We arrived in Copenhagen at 7:00AM. The ship docked in an industrial area near a UNICEF warehouse, but offered free shuttle buses to a waterfront park close to the center of town. We slept hard until 8:00 and picked up some small baguettes with ham and cheese from the Grand Dutch Cafe with our morning coffee, then had a bit more breakfast on the Lido deck.
We met up with Oscar and Joann and took the shuttle bus into town. We arrived near an old “star” fortress and walked past the famous Little Mermaid statue.
We also walked past the Gefion Fountain and St. Alban’s Church.
Then we walked down the waterfront to the Nyhavn canal, a trendy tourist area.
We got a walking tour map from the shuttle but Joann was not up for the entire walk, so after walking past a couple churches we split up and planned to meet at the Round Tower. Julie & I walked out to and through another castle and then over to Tivoli which was closed for few weeks.
Then we started back toward the Round Tower, but we were getting hungry. Wanting something Danish and ‘authentic’, we passed a lot of pizza, schwarma, Irish Pubs, and ‘tourist traps’ before finding a small coffee shop that did not have pre-made sandwiches. I got a nice panini sandwich and Julie got a vegan brunch platter which was really tasty - we could not believe the yoghurt and cheese were vegan. The decor was really eclectic and we sat between two different pairs, each having intense conversations in English - one was a playwright being interviewed about his latest work.
Unfortunately the meal took longer than expected and we missed our meeting time with Oscar and Joann at the Round Tower, although later we would find out they apparently had waited quite a while, but somehow we must have walked right past them on the way in. The Round Tower is part of a complex built to include a University Library, an observatory at the top of the tower, and the Trinity Church, and was built starting in 1637 and finished in 1642 by King Christian IV. The tower has a wide spiral ramp that purportedly allowed the king to ride his horse up to the observatory while his wife followed in a carriage. The ramp goes nearly to the top, but there is a narrow spiral staircase for the final ascent to a large deck surrounding the observatory. The deck offers great views of the city and port areas, and on a clear day you can apparently see Sweden.
We took a number of photos and then asked this stranger if he would take a picture of us together. He told some jokes to get us to laugh for the photo but it turns out while he was joking he also played a little joke on us and took a selfie.
From there we walked across the grounds of another castle.
Then we walked past a university and found a short block with cute smaller houses.
We passed through the star fortress on the way back to the shuttle. It is still used for military purposes, but pedestrians can pass through the middle, and there is a monument to Denmark’s International Efforts, which includes soldiers killed on U.N. missions as well as those sent to disaster areas through government action. The monument reads “One Moment, One Place, One Person”.
We walked through another neighborhood beyond the star fortress, then rode the bus back.
This evening we used one of our “Signature Dining” credits and had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill. We learned that the theme or inspiration for the menu is Washington State, and the menu features beef from a ranch in Washington, Beecher cheese, cherries, and a few other Washington items. The food was good, but it would definitely not be a good choice for vegetarians.
