Friday

After checking in we walked about 5 minutes to the Bella Sky metro stop, and from there it was about a ten minute ride into town.

The weather was beautiful, with a sunny blue sky, so we made the colorful buildings of Nyhavn our first destination.

Definitely a touristy area to eat but enjoyable to walk around nonetheless. From here we continued on to the Amelieborg gardens with different rose bushes and people sunbathing.

After taking some shots of the new opera house across the water (above), we walked past a fountain and then on to the Marble Church. The copper dome was beautiful in the mid-day sun and the interior was very grand. Complete silence was requested inside the church, so the atmosphere was very calming.

 

We made the little mermaid (separate post) our next target, and along the way we wandered  through the Kastellet (citadel) park where we found clear ponds, lots of waterfowl, in-use military barracks and plenty of Danes enjoying the warm afternoon on bikes and on foot.

There was also a picturesque mosaic church on the corner of the park with a large welcome sign in the entrance – we were surprised that the plaques were in English until we realized it was an Anglican Church.

After all the walking and sunshine we were ready for a nap so after a quick stop at a grocery store for macaroons we headed back to the hotel and rested up a bit.

That evening we took the metro back into the city and wandered by the Christianborg Palace area where we watched a very protective swan defend his territory (and family) from two guys on a wave runner. The swan won handily! Sidenote: throughout our exploration of Copenhagen we were impressed at the water clarity, quite difficult to accomplish around a city.

underwater sculpture

Sunday

After a late breakfast we took a quick detour from the path to the metro station to check out an art installation of colorful stained glass canopies with a large pinnacle of nude torsos in the middle on the corner of Amagerfælled.

 

From the park it was a short walk to the metro station. This time we got off in Christianshavn and started at the Church of Our Savior with the lovely spiral top and massive organ above the church entrance.

 

 

From the church it is only a few blocks to Christianshvan, a commune known for it’s art, live music and pot smoking residents.

After walking around for a bit we hopped back on the metro and headed to the free University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens. As with most parks we visited, lots of people were taking advantage of the sunny weather with picnics and sunbathing.

Our favorite part was a succulent rock garden with lots of flowers, and the lavender covered in orange-bottomed bees.

To get some reprieve from the mid-day sun we ducked into the free Kunst National Museum.

 

We were pleasantly surprised by the the great collection of paintings including works by Matisse, Picasso and others. One of our non-traditional favorites was the TV robot in a children’s exhibition titled Freedom.

It was now late afternoon, and I wanted to stop at Torvehallerne (a market area) for a snack before it closed at 5, so we walked through the Rosenborg Palace Garden to get there.

Rosenborg Palace

After refueling at the market we noted a few more sites that we walked toward the Round Tower, Copenhagen Cathedral and St Peter’s Church.

  

Copenhagen Cathedral

Radhuspladsen

The famous Tivoli Gardens

 

Copenhagen was a very walkable city, especially with the long summer days of early July.