By the title of the post, I mean I took the pamphlet from the Hop-on Hop-off bus store, studied it, and then rode along to the same spots that the bus would've taken me. Here's a little itinerary of my day today.
1) The Little Mermaid
One of Copenhagen's more famous attractions, this is a sculpture of a mermaid turning into a girl, located in Langelinie. The statue was created in 1913, based off the tale "The Little Mermaid" by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
2) Gefion Fountain
This was actually a really pretty fountain within walking distance of mermaid statue, and features four oxen driven by the Norse goddess Gefjon, who was the goddess associated with ploughing (unsurprising as the oxen are actually driving a plough). The water was crystal clear and had a strong scent of chlorine - I suspect the two are linked.
3) St Alban's Church
This was right next to the Gefion fountain, and is a simple but pretty Anglican church built in 1885 by the English.
4) The Citadel
This was really cool - one of the best preserved fortresses in Northern Europe. It's essentially an island in the vague shape of a snowflake, surrounded by a moat and sunken into the ground. The buildings are bright red, and there is a memorial for soldiers lost in battle. Further, there's a really neat windmill.
5) Rosenberg Castle
Located a short bike ride away from the Citadel is the Rosenberg Castle, which is renaissance style castle originally built as a country summerhouse by Christian IV in the early 17th century. What a life. Didn't manage to take a decent picture.
I happened to ride past the National Art Gallery though, which looked amazing. I'm putting aside a day to explore all the museums.
6) Lunch at Smagsløget
Sandwiches here are a must. By the recommendation of Tripadvisor, I decided to have lunch at Smagsløget, a sandwich shop closed to Tivoli (an amusement park) which was on the route. I order the Smagsløgets Veganer, which consisted of roasted potatoes, bean sprouts, sugar snaps, semi-dried tomatoes, salsa, jalapeños and plenty of salad and vegetables. Looking at the price I thought it was a dreadfully expensive sandwich, but was not disappointed when I saw the size of the meal. It was a pretty good sandwich.
From there, I rode across the bridge to Christianshavn, a small island known for its "hip cafe culture and canals". As I was so full from the late lunch, I didn't end up buying any more food.
7) Church of Our Saviour
This has got to be one of the weirdest churches I've ever seen. On the top of the serpentine spire, "our Saviour Himself stands on top of a golden globe and keeps watch over the royal city of Copenhagen." I didn't want to spend the money and time waiting in line to climb to the top for the view, but it will definitely be something I'll do later on.
Christianshavn is pretty, and here's some photos I managed to snap.
A cute pastry store chain which seems to be very common around here. I had to have a lot of self control not to buy a kanelgifler.
8) Amalie Garden
This was a small park located alongside the water, where there was a brilliant view to Copenhagen's Opera House. The park is modern, with a large feature fountain and adorned with many abstract sculptures.
9) Amalienborg
From Amalie Garden, you can walk straight over the Amalienborg, and there is a clear view through to the Marble Church. This space reminded me a lot of Vatican City, being similar in layout. Amalienborg is the home of the Danish royal family. "The scope of the [Amalienborg] museum stretches back 150 years to Christian IX and Queen Louise, who were known as "the in-laws of Europe" because four of their children ascended to the thrones of England, Greece, Russia and Denmark respectively."
10) The Marble Church
Frederik's Church, popularly known as The Marble Church for its rococo architecture, is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Copenhagen, Denmark. Pretty cool church.
After seeing all of this and riding everywhere, I was quite tired, and went home for a nap. I woke up around 7:30 pm, went to the shops for some pieces of produce I needed for dinner, and then decided to go for a walk to the local park before I began cooking. The park is really endearing and gives a small insight into how families around here live. Walking the streets does remind me quite a bit of my childhood in Helsinki as a lot of the buildings look and feel the same. I cooked a little bit too much rice for dinner tonight and it's not enough to save for later so I think I'll go feed it to the ducks tomorrow.
For dinner I made some dahl. I began by frying garlic and onion in olive oil, adding cumin and turmeric. This was followed with split red lentils, which I then simmered, adding water. I let this cook for a while until the lentils were well and truly soft. In another pot, I cooked some rice. When the lentils had finished cooking, I tossed in some spinach and chopped tomatoes. I'm pretty happy with my cooking so far.
It's quite lonely here at the moment, living alone and not speaking any Danish. Jamie has just landed back in Melbourne, and so we're trying to manage to timezones so that we get to talk a lot. However, I think I'm doing just fine and funnily enough, in the last few days I've been asked for directions on three separate occasions in the city, when I literally have no idea where I am. I think they just assume that everyone who's blonde is Danish.
Farvel!
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