Like every trip and city visit I make, there’s always a “wandering around” time to see some sights. For Copenhagen, this ended up being the last full day of the visit. Here’s a photo tour of the places I wandered past that last afternoon:
Copenhagen’s famous Nyhavn. An area of 17-18th century buildings lining a canal stretching to the harbour:
When we started planning our Scandinavian trip we knew we were going to be taking it easy on restaurants given the general expense of eating out in Copenhagen. Luckily, we had a pretty comprehensive grocery store close to the hotel and a wonderful organic bakery with a selection of gluten free items made fresh every day (Naturbageriet). We also came to discover the very new market-based food hall, Torvehallerne, that was immediately between our main train station and our hotel (how lucky!):
The tourist cards most larger cities offer end up being a bad value for us. To “break even” you usually need to spend a couple of days running through museums to feel you got your money’s worth. Not so with the “Copenhagen Card” – for us, the attraction was that full transit and regional train access was included. That made our day trip north of the city on a series of trains painless. Our plans for the day are a visit to Hillerød to see Frederiksborg Castle, a quick trip to Helsingør to wander around and find some lunch, and then on to Humlebæk to visit the highly renowned Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
About 50 minutes after leaving Copenhagen’s central train station, we arrive in the tranquil surroundings of Hillerød as the castle opens for visitors:
It didn’t take much to shake off a bit of jet lag after traveling to Denmark. A good night’s sleep, some hotel coffee and a chunk of a pretty tasty gluten free bread we picked up on the way to the hotel the day before (more to come on the variety of gluten free products readily available in Scandinavia in another post), and I’m pretty much ready for a big day of exploring Copenhagen.
The morning starts easy enough with some wandering in the Nørrebro neighbourhood. Not on the beaten path of all visitors, this is a great location to get a feel for everyday life in the Danish capital. On a lovely 28°C day, I spent some time in Assistens Cemetary, unaware on entry that Hans Christian Andersen was buried here. Following a few directional signs, I came upon his final resting place:
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:
Fourteen days. Four countries. A multitude of trains, planes, subways, boats and buses. Having returned from an amazing tour of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, I’m reflecting on a trip I’ve wanted to make for many years. Sitting in the airport in Reykjavik yesterday afternoon, my love asked me what my favourite part of our trip was. It’s a question to which I’m not sure I can provide an answer. This is a trip that really felt like four smaller voyages wrapped into one. As I sit on my sofa this morning, having been awake for a few hours adjusting to the change in time, I know it was a great trip – my feet are sore, my camera’s memory cards are full, and my spirit is rested.
More reflection and stories coming on the trip over the next few weeks. For now, a picture of what was one of the deciding factors in making Scandinavia the destination this year over a whole host of places on our “must visit” list. Food is always an important part of our adventures and Scandinavia gave my love (who has Celiac disease) a chance to have something she hasn’t been able to have in years – a (gluten free) Big Mac in Stockholm:
It’s hard not to feel proud to be Canadian when visiting Ottawa. The multitude of Canadian flags, the equal opportunity use of both of our official languages, and a wonderful selection of museums with many of our key national artifacts are all part of the experience. My favourite patriotic aspect of our capital is the National War Monument. Whether simply walking past it, or taking the time to visit, it leaves its mark. One of the evenings of my stay, I wandered out of the hotel just to sit by the monument and be in its presence. Here are a few of the photos I snapped to remember the moment:
With my love fully immersed in her conference, I decided to rent a bike and take advantage of Ottawa’s wonderful bike paths. I got an early start to get some riding in before the heat would become oppressive later in the day. After picking up my bike and helmet from a local shop downtown, I’m off along the Ottawa River trail heading west away from downtown.
The bike trails around Ottawa are beautiful, and a great feature of the city helping to promote a healthy lifestyle:
After a morning city tour of Ottawa on our first day in the city, we’re excited to tour the Centre Block of Parliament in the afternoon for a couple of reasons. First, the obvious thrill of standing in the place of so much of our country’s political history; Secondly, to escape the heat for about an hour. We end up with a lovely tour guide who initially says she’s from Halifax. After asking where everyone is from, she admits after our reply that she’s really from Dartmouth, but I think we’re the only ones who get her “City of Lakes” reference.
After the requisite security check, we’re off upstairs to just outside the House of Commons. As the House isn’t sitting on this holiday Monday, we get a great view of the House from inside its doors:
One of the joys of an early morning flight is arriving at your destination with a full day ahead of you. We’re checked into our hotel and off on our first day in Ottawa by 9:30am. After a stop at Bridgehead Cafe for a much needed coffee jolt and at Parliament to pick up tickets for an afternoon tour, we decide on a city tour to kick off our trip. It’s a common travel pattern for us – use the first morning to quickly get an overview of a city before exploring it in more depth during the rest of the trip.
It’s a sweltering day with the temperatures already pushing 30C when we hop aboard the bus. Taking a seat on the top level, I’m glad I liberally applied sunscreen before leaving the hotel. Here we are just as the tour is about to get started:
Bluenose Traveler 