Over the May bank holiday weekend we took a family trip to Copenhagen, Denmark. Years ago when J's parents lived in Germany (before J was even born) they often traveled to Denmark. Over the years we've heard many stories about how they packed the kids in the car and drove to Denmark and spent many hours furniture shopping. Lucky for us that we've been recipients of some of their lovely Danish modern furniture over the years.
We arrived at The Admiral Hotel late on Friday night. The hotel was right on the water and we had a 'water view' from our room- that is if you stood at the right angle and peaked through the small window. Our room was on the top floor, which was an attic in the original warehouse, and our room came complete with stairs and sleeping loft. J & I slept upstairs and the kids slept on the pull-out couch below. Not a bad setup once we got over the shock of it.
In the morning we headed out for breakfast but like most European cities there aren't many traditional breakfast restaurants serving eggs, bacon, pancakes etc. You pretty much can only get that at the hotels for crazy prices. So we opted for a stop at Emery's bakery around the corner from our hotel where we had granola, chocolate croissants and yummy cinnamon rolls. The bakery was typical danish, with very modern, simple decor. Not surprisingly, Emery's became a daily visit for us.
Our first stop was New Harbor, or Nyhavn, the very colorful canal block that you see in most tourist books. We debated taking a canal boat tour but decided to save that for another day. While I went off to take some pictures the kids spent their time climbing on the large anchor at the top of the street. After seeing some bigger kids do it, C was determined to climb to the top of the anchor which she eventually did.
From there we decided to just explore the city on foot, passing the Royal Danish Theatre, the Church of Holmen where the danish king & queen were married and Christianborg Palace, now home to the Prime Minister, Parliament and Supreme Court.
We then walked through the pedestrian shopping area and finally arrived at Rundetaarn, the Round Tower. Unlike some other towers we climbed with an obscene amount of stairs, this one was mostly a ramp that went up to the top. There were lots of hiding spots along the way that the kids had fun playing in
After the Tower we walked to a nearby park at Kogens Have
(Rosenborg Palace Garden) in search of a playground. It was a lovely
day so we sat on the grass for awhile soaking in the sun. There were
lots of gatherings of friends enjoying the day alongside us. K had scored a hand basket game from a group earlier in the day which entertained the kids for quite a while.
When we
finally found the playground C was not impressed as it didn't have any
swings or slides but there were some nice wooden play areas and a large
sand pit. K quickly made friends in the pit. Nearby there were also
soccer and basketball courts hidden behind a large hedge. The kids had
fun running through the hedge, climbing and swinging on the trees.
After a stop for pizza we passed through Amalienborg, a complex of Danish palaces, on our way back to the hotel.
We also had fun taking pictures outside a most colorful building.
Dinner was at Restaurant Puk. We sat outside and enjoyed a meal of traditional danish food (which reminded me a lot of the food we ate in Austria). The kids LOVED the swedish meatballs - and when we were finished C went up to the proprietor and told her it was her favorite meal of all time! The milk cups were pretty cute too.
Of course we had to hit an ice cream shop after dinner. This one was famous for its churros + ice cream combo (which we decided to pass on). The ice cream was quite good and you paid for it through a ATM-like machine in front of the storefront which kept the line moving.
On the walk back to the hotel we passed some street performers - 3 heads on a plate. They pretty much spent the whole time chirping at different octaves to engage the crowd. The kids gave them some money and they got all animated and excited with their heads bopping up and down on the plate. Strange but oddly entertaining.
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