Copenhagen Exploration

Picking up where I left off...I slept in several 5 minute intervals in the Copenhagen Airport while I waited for Bree to get in 8 hours later. I had been awake for over 24 hours by the time she arrived. We purchased our Copenhagen Cards that got us free public transportation all over town and free entrance into over 25 attractions. We took the train to the hotel 5 minutes down the track, checked in, and proceeded to pass out until Abby arrived a couple hours later. By this time it is 5pm and we are completely jet lagged, but eager to go downtown and check things out. We jumped on the train again and road 7 minutes to Central Station.

 We wandered down Stroget Street, the worlds longest pedestrian street. We counted at least 4 H&M stores. There were several street performers. After it got dark we headed for Tivoli  Amusement Park, the second oldest in the world! It was definitely much more than a park with rides. It had beautiful walkways and gardens, all themed for a different area of the world. The rides and buildings were all done up with lights.

The picture below is outside the park, where a statue of Hans Christian Anderson "looks over" the children playing in the park.

This was the swings that we decided to ride (rides cost extra). They went soooo high and you could get a great view of Copenhagen from the top. The ride was pretty long too!

 The next day we headed out to Kronborg Castle. This castle is the one that Hamlet is based off of. The castle has seen much remodeling, due to being attacked several times, set on fire, and adding fortifications. Is has not been occupied by royalty in a long time, but they have used it to house soldiers most recently. It took us about 45 minutes by train to get there, with all the stops and a transfer. Once we were there we got an all access pass to every nook and cranny of the castle with our Copenhagen Cards. We went in the chapel, kitchen, dungeon, royal apartments, and the maritime museum.

This is our view from the roof!

The Casemates - "home in the darkness" - are a series of underground tunnels used for prisoners and soldiers. There is a statue of Holger the Dane, that according to legend will awake and defend his country if ever attacked by a foreign  nation. 

We also went to the Denmark Aquarium that day because it was raining and it was free with our Copenhagen Card.. Although we had been to aquariums in America, this one was cooler because it was in Denmark. We then went to Tivoli AGAIN, because it is free entrance with Copenhagen Card (We used it to the max). The next day we took a short train ride across the water to Malmo, Sweden. We didn't have anything particular in mind to do here so we just wandered the downtown shopping area. There were several markets and more H&M's.

 We ate lunch at Gustav Adolf Restaurant, as recommended by the Hilton Hotel worker. It was delicious. We took a walk through a local park and garden, saw the Malmo Castle, and treked over the river and through the woods to IKEA. We made it back to Denmark in time to hop on a Canal Tour through the city (FREE WITH CARD). We got to see the opera house, where the queen lives, a famous library, the old red-light district, a sand castle competition, the little mermaid statue, and many other cool buildings and churches.

We were pretty tired, so we went back to the hotel and packed for our trip to LITHUANIA the next day. I had some free time in the morning to get one last day of tourism in. I went to a different part of town looking for the Round Tower observatory. Got really lost because I forgot my map. Stumbled upon the military base and saw the guards with the fancy tall fur hats. Saw more cool buildings. Finally saw Tivoli in the distance and just started walking towards it so I knew where I was. Decided to give up on Round Tower, and went to a Design Museum instead. It was pretty cool. They had different things Denmarkians (is that a word) had invented or designed, along with a whole section on newly created materials and fibers used in technology. It all worked out in the end and I got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. My flight went to Tallin, Estonia first. I was on schedule to be the LAST person to arrive in Vilnius, Lithuania, but another Study Abroad Student, Missy, got re-routed and ended up on my final flight! It was nice to not be alone during my 3 hour layover. We got coffee, and I accidentally ordered an alcoholic beverage because it had the word "coffee" in it. The woman didn't speak English,. Oh well. It still tasted good. I will post on Vilnius if I have time tomorrow!