Got up, had breakfast and was out the door by 10am. I planned on catching the 10.22 from Landskrona, but had to stop in at the station to get a ticket from Malmo to Copenhagen (my travel card only works in Sweden). Took a few minutes of standing around before I realised I was supposed to ‘take a number’, then another 5-10 minutes of waiting for my turn. Luck was on my side and I made the train, barely – had to run.
An hour and a half later and I was at Copenhagen’s Central Station. It was cold, raining ever so slightly and I was still feeling the effects of my cold so let’s just say I wasn’t in exactly the best sightseeing mood. Nevertheless I sucked it up, found the tourist information shop and, newly acquired map in hand, headed out the door to ‘see’ the city.
As soon as I got outside I realised that although I knew exactly where on the map I was, and where I needed to get to, I had no idea what direction to start walking. Back into the tourist shop to check the big map again. Luckily I knew what direction the train tracks ran in relation to the shop and could see the station, so guessed I needed to go left.
Guessed correctly and found the start of Copenhagen’s Strøget, the longest pedestrian only shopping area in Europe. Basically a really long street with no cars and shops on each side, lots of shops – Jodie would have loved it (although the prices were the same, if not more expensive than Australia).
Crazy Danes lining up in the cold for ice cream!
Walked down to Nyhavn, a waterfront area along one of Copenhagen’s canals. Canal tours leave usually leave from here, but none seemed to be operating today (I blame the weather). Made my way to Amalienborg and found Frederik VIII's Palace, soon to be the home of our Princess Mary and Prince Frederik. The AU$22 million renovation has just been finished and it was being opened to the public for a month before the royal couple move in, starting today. It was easy to find, what with the massive queue of people standing outside. Suffice to say I took a photo from the outside and moved on.
Found the ‘Little Mermaid’ statue which, according to VisitCopenhagen.com, is Copenhagen’s most popular tourist attraction and one of the most photographed statues in the world. I think perhaps they’re over-selling it a little – it’s nice, but come on…
Lots more walking – about 15kms I calculated later – then home to Landskrona. Had a banana and strawberry crepe before catching my train. Made it home by about 7pm, buggered. Probably my least satisfying sightseeing day ever – a combination of cold weather; poor health; dirty, melting snow; and tired feet. I could feel that Copenhagen was a lovely city, I just didn’t see it today.
Stroget = Sounds like Heaven
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