Chilling in Copenhagen & Biking in Berlin
It was a bumpy ride in but we safely landed in Copenhagen Thursday afternoon. We immediately headed to our hotel then for a bite to eat. With our late lunch, we enjoyed a Carlsberg beer. We were settling into Denmark nicely.
That evening we walked around the city and then down to the Nyvahn waterfront. A pretty view and neat area, we decided it was a good spot to grab dinner. After dinner, we headed to the Tivoli garden. The Tivoli garden (pictured below) had an amusement park/Halloweentown vibe going on. For those uneducated with the classic Halloween themed film, just reread the name and I’m sure you’ll get the gist of it. We rode a few rides and ended the night with a fresh caramel induced hot chocolate which was nothing less than incredible.
The Tivoli Garden at Halloween was a real treat. We randomly and luckily were there for the one night that all the rides were free. It was a beautiful amusement park that offered quite an array of fun rides. The entire vibe of the area really set a fun mood for Copenhagen.
The next day we started off by heading back towards the Nyvahn. On our way, we walked by the Christiansborg Slot (palace and government building). The Nyvahn area is centrally located it was a good middle ground to begin the day. From there we headed to the Freetown area of Christiania, a very interesting niche of Copenhagen. From here walked to the Papiroen.
When we arrived at the Papiroen (pictured below), it was just around time for lunch. Due to the timing, we ended up eating at the Copenhagen Street Food Market. This was the best decision we made our entire time there.
The Copenhagen Street Market is absolutely fascinating. A must-see and, well, a “must-eat” attraction- I would highly recommend it to anyone who goes to Copenhagen. A large warehouse type structure is filled with over a dozen food trucks and a few bars. It provides a wide supply of selections for an affordable price. Not to mention all of our food was fantastic. I am so happy we stumbled upon this right as we were getting hungry. This was my favorite part of the trip. From there we walked over to the Amalienborg (The Danish Royal Family Palace). Abby spent a few minutes trying wait for a photo of the guards smiling, but of course, they never budged. We enjoyed a few minutes by the fountain, looking across the river at the Operaen (Oprah) house. On our way out of the area, we stopped by the Frederiks Kirke church.
Next, we walked towards the Rosenberg Slot. A small castle but worth a short stop at to see. You have to walk through the Kobenhavn K park to see it, which is worth it in itself. I found the architecture of the Rosenberg Slot quite interesting, especially the small mote around it. From there we walked over to the Torvehallerne market. We spent some time here and then walked back through the city down Stroget street. The Stroget street is quite unique and unlike many places I’ve seen so far in Europe. In fact, it is the largest pedestrian street in the world. It reminded me a little bit of Gaffon street in Ireland, except, much bigger. About halfway down we stopped at the Rundetaarn. The Rundetaarn is a large circular tower that provides a great view at the top.
Climbing up the tower wasn’t as simple as it probably should have been. Maybe it’s time to start doing a little working out. (Just kidding, we'll do that when we get home). But the view was worth the climb. Interestingly enough you can see all the way to the Oresund bridge which connects Copenhagen, Denmark with Malmo, Switzerland.
That night, Friday evening, we headed out of Copenhagen and flew to Berlin. Abby, Aleks, Charlie, Mason, and I met up with Andrew at the Hofbrauhaus (where else) in Berlin upon our arrival just past midnight. We didn’t stay too long and headed home for some shuteye before our Saturday morning tour. Saturday morning we had arranged a bike-tour around the city of Berlin. The stops included: Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall, Nazi Architecture, Site of Hitler's Bunker, Victory Column, Tiergarten, Reichstag, Bebelplabtz, Museum Island, Memorial to the Murdered Jew of Europe, Berlin Cathedral, Potsdamer Platz, and the Deathstrip Watchtower. I won’t go into detail about every stop, but the tour was incredible. We had a knowledgeable guide and we stopped for lunch at a quaint but pretty Biergarden in the park.
Saturday night Abby and I joined Andrew at “the pub” a restaurant that has taps in the middle of the table. We had a few liters but kept it calm before due to our plans for Sunday morning. Sunday morning we had an additional bike tour arranged, this one focusing more on the Berlin Wall and the Cold War. This tour was very interesting as well and went into a lot more depth. We talked a lot about how the Berlin Wall and cold war really changed life in Berlin. This was one of the few educational things we’ve done so far in our traveling that has been really enjoyable while we learned a lot.
Sunday night we stopped by Belushi’s Bar and caught a half of Sunday morning football. Funny how time zones work, eh? We didn’t stay out late due to a long weekend full of activities and also our early Monday morning travel. In conclusion, both cities were completely worth seeing. We spent just over 30 hours in Copenhagen yet due to efficient planning we were able to walk everywhere we went and I felt as if we saw all the things we wanted to see. The Copenhagen Street Food Market was definitely the highlight of our time there. The Tivoli Garden Halloween themed park was also a fun added activity. Berlin was awesome too and just reaffirmed our fascination with Germany. The culture and history Berlin is home to is different than much of Europe. So much of the history in Berlin is less than a century old, which was a nice change of pace to learn about. We also happened to be there during the last weekend of the “Berlin Festival of Lights” which was unplanned as well. Huge projectors display lights on a multitude of buildings around the city, which just served as a little bonus eye candy for our evening festivities.
