ReddingersinScandinavia: 24 Hours in Copenhagen

We arrived at our hotel in Copenhagen last night around 11pm and leave for Stockholm tomorrow morning at 8:00am leaving us just about 24 hours to see all we could see in Copenhagen.

After a quick breakfast at the hotel we headed out to see City Hall. Unfortunately it was still closed because of the holiday, but it's a beautiful building and we got to meet Hans and a series of gargoyles along the way. Later in the day we decided to try our luck visiting City Hall again and walked in the first open door we found (to be fair it said open and we were within normal business hours). We were asked politely to leave, once the attendant helped us open the door to get back out.

City Hall

"Hans" Christian Anderson

Our new friend the gargoyle

We were pretty certain the National Museum was open so we headed there next for a change of luck. On a nice day it probably would have been a 5 minute walk. When your only choice is to slowly plod along on icy cobblestones or icy marble, it's about a 15 minute walk assuming you don't have trip to the emergency room to contend with. We very much love Copenhagen, but where's the salt?!

Who can walk on this!

The National Museum was open and ended up being the highlight of the day. It had artifacts and stories from the very beginning of Danish history dating back about 14,500 years ago through today. Here are some highlights:

Aurochs found preserved in a bog - we won't show you all the other weird stuff they've found in bogs

In the bronze age they believed a horse and ship helped to guide the sun along its path

Wind Chime from the Bronze Age (Inspiration for Dr. Seuss?)

Instruments from around the world

Instruments from Africa

As a temporary exhibit they showcased the history and current use of fur. Naturally we headed straight for the dress up section...

Wolf/Seal/Beaver?

Mink?

But why?

It's all fun and games until they show you the adorable animal next to the fur coat.

After feeling really badly about our fashion show we decided to slink off to our next adventure. We headed down the street to the Christiansborg Palace. This is where the royal family lives, but certain areas are open to the public for tours.

We made our way up to the castle, but once again it was closed. As we were walking out we decided to follow a group of people that looked like they knew where they were going. They entered a door that looked like it could have been the line to visit the castle so naturally we followed. As we walked in the door we were once again asked to leave, less politely this time - oops.

Our next stop was Stroget street for some lunch and a bit of shopping.

On our walk we discovered this fantastic art gallery (NY Carlsberg Glyptotek) and spent the rest of the afternoon checking out their collection of French and Danish paintings and sculptures.

They had so many Degas sculptures that they put a bunch on homemade shelves, no glass!

We headed back to the hotel for a quick dinner in the room, cheese and crackers from the grocery store, and then went to Tivoli gardens for the evening. Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world and served as inspiration for Walt Disney. It was beautiful at night, especially with all the Christmas lights and was packed with people. It's 21 acres cut out of the middle of Copenhagen with rides, shops, restaurants, a lake, etc. We snacked on Belgian waffles, drank glogg, watched a light/water show to the music of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, and hopped up and down to try to keep warm (it's about 10 degrees today). We couldn't believe that people were still riding roller coasters and peddling in viking ships in this weather! Great end to a great day.