Copenhagen

For various reasons Copenhagen was one of the destinations in was really looking forward to visit during the trip. In fact I was supposed to visit earlier in the summer of 2019 as part of a road trip with my friends Yannick and Jenny who were coming to Europe from Florida. But this plan was thwarted by a Pokémon Go event in Dortmund that Yannick begged to change our Copenhagen plans for and instead I ended up meeting Pikachu and Evee.

First visit to Copenhagen was diverted thanks to these guys in Dortmund.

Another connection I had to this city was that one of my favourite rock bands called Kashmir is from Copenhagen. What I didn't know until arriving to Copenhagen was that the band was formed in the same neighborhood I would stay in, Frederiksberg. This is a nice residential area west of the city centre and since I was staying there I decided to look for local music stores to try to buy a concert DVD from Kashmir that had been impossible to find anywhere online for many years as the band is no longer active. I was ecstatic to find a copy for 30 kroner (~4€) at a local shop called Mint Music and the shop attendant was very confused why a Mexican/Spanish guy would be so excited over an old Danish rock band DVD. I may be weird but for me this was one if the highlights of the trip so far.

Happiest to find a DVD of one of my favourite rock bands, Kashmir who are Danish, in local music shop.

For those who are not Kashmir fans Frederiksberg has many other great things to offer. There is a huge park with a zoo, an 18th century palace that used to be the royal family’s summer residence, and the cisterns which were the city's main water reservoir.

Frederiksberg palace.

Frederiksberg palace and gardens.

The cisterns were an otherworldly experience, you have to go underground and change into impermeable boots to access them as there is ankle high water. Once inside you can explore the space with beautiful arches and eerie atmosphere.

Cisterns.

Next morning I visited the city center of course starting off with a delicious bakery with Danish pastries for breakfast. Danish pastries are now popular the world over but they were extremely delicious and widely available in Copenhagen.

Danish pastries.

I decided to blend in with the locals by visiting everything with a rented bicycle and found Copenhagen's city center to be a quite peculiar mix of old architecture blended with very modern buildings and the first time I ever see a theme park, Tivoli Gardens, in the exact city center right next to the city hall and main square.

City hall square.

My bike for the day next to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek fine arts Museum.

One very beautiful area in the center is the Amalienborg, a complex of 4 palaces with royal guards and surrounding an octogonal square that opens to Frederik's church on one end and to a park with a view of the modern opera house across the water on the other end.

Amalienborg with Frederik's church in the background.

Frederik's church.

Like Hamburg, Copenhagen also features some very impressive towers in its skyline. Notably there are two beautiful spire shaped towers that stand out. One belongs to the Church or our saviour which is equally impressive in the inside.

Church of our saviour.

Organ of the Church of our Saviour.

The other spire belongs to the 17th century former stock exchange building.

Børsen, former stock exchange building.

Probably the most iconic sight if Copenhagen is The Little Mermaid statue which is based in the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. I have to admit I was underwhelmed by this statue, there are so many beautiful sights in Copenhagen and I'm perplexed why this one became iconic.

The Little Mermaid Statue.

Next to The Little Mermaid statue the Nyhavn district with is lightly coloured house represents another major attraction.

Nyhavn.

Copenhagen's is definitely one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and my excitement to see it was absolutely justified. After spending 4 days in this town I felt that I could envision living there and would probably do so in the Frederiksberg neighborhood.

Total travel to reach Copenhagen: 474kms in 5hrs Total travel for the trip: 1818kms in 20hrs

More pictures:

Saint Alexander Nevsky Church.

Saint Alban's Church.

Kings New Square.

Biking around the historic row house district of former naval barracks called Myboder.

Inside the Church of our saviour.

Kastellet area, 17th century star shaped fortress.

Kastellet area, 17th century star shaped fortress.

Rosenberg Castle.

Danish Architecture Centre.

Thorvaldsen Museum.

Christiansborg Palace.

Old and new architecture coexist.

City hall.

Norre Digade Church (left) and Danner Women's Shelter (right).

Tycho Brahe Planetarium.

Møstings hus by the Frederiksberg Gardens.

Cisterns.

Cisterns.

Irma is the name of my mom and interestingly also a Danish supermarket chain.

Solbjerg Church.

Frederiksberg court building.

Frederiksberg court building.

Temple of Apis, the Egyptian bull deity, in Frederiksberg Gardens.

Jesus Church in Frederiksberg.

Frederiksberg palace.

Royal Copenhagen Outlet stores.