After two relatively painless flights – Halifax to Reykjavik, then onward to our destination, we’re in Copenhagen as two sleep deprived people on day one of our Scandinavian trip.  We’re at our hotel by about 2:30pm local time and our goal for the day is a snack, a nap and then to spend an easy evening at Tivoli.

Tivoli for your first evening in Denmark may sound like an odd choice, but this is not a run of the mill amusement park.  Trust me, I spent four hard summers working at a conventional amusement park and as a result, don’t generally enjoy visiting them to this day.  At Tivoli, there are high end restaurants, bars and cafes.  Within its walls are an abundance of manicured lawns, lakes and places to simply people watch.  On our first night, we simply explored and wandered around Tivoli.  Although the rides were enticing, we elected to keep our feet on solid ground.  Just inside one of the main entries is the Pantomime Theatre:

Continuing along, we come across a beautiful set of fountains in one of the main squares:

Here’s a view inside the park that captures it in a microcosm:  a lake, lush trees and beautiful architecture:

The new and old combine beautifully throughout the park which dates back to 1843:

Once the sun begins to set, the park becomes progressively more beautiful.  Here’s one of the featured buildings in the park containing a number of restaurants and bars as its lights start to shine:

Oh, the lights.  For me, the lights in Tivoli give it a magical, romantic feeling:

The place feels like a beautiful park that just happens to have some amusement rides thrown in for fun.   We enjoyed the park so much that we made it back a few nights later to watch the world walk by.  As our second Tivoli evening drew to a close, we selected a park bench on which to enjoy perhaps the best popcorn I’ve ever tasted and this view of the Japanese Pagoda.  Magical indeed.