In April 2016 I took 10 days and flew to Copenhagen, Denmark with a side trip across the Øresund Bridge to Sweden for a couple nights. I planned on also taking several side trips around Denmark via the DSB, Danske Statsbaner (Danish State Railways) railroad network and not rent a car. Before I settled in my hotel the first night after being awake 26 hours, I took a stroll down Strøget, Copenhagen's main pedestrian shopping street and one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe. While walking, I grabbed a special Danish hot dog and rhubarb soda for dinner. Yum! It wouldn't be my last.
I found out Copenhagen, like a lot of other cities in Europe, have free city walking tours. These are usually coordinated with the Tourist Office and use students as their guides. They are really good and you can give an optional tip at the end of the tour. Sometimes they have different tours for different parts of the city or even different topical tours. The tour lasted 3 hours and was a good starting point to get situated to the city and to hear some history.
On my own, I returned to the most iconic place in Copenhagen, Nyhavn. Nyhavn is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district that still has that 17th century charm lined with brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century buildings along the water. There are lots of Hans Christian Andersen references around Copenhagen and Denmark in general, but he's buried in Copenhagen and I found his grave. Fitting, last time I was in Denmark in 2003 I went to his birthplace in Odense, Denmark. HCA, still dead.
Along the water is likely the second most iconic place in Copenhagen, Den lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid) statue. Originally unveiled in 1913, everyone wants their picture with this icon. A short walk away is the imposing Kastellet (The Citadel), a star shaped fort dating from 1662.
My first full day in Copenhagen was very productive and I saw a lot. That night, not so much. I was up most of the night sick, sweating and vomiting. I assumed it was something I ate; I'm thinking it was some chicken on a stick I had that wasn't cooked properly. I'll go with that. Lesson learned and travel tip, don't eat chicken from a street vendor cooked on a stick. Maybe a good tip to avoid any food on a stick? Normally I always buy a couple things to have with me to eat, digestive biscuits for some fiber and yogurt with probiotics for digestion (I didn't buy them yet this trip). I also always drink a lot of bottled water, especially at night when I know I'm in the hotel for the night.
Despite this long and exhaustive night, the next day I felt better. I ended up walking over 12 miles the next day, much of this in the elegant suburb of Copenhagen called Frederiksberg. This area has the Frederiksborg Slotshave (Frederiksborg Castle and Gardens) next door to the København Zoo (Copenhagen Zoo). Today the castle has several wings restored representing periods from the 12th to the 17th century.
I don't think Copenhagen likes me. That evening, after I had some dinner, I was walking back to my hotel near the train station and stepped off a curb, sideways. They have street level for the cars, then another level up for the bikes, and yet another level up for pedestrians. I stepped off the pedestrian level thinking I was on the street level, but forgot about the bike level. I twisted my right arm/shoulder when I fell onto the street, along with scraping my left palm, 3 knuckles, and right knee. I didn't bring that many bandages. I was really surprised when about 5 or 6 people came running over to help me. I don't remember much about the fall but I do remember they all spoke English to me. This must be a regular tourist thing. The next morning, I was having trouble lifting my right arm, like when I have to put on my coat. I was shocked my knee did not feel worse.
It was time to get out of Copenhagen.
Next destination was a 30-minute train ride west of Copenhagen on the 09:32 a.m. train to the town of Roskilde. Roskilde is one of the oldest towns in Denmark, founded in the 10th century. It's not a large town, but because of the history it has lots to see all within a short walk from the Stationcentret (Central Station). The Hestetorvet (Horse Market) is the large cobblestoned main square since the 12th century. Algade is a shopping street off the square that has many 17th century buildings. Nearby is the Roskilde Priory built in 1565 and the Roskilde Domkirke (Cathedral) built in 1170. The Cathedral is the resting place for all the Danish kings and queens as well as a 500-year-old working mechanical clock (I'm going to write a joke about an old clock, I figure it's about time). On a little hill overlooking the Roskilde Fjord stands Denmark's oldest preserved stone building, Sankt Jørgensbjerg Kirke (Saint Jørgensbjerg Church), built in 1080. Oh, and I saw a fjord this trip!
If Roskilde doesn't throw enough history at you after walking around the town, when you get to the water's edge of the scenic Roskilde Fjord, there is the Vikingeskibsmuseet (Viking Ship Museum). Around 1070, there were 5 different kinds of Viking ships that sunk about 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coast. They were discovered in 1962 and the museum was opened in 1969 to display them and provide Viking history. Since then, they have discovered many other ships and their collection has expanded. They also built a shipyard where they construct Viking ship replicas using traditional Viking methods. A good end to my time in Roskilde, so back to the station to get my train back to Copenhagen.
After surviving another night in Copenhagen unscathed, the next day I took the train across the nearly 8 kilometre (5 mile) Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark to Sweden across the Øresund Strait. It's a bridge crossing to a manmade island, then a tunnel the rest of the way. It handles both vehicle and train traffic. The first terminus in Sweden is the town of Malmö, the 3rd largest city in Sweden, where I spent the next several nights. The old town is lovely to walk around and has buildings from the 1700's. A pleasant way to spend a day.
Using Malmö as my base in Sweden, I took a day trip train ride north to the town of Lund. It was only a short 15 minutes away, but centuries away since Lund is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, founded in the 10th century (kind of like when I went to Roskilde in Denmark earlier). Lund was once Denmark's capital, so there is a lot of history here. I spent most of the day wandering around the old town. The Lunds domkyrka (Lund Cathedral) was originally built in 1145, but because of fire was rebuilt in the 16th century as it stands today with its 55 metre (180 feet) towers rising above the city. To increase the old town impact, Kulturen (The Culture) is an open-air museum in the center of Lund that contains historic buildings dating from the Middle Ages to the 1930s, set in gardens and cobblestone streets. Time to take the train back to Malmo for another night.
The next day I caught the train back to Copenhagen. I stayed at the same hotel I did before, but had a different room on the 4th floor instead of the luxury penthouse on the top 5th floor. However, both had the same lovely courtyard view. OK - Denmark, Sweden, Denmark, Sweden, Denmark. What's this you ask? Maybe Morse code with Denmark and Sweden instead of dots and dashes? Perhaps a bad cut/paste editing of my website? Possibly I've caught a stutter? No, none of these. What happened was that I got back to my Copenhagen hotel and found I did not mail my Sweden postcards while I was in Sweden! Oh, man! Or as they say in Swedish - Åh man! Wait, I'm still in Denmark, so - Åh mand! Consequently, I got back on the train to Sweden, mailed the Sweden postcards in Sweden, then got back on the train to Denmark. This all took about 2 hours. I hope you all appreciate the things I go through to send you postcards...
When I returned from my unexpected Sweden postcard mailing jaunt, I had the remainder of the day to go the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. For those unworldly travelers not in the know, Tivoli is an amusement park located in central Copenhagen. But, it's not just any amusement park, it has been opened since 1843 and is the 3rd oldest amusement park in the world. Go figure, Bakken, the oldest in the world, is only 10 kilometres (6 miles) away and opened in 1583. To complete the trifecta and amaze everyone at your next trivia night, Wurstelprater in Vienna, Austria comes in to fill the second oldest spot, opening in 1766. Tivoli has lots of rides, performance stages, carnival type games, several places to eat from luxury to cheap, and an overall very pleasant and lively atmosphere. As it happened, Tivoli had just opened the week I was in Copenhagen.
Another nice day trip from Copenhagen is the 35-minute train ride north to the town of Helsingør. Helsingør is also known as Elsinore, and is an historic town with well preserved and colourful buildings along cobblestoned streets. The red brick Helsingør Domkirke (Cathedral) was built in 1559 and is a central fixture in the old town. The highlight of the town is on the water's edge, Kronborg Castle. The current standing castle was rebuilt in 1658, after a fire destroyed it. It's a dramatic imposing structure built on the narrowest point of the Øresund Strait, with Sweden visible a mere 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) across the strait. Not to be confused with Helsingør in Denmark, in Sweden the town is called Helsingborg. Now aren't you sorry you didn't learn Danish and Swedish before reading this?
The plan was to have an audience with the Queen of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II. It was her 76th birthday! Well, it wasn't exactly planned, but it worked out. Despite already having spent several days in Copenhagen, I just happened to stop at the tourist office again. Incredibly, there was a free 2-hour royal walking tour that ended at the Amalienborg Palace, the home of the Danish royal family. When the tour arrived there, the tour guide mentioned where I should stand. They had a nice changing of the guard ceremony, and then I had my audience with the Queen! She came out on her balcony with her husband Prince Henrik. Insert your own official royal wave here. Way cool! The whole royal family eventually come out onto the balcony also. Got some great pictures and videos. This was not my first brush with royalty...
What a great unexpected way to end the trip. Despite all the research I normally do before hand, this was just something that came up. Sometimes you just can't plan surprises like this but you need to be flexible and ready for anything. Sometimes good, sometimes bad...
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