Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Jumpin’ for Joy in Copenhagen

DAY 3
This morning started with an early breakfast and a cab ride to the airport to head to Copenhagen. The flight was super quick and soon enough we landed in Denmark. We got our luggage, grabbed a cab, and got to our super cute hotel. Our room wasn’t ready this time so we dropped off our bags, had a very long convo over our map and our list with the guy at the desk and were on our way.

The first stop was the Frihedsstotten monument. There wasn’t much to see so we snapped our pic and continued on our way and passed the Central train station and the famous Tivoli Gardens. We walked to City Hall with the hopes of climbing to the top and getting an aerial view but we missed the most recent time and probably wouldn’t be back around there for the next one. We then walked along the major shopping drag of Stroget Street which was obscenely crowded, but neat to see. The surrounding streets were equally cool and crowded and we kind of wandered up and down them (moreso cause we were very confused which direction we needed to go, but it benefitted us because we got to see more). One of the things we got to see that fits our travel pattern was the local department store, Magasin. We did our usual in there: put on Kiehl’s eye cream, use the bathroom, and check the wi-fi. It’s always a fun little treat that entertains us. 

We were walking toward Nyhavn, which is the area on the water where you see all those colored buildings. It was absolutely stunning, but was also beyond crowded so we decided we would come back early the next morning so we could get even better pictures and take it all in. We kept it moving and crossed the water on our way to the Church of our Savior. On the way we stopped at a very cute outside food court area aAnd each got sausages which were absolutely delicious. Once satiated, we kept moving on our way to the church. On the way there we passed an area that looked like it had a lot of street art so we definitely wanted to head back there on our way back. From afar, the church looked really cool with a winding spire to the top. When we got there, we paid our student fare to climb to the top and began our ascent. The stairs were narrow and it was hot in there, and once we got closer to the top, it started to get really winding. The view at the top was fabulous, but it was kind of scary up there because the stairs just narrowed and narrowed to the top until you had to turn around and head all the way back down. 

We had heard there was a hippie area around this church that we should walk around, but were told by the guy at the hotel front desk not to take pictures because people there do a lot of drugs. We were kind of confused by this (like were they smoking weed or like shooting up heroin or meth right out in the open?), but we just agreed and were sure we would figure it out for ourselves. Turns out, the area with the street art we saw on the way to the church was the hippie area, also known as Freetown Christiania. We didn’t realize we had stumbled upon it until my friend got yelled at for taking a picture and the smell of weed kept getting stronger and stronger. There was a certain area in there where it specifically said “no photos” and then we soon realized why. There were a bunch of little booths with people selling weed out in the open. They were selling pre-rolled blunts, baked good with weed, and just plain old buds. Mind you, weed is illegal here which it then made sense why they didn’t want anyone taking photos. It was super bizarre. Like they had their own little commune and made their own rules. This actually reminded me of The Wire when they “legalize drugs” in one part of town and the police and the the dealers and junkies basically make a deal that if they keep all the drugs contained in one area and basically not bother anyone else in the hood with the violence and stuff that’s surrounds it, then no one will bother them. The cops would turn a blind eye as long as it didn’t effect anyone outside the zone. Very interesting. Anyway, this Christiania area was super weird to me and so not my scene and I most definitely would not want to be there at night. At all. I’m for sure glad we saw it because it sure was something else, but I definitely don’t need to go back there. 

We made our way out of Christiania and walked back the way we got there on our way to find these outdoor sidewalk trampolines. Funny enough, I had learned about these on an episode of Real Housewives of Dallas when they came here last season. We found them pretty easily and jumped around for a bit. We were literally jumping for joy in Copenhagen. They were soooo fun and I wish Chicago added something like this along the lake somewhere or at Maggie Daley Park or something. 

After jumping around for a bit, our legs were cooked and we decided we should make our way back to the hotel and get settled in our room and relax a little before heading out to dinner. 

After chilling for a little while, we headed out for dinner and were planning to go to Tivoli Gardens to walk the grounds and scope it out, but after we ate, we were cold and tired and knew we wanted to wake up early tomorrow morning to have the city to ourselves so we decided we could wait. We have two more nights where we can do that so some rest can’t hurt, especially with an early wake-up call. For getting started around 12:30 we sure did walk and saw a lot and were able to get our bearings well enough where we planned to ride bikes around tomorrow. This is such a Viking city that this should be a fun and quick way to get around the city. We are pretty excited! 

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