Denmark: Copenhagen

Unfortunately I was only in Copenhagen for one day, with just a mere five hours to explore this enchanting city.

Still I don't let time constrain me! So here's a recount of my exact whirlwind five hours in the city of Copenhagen:

After the hour and a half train ride from Odense to Copenhagen, I arrive outside the train city with a variety of paths branching into every possible direction. I had not a map on me, just my guidebook but I didn't want to defeat myself to referring to the pitiful map they provide in the book (I hate the maps in guide books, they never fit into one page and you stuck looking for a road which you are currently standing on yet they somehow managed to leave it out, probably because it was deemed 'irrelevant' to tourists to know that road), so I did what I always do and decided to get 'lost' in the city by wandering.
Now usually, in the past when I have wandered around cities I generally stumble across all the tourist attractions and some hidden treasures. However on this particular wander I chose the wrong path, I should of walked right, but instead I diverted to the left thinking I was making a wise choice. While the path didn't leave me to any well-known attractions, surely I would find myself some gems of the city - whether it be a cool cafe, retro store, exhibition - yet I didn't find anything except many take-away food stores and factory outlets. And on this defeat, I chose to sit down and try place myself of the map.
The map in my book didn't help, as the road I was currently standing on was not part of 'their map' of the city - so I just did what I always did when I was in doubt of my wanderings: I retraced my steps, and chose the other path, heading right. I trudged on, kicking myself because I was losing precious and valuable time through getting lost, but then I saw a sign in the sky: it was the universal "i" for the tourist information building.
I got my free map of the city - including ALL the streets, even ones that perhaps could be irrelevant but yet still useful if you're wandering, and with this I set off on my journey again.
After looking at the points on the map of the must-see attractions, it was like everything came into clear view and Copenhagen just seemed to offer everything on a plate in front of me before my eyes. Tivoli, the second-oldest amusement park in the world after first opening its gates in 1843, the park seemed to have just appeared out of no where - how did I not see or hear this when I first stepped out of the station. It was as if Copenhagen had played a magical trick on me, where before I was surrounded in darkness and then the curtains were pulled up before me and everything was in transparent view.

Blinded by the bright sunlight I was not sure of what was lying right before me....

.... little did I know I had stumbled into the famous Tivoli.

 

I was being lured into Tivoli the same way a child is lured by the sounds of a calling ice-cream van, but then I hear the ding-dong bells of the town clock and immediately snap out of my hypnotised state to keep seeing as much of the city as I can.

From Tivoli, I keep wandering about, resisting the urge to look at my map and 'sense' my way around the city (because where's the fun in being strictly guided to your destination?) and I soon come face to face with Mr Andersen.
Well his statue anyways, and someone had placed a beautiful red-knitted scarf around his neck, making him to stand out proudly to any passers-by.
Just peeking out of the vines on the side of a building, I can make out the street sign stating I'm on HC Andersens Boulevard, and I think to myself how nice it must feel when stating your address to say you live on HC Andersens Boulevard -- Personally I would be happy everyday to know that I live on street which it's name is dedicated to beloved writer. 

Deciding I should really do something with my time other than walking around, I begin to find my way to the Nationalmuseet.
Now I don't always go to the national museums of every country I visit, I choose some more than others, and Copenhagen I was definitely choosing as it was hosting an exhibitions on the vikings, a subject in history which always and continues to fascinate me. 

The Nationalmuseet had presented the exhibition in both an informational and entertaining way - the rooms were pitch black apart from the spotlight lights which beamed down onto the various displays of viking history, giving them all the glory of their infamous lives. The spotlights were a fantastic effect, with no other distractions surrounding you, you were immediately drawn to glowing displays like a mosquito is to an ultra violet light. It was incredible seeing so many preserved artifacts from their era, all different artifacts of their lives were found and kept in this museum, from the jewellery and clothing to the weaponry and ships: 

I previously mentioned the exhibition was presented in an entertaining way, and this was achieved through the many interactive displays they had included. For example there were holes on the walls which if you put your ear to you could listen to stories and other recordings about the history; some of the other holes you had to look through and you could see images or videos of the viking lifestyle; but one of my favourite interactive activities was where you could try on the armoury and pretend you were a viking, even if just for a minute. I didn't try any on but it was funny watching the families put on the clothes, and seeing the amazement on both the adults and childrens' faces after realising how heavy the armoury was from back in the day. 

 

I found another exhibition in the museum which caught my attention as it was on the tribes from all over the world, particularly Greenland. I don't know much about Greenland and neither does anyone I know, so I was curious to find out some information on its history. I found some displays of preserved artifacts, but the window which most intrigued me was regarding their traditional fur dress. Now I knew that because of the extremely cold climate they would most likely wear fur-skin coats and other skin clothing and shoes. What I didn't know however was that the different regions of the island wore different animal fur or skin because the climate differed in some ways. Their clothing was adapted to both the climate and hunting conditions of the different regions of Greenland, so in the north region of Greenland, the tribe wore the skin of fox, bird and bear; in the east the tribe used seal skin with refinement for their dress; and in the west, the tribes wore clothing made out of seal and reindeer skin (NB: there was no information regarding the south). 

After the Nationalmuseet, I took a different turn, one towards the canals, instead of retracing my steps back to the main road. It was a good turn as I had come to the area of Slotsholmen, where all the the royal history could be found. I first saw the Christiansborg Palace, which is not where the royals live, but the royal horses live there in the stables (I was even fortunate enough to see the trainers riding the horses in the paddock right in the middle of the palace yard). I didn't go inside the palace, but I had a lovely time just walking around the outside hallways, admiring the architecture of the palace. Walking away from the palace, I came out through an exit where I suddenly saw myself surrounded by people dressed in medieval outfits. "What have I stumbled into?" was my first thought, wondering whether there was some festivity I wasn't aware of or if it was just some people having fun, I finally discovered I had actually arrived at the entrance of The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum. I observed the medieval actors and actresses for a while, then decided to keep on looking around the city.

As I turned my back on The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum, I found myself standing in front of a glittering black stone building. Intrigued to know what it was, I ventured closer and found it was The Royal Library. This was actually on my list of places to see in Copenhagen, because The Royal Library is quite unique, not just for housing royal archivial books, but more so because of it's black granite facade which has given the library the alternate name of "The Black Diamond". It was extremely pretty in the sunlight as the crystals from the black granite rock were sparkling in the sunlight. 

 

(Above: Christiansborg Palace)

(Above: The Royal Library, or "The Black Diamond")

 

After accidentally walking into the main shopping strip in the city - to which I had to spend little bit of my time since they had an Urban Outfitters (one of my favourite stores, and sadly is not present in Bergen) and also one of the coolest cafe/lunch chains called "Joe & the Juice" (they seriously have the most amazing sandwiches, juices, teas and coffees, plus it's healthy, an added bonus) - I was nearing the end of my day, so I went to my last stop which was at the botanical gardens.

I was actually looking for Rosenborg Castle, which I somehow just missed walking past and ended up walking through what I thought was the entrance of the King's Garden (which leads to the castle), but was in fact the botanical gardens. I was not disappointed with my missteps though for the botanical gardens were absolutely beautiful - literally the sort of scenery which takes your breath away. I was fortunate that the day I visited the weather was absolutely perfect, clear blue skies and sunny rays, and due to being there in the fall, many of the leaves were falling and brown, and it looked like those lovely autumn days. If I lived in Copenhagen, the botanical gardens would be an amazing place to have a picnic, to sit and read or write, or just simply lie back on the grass with the sun beating down on you.

(Above: plus a cool thing about the botanical gardens is that you can buy many of the plants that are featured, so you can always try create your own mini botanical garden at home)

It was starting to get cooler as the sun was almost getting ready to set, which signaled it was sadly my time to leave.

I loved seeing Copenhagen, but I only wish I had more time to see even more of the city and see not just the attractions but to try find some golden treasures which are the best things to stumble across when wandering around unknown cities.