The Sunny Side of Copenhagen

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That thing was HUGE. Like, gigantic. The plane, I mean. We were awed with the number of people waiting at the boarding room, as well as the long queue. Wow. This A380-800 really can take up to 800 people? And it’s almost filled up. Can’t see any empty seat. I wonder how many of these people got the 40% discount that we got though.

It’s all started when my friend D told me there’s a Lufthansa discount. It’s like almost half off. I was tossing and turning. I knew I’ve always wanted a spring trip with my hubby. But I’m not so sure whether both of us can get the visa, considering the fiasco several years back. The discount only until certain dates though, where time wise we’re not eligible yet to apply for visa (it’s complicated, but you can only start to apply 3 months before your departure date). So the only way I’ll get this discount, is going…. “visaless”. But then with encouragement from my closest ones; I decided to pull the trigger and bought the ticket anyway. He applied his visa via Singapore – and I think that helped a lot. Long story short, there we were, on our stopover in Frankfurt, with our medium sized backpack. Quite tiny for 2 weeks, I should say.

Now, you might think – why Copenhagen? Well, besides Iceland; Denmark was the only Scandinavian countries I haven’t touched. If you follow this blog – I’ve set foot on Norway, Sweden & Finland last September. Scandinavian love, maybe? Well, not exactly. It’s more for a practical reason. I found the Denmark embassy in Singapore to be very nice and fair. I just felt we have better chances to get visa from there (compared to some other countries I would not mentioned here, unless you send me a private message *grin*).

With some basic researches and maths – all road leads to getting a Copenhagen Card. I was tempted just to take the 24 Hours version. Back in Sweden, I was being honest and got the 3-days Stockholm Card but I think I could actually get away with just 2-days card (they never really checked anyway and it seems like there’s no system barrier). But then after many discussions with my husband – I decided just to be truthful again and bought the 48 Hours version of Copenhagen Card. We still saved about 500 DKK or so though. The museums and transportations are quite expensive in Denmark.

While waiting for our early check in room to be ready – I strolled down to Rathaus and HC Andersen statue. Also passed by the Ny Glyptotek and checked out their park. Spring has sprung here. After dropping the bags and quick freshen up, we went to Rosenborg Slot. It’s…. smaller than I thought. We need to pay somewhat 30 DKK to store my camera bag – so I definitely say nay to that. Hubby and I then took turn to visit the palace ha ha…. Btw, if you want to take picture – that’s another 20 DKK. I chose just to admire. Couple of things that caught my eyes were the polar bear rug and decorative sets of guns. My husband commented, “Wow, this king is…. Very humble.”

I’m actually more mesmerized by the tree in front of the palace. There’s an old tree that’s weeping up to the lake. Contrasting with blue sky, it’s so beautiful in my eyes. I’ve always felt there’s just something very romantic about picnic and kissing under a tree. I don’t know why. Good thing that I brought my husband this time. So I got just that, he he… There’s even a couple who had a small intimate wedding in the same yard. They had picnic celebration as well. In another life, or if I had the chance to do it again – I would probably chose outdoor wedding as well. What my husband like is another tree where there are so many doves hanging there. There are even smaller birds hiding between the bushes. The official palace garden itself though have a small geometric pattern bushes. Not as ornate as other palace, but still nice to see.

From there we walked to the famous Nyhavn a.k.a the new harbor. This is probably the most iconic place in Copenhagen. Featured in every Copenhagen’s travel videos – this place is as touristy as can be. Prices were crazy. We just walked around and enjoy the moment. Sit down for a little bit and enjoyed the string duo performers. Initially we wanted to take advantage of our Copenhagen Card with Stromma boat; but apparently you’ll have to pay extra to board from Nyhavn. So we went with their competitor, Netto – just 50 meters away. They do same route anyway. But somehow, Netto is less famous despite of the cheaper price. Doesn’t matter. It’s still free with our Copenhagen Card. We pretty much got the last seats before the boat sails. Lucky!

In general, boat tours are not really in my to do list. But when it’s free (or included) – why not? The tour lasted for over an hour. There are some empty time gaps in between because we were too far away from anything. But we did pass by Little Mermaid statue, Christianhavn, Black Diamond, etc. It’s actually a round tour back to Nyhavn; but then we realized we can actually hop off elsewhere. So I decided to stop at Kingsholmen which is totally the right decision – because from there we can go straight to Christianborg. Their horse stable already closed but the palace and ruins still open. The palace were nice (and hardly any people, btw). It’s much bigger than Rosenborg and they allow free photography (yayy!). I guess the only downside of the palace is they made you wear this blue plastic thingy so your shoes soles won't damaged the parquet floors. The ruins were… scary. I got goosebumps for no good reasons. Just did a very quick round tour and almost ran out of it. On the way out – we pose in the empty palace guard pigeon holes. It’s very tight even for Asian like me. I’m amazed how you can fit a Scandinavian army inside it ha ha…

We went back to the hotel for a quick prayer break and rest. Well, the intention is not to stay too long at the hotel – but I only woke up like 10 pm plus. Too late to catch the sunset. I almost give up to go to Tivoli but my husband encouraged me to still go. It’s only about 10 mins walk from my hotel, but we need to walk around it to find the opened gate. It’s also covered by Copenhagen Card – but you need to pay extra if you want to take a ride. They happen to have a jazz mini concert playing – Bob Moreno something. I went over the moon when they played one of my favorite song – Let’s Stay Together by Al Green. Some people were dancing around – one little girl was really into it; apparently her mum dance more enthusiastic ha ha… My husband was too shy to slow dance in front so many people so we just sit at the bench and he wrap his hand around me. The Tivoli garden itself is…. so Asian… Well I guess for Scandinavian, “exotic” is Asian. I just find it funny to fly so far and take pictures of Chinese pagoda ha ha…

On the way out (like 15 mins before the garden closed) – four people forced to buy the ticket and enter. The guard was trying to convince them that they will only open for another 15 mins. That group insisted. I thought they have Copenhagen card or something, but my husband saw they really pay with cash… Hmmm…. The night ended with fireworks! Not the biggest I’ve saw in my life (I’ll give that award to London) – but definitely bigger than Auckland’s new year’s firework.

For day one, I think we packed a LOOOOOOOT of things. I didn’t even realized we did that much until I wrote this blog ha ha… Good times!

More of my Denmark pictures can be found HERE.

Still can't get enough of my pictures?? See more of it HERE for pictures from other countries too. Enjoy!

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Comments

[Steffen Kristensen (Denmark)]

Thanks for visiting Denmark
Hello Miss Jalan, Thank you very much for visiting Denmark. I hope you enjoyed it and want to come back. :-) I have travelled a lot in Asia so its quite funny how we cross the world to see different cultures. I also want to add as much to the map as possible. I have unfortunately never been to Indonesia - but Singapore I did visit. I am writing a travel site currently at www.LuxuryBackpacker.com trying to deliver information and ideas to people who are matured and want to travel still around the world. Do you think I should do a section about Denmark? I know I did not travel in Denmark but maybe I could give some good insight on how to save money etc in the country. How to get around. Take care and Enjoy. I never wrote in this site before so I am unsure if I will get an email if you reply me. Best Steffen

[miss jalan jalan]

hi Steffen, thanks for stopping by. I don't see any reason not to write about Denmark - it's a nice place to visit. I don't think you'll see this reply unless you go back to my blog :)

[Steffen]

Info
Hi Thanks for your reply. Actually I got an email with your reply and a link. Very convenient :-) Best STeffen http://www.luxurybackpacker.com

[INDIANMICROSYSTEMS]

Tivoli Garden
From the very start, Tivoli included a variety of attractions: buildings in the exotic style of an imaginary Orient: a theatre, band stands, restaurants and cafés, flower gardens, and mechanical amusement rides such as a merry-go-round and a primitive scenic railway. After dark, coloured lamps illuminated the gardens. On certain evenings, specially designed fireworks could be seen reflected in Tivoli's lake.