Shannon Mendis, Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a BEA-utiful place!! Imagine this...smell of hot dogs, sun shining in your face, bikes everywhere, churches, castles, best shopping on Strøget, narrow streets, cobbled courtyards and wild tulips. How can it get much better than that?

Well it can...I was lucky enough to have great company as well. Tiki and I took an early flight out and arrived at the Saga Hotel to check in and then walk the city and get a bite to eat. Saga Hotel is located just a couple of minutes walk from the central station and Tivoli gardens. One of her friends recommended an Italian place, which was so good and had a wonderful atmosphere.

After dinner we met up with Michelle Makmann at the hotel and then went to roam the streets. We ended up at a cute little place called Stella. We had a great time chatting and trying to figure out what we all wanted to do and see the next few days. It was Michelle's birthday on that Saturday so we planned to go to Jolene, which is a place we heard about and hoped it would be great.

Saturday, we got up and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel then got ready for the day. This turned out to be quite the adventure. Michelle and I wanted to see the little mermaid and so we took off in that direction by the map. We walked for a while, window-shopped and took pictures. Then next thing you know, we thought we saw a white mountain...skiing....snowboarding...so we followed it...turned out to be a roof of some building.  

So by this point, I am thinking, yeah, we are still on track.  Lets just keep going along the water's edge and we will be fine.  Yeah, little did I know, I was leading us to Christiania...go figure. Needless to say, we had been walking so much that we had to stop for a break. So we got a hot dog and some fries and then tried to figure out where we were.

So now we find out we are 45 minutes off track...oh well...it's all part of the adventure, hahaha. We finally made it out to the little mermaid and she was so breathtaking. It was worth the walk for sure. Along the way, we passed the town hall square, Strøget, the National bank, castles, Nyhavn, the royal theatre, Danish Museum of Art and Design, the Gefion Fountain, Albans Church, Fredericks Church (Marble Church), Amaienborg and many more places. Nyhavn is part of Copenhagen's original harbor. Today, old sailing vessels and the harbor canal boats are the only boats observed, contributing to the unique atmosphere. From there, we were so close to see the statue of the little mermaid and I could not wait!!

After the mermaid, we were able to see the Kastellet, which is Copenhagen's fortress. The walls and grassy areas provide protection from invading forces. At the center is the Commandants Quarters and the Danish National Flag. We then passed the Gefion fountain, which was a fountain that depicted Zealand coming into existence. The story says that Gefion could plow an area of Sweden day and night and whatever land she managed to plow she could use any way she wanted. So she turned her sons into oxen and away they went!

The fountain was created in 1908 and marks the south boundary of Langeline. Afterward, went to get some coffee and again rest up our feet. :) We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the birthday extravaganza. The night started out at Rådhuspladsen where Grand Avenue played live. They are a Danish band who decided to support the Burning Panda project, which helps raise the awareness of global warming. So Saturday at 8:30, they played in the dark at the city hall square. It was such a great beginning to Michelle's birthday. Next, we headed off to a place called Mama Rosa's, which is the most famous Latin restaurant on Strøget. Afterward we headed off to Jolene and danced the night away!

Sunday we got up and went to brunch at Zirup. Then we began our touring for the day. We went to the Rundetaarn (the Round Tower) which was built for King Christian IV (1588-1648) and marks the oldest functioning observatory in Europe. It gives a great view from the top of the old part of Copenhagen. Along the edge runs a beautiful wrought-iron lattice made in 1643. There is a spiral walkway that is 209 meters long and winds inside Rundetaarn seven and half times from front door up. Then we walked around the King's Gardens where there were wild tulips! It was so pretty!! There were lines of purple and white tulips ALL over!! It was a super ending to a wonderful trip!