Copenhagen day 2: Change in plans

So I mentioned that there was a lot of rain on Saturday, lots and lots of rain...this is important to the Sunday events.

Joe and I got up and got ready then checked out of the hotel and headed towards the train station. we stopped at a bakery for some breakfast and then bought our train tickets. The plan was to ride the 40 minute train to Hillerød so we could go to Frederiksborg Castle. We checked the track and then went to lock up our backpack. When we finished locking up the backpack the train was no longer listed on that track. After wandering around trying to figure out what was going on we decided to ask at information. We were told that we wouldn’t be able to take the train to Hillerød because of all the water. Apparently the tracks were flooded in the Northern part of the Zealand. She told us we could take a bus, train and bus and be there in 2 hours but that would have left us with very little time at the castle so we decided to go to plan B, which we didn’t have but easily came up with. I was pretty disappointed not to go to the castle. I was looking forward to seeing the Carl Bloch art and all the other artwork in the castle but apparently it wasn’t in the cards.

So we found a spot to sit down and finally ate our breakfast and then headed towards The Church of our Savior to climb the tower. If you recall Joe and I also climbed a church tower in Munich, well this one was far more complicated than the church in Munich. The church in Munich required a climb of 198 steps to get to the top, this one 380! And these weren’t very nice steps sometimes, steep, little and in tiny passageways, but the end result was pretty amazing!!!!!! The view of Copenhagen was just wonderful! I couldn’t believe how much you could see! It was really amazing! We finally climbed down all 380 stairs and headed towards Christiania.

The Church of the our Savior tower

View from the tower

View from the tower

Joe checking out the view

So yesterday I mentioned that Christiania is a sort of independent city state located in Denmark. It was founded back in the 1970s by neighbors of the area who wanted to use part of the area as a park for their children. Previous to this during the occupation of Denmark this area was used for military purposed but was going to be torn down. The people who settled the area basically wanted to do their own thing and instead of fighting with them the government allowed them to stay and set up their commune. One of the major aspects of Christiania culture is the selling of pot. It’s not technically legal in Denmark but I guess the authorities don’t see the point in fighting about it. Several times there’s been some issues in the area and apparently the open market for pot is not suppose to happen but as we were walking around we certainly saw it for sale and could smell it being smoked. Part way through our walk we watched two guys almost beat the crap out of each other. Honestly I think the one guy, who obviously belonged in Christiania, would have done the beating but whatever the issues was the other guy ran away. So, who knows what that was all about but it certainly made the experience more interesting. We didn’t stay long in the area but it was something worth seeing. I did a little more reading on wikipedia about Christiania so if you’re interested here’s the link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania

Welcome to Christiania

One of the few pictures I took because apparently you weren't suppose to take pictures

After our trip to Christiania we headed back to that wonderful and delicious bakery where we got my birthday treats to get some lunch. We picked out some pepperoni foccacia and two Hindbærsnitten. Let me tell you, these were by far the best Hindbærsnitten I’ve had in Denmark and it’s too bad they cost so much money because I would have bought a ton! I will learn how to make these though because I don’t think I can live my life without them. :)

So after our nice lunch by the canal we headed over to the Rosenborg Castle. This is an old Danish Renaissance castle that was built in the 1600s and served as a summer castle for King Christian IV. It was really a beautiful castle! The inside of the castle was just amazing. I can never get over how awesome all the architecture is in these castles and the amazing detail and artwork they have. We got to see some of the glassware and china as well as the thrones for the King and Queen. The rooms were just beautiful and so fun to see. We headed down to the treasury and got to see some of the old weapons and the wine cellar. It was really cool to see a gun on display that was given to King Frederick VII by President Lincoln. Then we saw the crown jewels which were also very neat. Of course nothing really compares to the Crown Jewels in London but it was still pretty neat to see.

Rosenborg Castle

Joe and Amanda on the bridge going into the castle

When we were done with the castle we took a little break in the gardens, prior to visiting the castle we spent some time in the rose garden and by this point you all know how much I love those. After resting up for a bit we headed back towards the main shopping areas and wandered around there for a while before heading back to the train.

Even though it was disappointing not to be able to go to Frederiksborg Castle we still had a wonderful time visiting in Copenhagen and got to see a lot of great things. I really can’t believe that it’s almost time for me to go. I still feel like I just got here and was just starting to plan all our summer adventures and now it’s already time for me to go home. As I’ve been saying this was an amazing and wonderful summer and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I feel grateful to have had this experience and really enjoyed traveling around Europe with Joe. I certainly don’t want this to be the last time I ever come to Europe because there’s still too much to see! What a great weekend to end with!