"... Denmark?"
When other ETAs and I started to plan our spring break trips, we had one requirement (relatively inexpensive) and one want (sunny and warm). Not too hard to find a place that fulfills both, right?
Well, Spain and Portugal were out-- too expensive. Southern France was out-- also too expensive, and none of us wanted to hang out on a beach for more than a few hours. Greece was a possibility, but the discount airlines were out of tickets. None of us had a strong desire to go to Italy. We tossed around Prague, Budapest, and Croatia as other possibilities but decided against all of them. Eventually, J, K, and I settled on Copenhagen.
Fortunately for us, Denmark had a heat wave while we were there, and K and I ended up with a sunburn! (Mine was limited to my left ear; K wasn't quite as lucky.)
At first glance, Copenhagen looks exactly like a stereotypical European city: colorful three- to five-story buildings with big windows, a lot of big churches, and a lot of bike paths. My friends and I joked that Copenhagen was a smaller, upscale version of Berlin. The differences can be subtle, but by the second or third day, we were pointing out little differences between Copenhagen and other cities: sculptures near churches that resemble Greek or Nordic gods, exercise stations for adults in the middle of the city, and very slight architectural differences. (Oh, and the boats, I guess.)
We flew out on Friday morning, left our luggage in a storage room at Absalon Annex (a budget hotel in a great location-- pretty clean, pretty good breakfast, very thin walls), and wandered around the pedestrian area of the city while waiting for the official check-in time. Somehow, we ended up in a toy store and comparing our childhood toys to the current trends. Nostalgia, anyone? After checking in, we went to the National History Museum and learned that Vikings were not actually as bloodthirsty and violent as most think-- after all, they founded several settlements around the coast. (J and I had a few issues with this explanation.)
On Saturday, we went to Rosenborg Castle and Amalienborg Palace. Personally, I preferred Rosenborg, but I was also a little distracted because I was appointed the official group photographer. It was a little rainy, so we called it a day mid-afternoon and went back to the hotel.
Sunday was a bit of a lazy day: we went to the botanical garden and to the Glyptotek before taking a short break. I'd recommend the botanical garden in Dahlem over the one in Copenhagen, but it was such a beautiful day... When we were climbing around in the garden, we were joking about making it to the top (one section is a mini hill with steps), and a grandmother started singing, "We Are The Champions" to us. Very random. It was definitely directed at us, too, because she kept sneaking looks at us. We looked at her and started laughing, and she smiled, finished the stanza, and then sheepishly said, "Sorry." We're the champions for climbing 10 feet? Go us!
The Glyptotek's layout is a little confusing. We wanted to see the French Impressionism first, but somehow we ended up in the Degas section (which was fine; we wanted to see the Degas anyway). We continued to look for the French Impressionism and then ended up in the Danish art (which was fine; we wanted to see that, too). On our third attempt, we ended up in ancient art (which we didn't want to see; we have the Neues Museum in Berlin, and we really just wanted to see the French stuff)-- and then we decided to ask for directions. (Eventually, we did find the French art, and it was worth the wait! I was hoping for a little more Monet, though... oh well.)
For dinner, we went to a restaurant around the corner from the hotel that had a deal on burgers and drinks on Sundays. Our burgers were huge. We ended up taking off the top and eating it with forks and knives, European style! Mmm, it was the best veggie burger I've had in awhile.
We decided to save the canal tour for Monday because the weather was supposed to be really nice. We thought it would be a good idea to take a boat from the southern end, switch at Nyhaven, and then ride up to the Little Mermaid statue. Yeah, well, it turns out that only one boat line was running, but the boat company didn't advertise that at all. We waited for almost an hour before giving up, walking to Nyhaven, and learning about the one open line. (NOT COOL, DFDS!) Honestly, I was disappointed in the tour. It might have been a great Day One activity, but it was less informative than I had expected. (The tour was in three languages, so that didn't help.) We got off at the Little Mermaid statue, took pictures with it, and then wandered around the Kastellet for about an hour.
Next up: Osterferien Part II: Jordan!
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