A Royally Dane Time
July 23rd, 2016
We had a wonderful morning stroll to Rosenborg Castle.
We got an early start to our day with a walk along The Lakes of Copenhagen. Barely anyone was out yet except for a few runners so we enjoyed the quiet morning. Being the end of our trip, Copenhagen became the perfect spot to spend our last few days. There was enough to see and explore, but it was small enough for us to enjoy the city slowly and simply relax.
We continued walking to the Rosenborg Castle, where we walked the beautiful gardens before crossing the little moat to enter the castle. We took a tour of the rooms and enjoyed seeing the Crown Jewels. After the palace, we continued to stroll the gardens because they were too beautiful to leave. It was so peaceful that we ending up spreading out our picnic blanket and taking a nap on one of the lawns. Our nap was quickly ruined by the fact that we apparently found a spot right by a Pokemon Go spot so everyone was stopping to...do whatever they do while playing.
Anna! You already got a ring! Get down!
We passed the Slottsbacken Cathedral, which beautiful from the outside but under construction so we could not visit. We made our way to the Royal Square where a crowd had gathered to watch the changing of the guards. We found a spot and waiting under the very hot sun for it to start. We realized we were standing near a local who we learned comes every single day to watch this. He stands in the same spot, knows all the guards and police, and moves along the route they take so he can get the best view of all parts of the ceremony. We made sure to casually follow him as he switched spots. Next, we took a tour of the Amalienborg Palace. We had to wear protective footwear and wander another castle. This is apparently the home of Margaret II, the queen of Denmark.
Changing of the guard at Royal Square.
There's a thought that's it's the safest place in Copenhagen since police are always there trying to raid it for narcotics.
We spent the rest of the evening just wandering the city. We walked through Christiana, which is a self declared independent neighborhood. It was a military barracks before and then hippy squatters took over in the 70’s and have refused to leave since. Apparently there are often raids and the government tries to shut them down often. They have their own set of rules and live independent of the rest of the city.
After Christiana, we strolled more of the city and caught the sunset over Nyhaven. We hung out for a while, sitting by the canals and taking in the atmosphere. Then, Chuck lost his sandal in the canal, because he apparently didn’t know there is water below a pier and had to walk home with one shoe. Anna may have found her new highlight of the trip.
We decided to grab cocktails at a small bar by our hotel, Dahl & Dahl, and enjoyed that it was a small, local spot. The drinks were also excellent so that helped too.
