4 days in wonderful Copenhagen between Christmas and New Years eve, celebrating daughters 18th birthday too, if we needed another excuse! It really is a beautiful, clean and relaxed city. Small enough to walk and fully explore in a few days with enough nightlife, great restaurants and bakeries to warrant another visit (maybe in the warmer months).
The Danes name their cinnamon bun a kanelsnegle which is translated as a snail, how can something named after something so unpleasant taste so good? We enjoyed plenty of these and are recommended as breakfast-dessert (thats a thing! After you eat your eggs) or with your afternoon coffee.
We started our first morning with a walk along the waterfront. We enjoyed coffee at Lagkagehuset one of the city's big bakery chains. We enjoyed the beautiful domed Marmorkirken, Marble Church and got our bearings walking through the old town. We walked the full length of the city finishing at 'The Little mermaid'.
Dinner was in an understated but cosy, friendly and traditional Danish restaurant called Karla. It was really 'buzzy' and full of locals which is always an excellent sign! I enjoyed the open plaice sandwich "smorrebrod" which I realised over the course of our few days, was a traditional offering in most restaurants.
On Thursday we enjoyed the Copenhagen shops. There are many designer boutiques and I enjoyed the interior design shops. Prices are high but 'window shopping' for ideas and visiting some beautiful stores was very worthwhile! Wondering cobbled streets you could definitely find a one-off treasure too... shame we only had 'hand luggage'.
We climbed the spiral ramp of the 'Rundetaran' or The Round Tower which was fun. This unique cobbled spiral walkway winds seven and a half times round its core for 209 metres. It is very picturesque, as the winding walk takes you under curvaceous white archways to the top, with a set of steep stairs to the open viewing platform. The Round Table is one of Denmark's best-known and most visited structures. It was built in 1642 as a platform for the university observatory and for centuries it was the centre of Danish astronomy. It has a great view of the city's roofs and sights. Was interesting to think horses originally would ride up the steep, quite narrow spiral ramp and also more recently a few cars.. maybe its been used for a few movie sets!
Dinner was at 'Llama'. This was a centrally located, Latin American restaurant with a Nordic twist. It was lively and fun, with great music provided by the DJ (there until late on a Friday and Saturday night), the perfect setting for our birthday celebration.
On Friday I did a lot of further exploring. I loved Torvehallerne. This was most definitely the right place to stop for a coffee. Actually, you could go there for a drink, snack, lunch, dinner, food tour, food shopping and everything else in between. Torvehallerne's two halls plus outdoor market showcase everything from the delights created on Bornholm, Denmark's sunniest island to specialist French cheeses expertly chosen wine, pizza, 'smorrebrod', tapas, tacos and more. A big fan of people watching.. oven my cup of coffee... and a few couples being advised and finally making their selection for New Years Eve dinners and parties, my type of shopping!
The botanical gardens was chilly but I was pleased to see the Rosenborg Castle.
Friday night was Tivoli gardens. A breath taking display of lights and lasers! Was such a festive atmosphere full of delicious smells (chocolate, waffles, sausages etc) laughter, music and families enjoying the fair rides and street food. This was a very worthwhile visit and I would most definitely recommend. I would say in the Spring and Summer its a beautiful colourful garden to wonder with fountains and wonderful places to stop, eat and drink!
We had a simple yet relaxed supper at Cafe 68, still needing to recover from the night before!
On our last morning we visited the Royal Stables at Christiansborg Palace, there have been horses and life in the stables in Copenhagen’s Christiansborg Castle ever since The Royal Stables was inaugurated in 1740. In its heydays, 250 royal horses were stabled. They were the royal family’s living thrones. The horses carried the royals through the country, they carried them on breathless chases, and when they crossed the enemy lines they were to be seen in war. Today, there are about 20 horses in the Royal Stables. When the Queen hosts New Year levées and other large parties at Christiansborg Palace, the beautiful white horses are tightened in front of the Gold carriage in splendid gala harness and they take the queen from Amalienborg to Christiansborg Castle.