5-6 Aug 2013

We arrived at the airport and purchased our 72hour public transport ticket for 90Dkr. Up to now, I’m still not very certain if that was the best idea, because, number 1, we were only staying there for 1.5days, number 2. It’s  a bike-able city; but we took it anyway. We stayed at YMCA Interpoint.

 Danish people are tourist friendly. What they said about Denmark was true; that when they notice that someone’s lost, they would offer help and direction. At the train from the airport to the city, a man handed a map to us, he said he carries one all the time because it might be of help to someone or to a tourist at one point.

 Copenhagen is also a bike friendly city. They’ve excellent biking lanes and if you want to save and burn calories while travelling, this will be the best option for you. You can rent one out from the central train station or anywhere else around the city and cycle away to the beautiful tourist attractions.

 On our first day, we went to Our Saviour’s church or Vor Frelser’s Kirke (20Dkr) for its tower. This large baroque church in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen is one of Denmark’s major tourist attractions because, in its unique spiral open-air tower, you will be able to see panoramic view of the city. Further down the road, we followed a several groups of youngsters to an interestingly designed small alley, with artistic graffiti along the stretch. We were wondering, where the street was leading to. Only to find out that at the end of it, was “the green light district” with the symbol of weed, it was Christiania. It was said to be a self-governing neighborhood.

 In a span of half a day, three times, we were approached for a small talk by some peculiarly mannered guys in three different times and locations. We were wondering if it has something to do with the weed.lol

We walked along the Christianshavns canal, a canal quarter. We then took their local bus to the harbor to see the famous bronze sculpture, “Little Mermaid”. It was sculpted by Edvar Eriksen who was said to have used his wife’s body and a ballerina’s face as models. Anyway, in the location, we were interviewed by a man from a German radio station. It turned out, the “Little Mermaid’ would be celebrating its 100th anniversary this month, hence the interview was about awareness of the upcoming centennial celebration of this famous landmark in Copenhagen.

 Along the way, we were able to sight the Gefion Fountain, another famous landmark which features the Golden Gefion, ploughing the island of  Zealand with her 4 sons yoked as oxen. While finding our bus routes we passed along the road where some of the famous buildings and architectures are , like, the Old Stock Exchange, three crowned spires, symbolizing Denmark, Sweden and Norway; and Christiansborg Palace, the parliament,

 The next day, we decided to see more structures, Rosenborg Castle.and then we went to visit the Round tower (25Dkr) for a good panoramic view of the city. It’s the oldest functioning observation tower in Denmark. Below that was a beautiful church. We wandered along the busy Nyhavn, an old port with numerous restaurants and houses. It’s also the starting point for some canal tours.

 We then walked to the Frederik’s Church, more popularly known as Marble Church. To the west side of this Evangelical-Lutheran Church was the Amalienborg Palace, which was said to be the winter home of the Danish Royal Family. Parallel to the palace, opposite the river was the Opera house, took some photos outside and then headed to the nature part of our Copenhagen adventure. Few kilometers from the city is a man-made beach called Amager. It’s situated between Oresund and Amagerbro metro stations.

We couldn’t really see more than these, including the Tivoli Garden because we had to rush to the Swebus terminal, that night, we’ll be going to our next destination, Oslo. It’s a 5hour bus ride from Copenhagen.

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 Tips, Practicalities and blahs!

 Cycle, if you know how.

 If not, and you’re planning to use day trip pass for public transport, take a map that includes bus numbers to attractions, with it, Copenhagen’s very easy to navigate. Walkable!

 We enjoyed Shopping at Fotex for food. It’s cheap and the variety’s wide.

 Want a cheap accommodation? Use YMCA Interpoint hostel Conveniently situated just 2 bus stops (6a) away from the city center.

Enjoy Copenhagen’s Stereotype look.=)

Everyone seems to follow traffic rules.