivoli Gardens and the Hard Rock Café. We had a nice walk and returned to the hotel at 8:30.

May 3, 2019

We took the train to Torvehallerne and found Laura’s Bakery for breakfast (pastries) and they were great. Across the street was a flea market but we didn’t buy anything. Then we walked around the gardens until the Rosenberg Castle opened at 10. We went to Rosenberg Castle which was interesting. It started sleeting while we were walking around! I was able to put my pack in a locker for 20 dkk deposit which I got back when I used to the key to open it. Then after that, we went to Field’s which is Scandinavia’s largest shopping mall and had lunch. We had a lunch buffet which cost us each 69 dkk plus 49 dkk for a medium drink. Next time we will get water for 20 dkk. After lunch, we took the metro back to Central Station and took the #26 bus on its whole route. Then we got on a bus to Nyhavn Harbor and walked around. It was a beautiful area! Next, we went to see The Little Mermaid statue. We walked around The Citadel and took a bus to the Osterport Station back to Fields. We shopped at Bilke which is like our Walmart. We bought fruit and cheese to take back to the hotel for dinner. We were so excited that our luggage was there when we got back to the hotel! It was so nice to take a hot shower and put on clean clothes!

May 4, 2019

We had a wonderful day exploring Copenhagen. We went back to Laura’s Bakery to try 2 different pastries than we had yesterday. Then we walked to the Roundtower and walked up to the observatory at the top. There was a platform to see a beautiful 360-degree view of Copenhagen. When we left there, we got on a train and went to Christianshavn and walked to the Church of Our Savior. It was a beautiful Lutheran church with a spiral spire. After that, we walked to Christiania which was a sort of hippie community. We walked down Pusher Street which is named by the drugs that are openly sold there. We also climbed to the top of a rampart that gave a beautiful view of the water. While we were there, they were gathering for the Global Marijuana March 2019 and we heard Laid Back which is a famous Danish singing duo. We stayed for a couple of hours so I could people watch and while I was there, I was offered a free marijuana plant which I declined and 5 people who offered me some pot to smoke which I also declined. We left there to try to find a late lunch and went back to the mall, but it was too crowded. Then we went back to the Central train station and found a Burger King which had 2 whopper meals for 89dkk. After that, we returned to the mall to go to Bilke and buy our dinner which we ate in our room again.

May 5, 2019

We had breakfast at Laura’s Bakery again and then went to Christiansborg Palace and the Reception Rooms, Kitchen, and Ruins. This castle has burned down twice and been rebuilt. The queen still has special dinners and greets special guests here. This is a government building and the Parliament meets here. After that, we went to Amalienborg Palace which is home to Royal Danish family and we saw the changing of the guard. Next, we went to the Medical Museum which was interesting. We had lunch at Burger King near the central train station and then went to Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Hans Christian Anderson Museum. We ended the day by going to Tivoli Gardens. For dinner, we stopped at Bilke again and ate dinner in our hotel room.

May 6, 2019

We headed to Helsingor to see Kronberg Castle which is considered Hamlet’s Castle. It was an hour-long train trip but Helsingor is beautiful. It was about a 15-minute walk along the water to the castle, but the view was fabulous. We went through the King’s rooms, up 145 stairs to the top of a tower, down in the castlemates (tunnels under the castle), and up to the rooms with the King’s tapestries. We had a little picnic in a room designated for eating and we sat at a picnic table to eat our food. The room was warm and quiet. Then we walked through the town of Helsingor and stopped at a grocery store. Don wanted a Smørrebrød where you get 3 items for 40dkk and we ate it on the train. When we got back to the hotel, we did our laundry and repacked our suitcases.

Things I Learned:

1.     There are approximately 6 dkk to 1 USD.

2.     The #26 bus is a good bus to ride around the city.

3.     The Copenhagen Card is a great thing to get if you will be here for more than 1 day.

4.     Pack your important toiletries in your carry-on bag.

5.     Pack your hat and mittens in your carry-on bag.

6.     You need a raincoat in Copenhagen.

7.     It is cold in Copenhagen in May.

8.     Bilke is like our Walmart with reasonable prices.

9.     We really liked Laura’s Bakery for breakfast every morning.

10.  People are very friendly in Copenhagen.

11.  Don’t overpack if you are going to take public transportation from the airport to anywhere by train or bus.

12.  It is hard to figure out how to use the train system so look on the marquis for the stop that you want to get to.

13.  Helsingor is a great place to visit!

14.  Make sure you have cash on you in case your credit card doesn’t work.

15.  Our hotel had a self-service laundry which was useful but the machines are hard to figure out since they are in a different language.