Stacy had already been to Copenhagen on her Scandinavia trip a few years ago so I passed the travel guide torch over to her for the 3 days we were there.
Our hotel was conveniently located only two blocks from the train station. However, like most cities you find a slightly unsavory element near the train station so our hotel was situated amid numerous porn shops, prostitutes, pimps and drug dealers. During the day this added a bit of color to our trip but quickly became annoying at night when we were trying to sleep with the window open. 
After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we went to grab lunch at Le Le which was a great Vietnamese restaurant. We were able to get something light and flavorful to fill our bellies before setting off on Rick Steves’ walking tour through the main shopping district along Stroget Street.
We ended the tour near Ny Haven, a boat lined canal with colorful three story flats on either side. Since we had just walked for a few hours, we decided to give our feet a rest and sit along the canal with some ice cream cones.
After a rest in the sun, we continued our walk along the windy harbor to Amalienborg Palace where the royal family currently resides. The buildings were actually built by wealthy families so didn’t look very palatial. We walked to the Marble located just down the street but it was already closed for the day.Since we were all a little tired from being on our feet all day and getting up at the butt crack of dawn for our flight, we went back to the room for a little rest before heading out to dinner. We were too tired to go very far so ended up at a little Thai place down the street called Spicylicious. It was listed as the best cheap meal in town so we were unprepared for how nice the restaurant was. It had half timbered bamboo walls, white tablecloths and flowers everywhere (even the water had flowers in it). We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals which were made even more enjoyable by our adorable waiter.
On our first full day in town, I went out for a run in the morning and found some beautiful and tranquil parks. After breakfast, we set out for the Rosenborg Slot (castle) and gardens. The castle had recently been renovated so was closed the last time Stacy was there. The castle was well decorated and the rooms were set up so that the décor was of progressively later periods as you moved through the castle.
The royal jewels, crowns and other valuables were located in the treasury below the castle and were the highlight for me. One of the pieces was a 61 carat pendant. Apparently the Queen still wears some of the jewelry on special occasions.We decided to have a picnic in the castle gardens and soak up some sun before heading back to Ny Haven to take a boat tour. Unfortunately, as we arrived so did a busload of very loud kids. We decided to wait for the next bus and go check out the Marble Church and do a little shopping along the way.
The Marble Church was aptly named as it was constructed of mostly marble. It is home to one of Europe’s largest dome ceilings so it felt a bit more like a capital or judicial building rather than a church. However, it was a Protestant church rather than a Catholic one so that explains some of it.
The boat tour we took wasn’t as good as the one in Amsterdam but that might have been due in part to the cold wind in the main harbor or maybe it was due to the fact that the college age tour guide was incredibly bored with his job. He kept forgetting some of the information and had to consult with the driver who was a little more seasoned.Off the cold water, we decided to go to Christiana (Freetown) for some dinner. Christiana is a hippie settlement originated in the 60s. It was a military base and is still owned by the Department of Defense which is hilarious to think about as you walk through it and people openly offer to sell you pot and hash. There are about 1,000 adult residents in the small area. They even have their own government and police force. I would think being a cop in Christiana would be a cushy job since nothing there seems to be illegal.
Walking through the town you really do get a feel for their alternative lifestyle. I honestly found it a little dirty and depressing but I’m definitely not a hippie. Yuppie, yes.
We decided on a vegetarian restaurant which had a pleasant garden. The portions were huge so we only ordered 2 things which actually came on 3 plates. The food was so great that even the wildlife tried to get in on the action. The birds were particularly brazen in their quest for food. They hopped right up on the picnic table and would try to start pecking from the plate as we were eating.
It was still early so after dinner we thought a trip to the oldest amusement park, Tivoli, would be a good evening of entertainment. The park is in the center of town on 20 acres and has been the most visited site in Copenhagen since it opened 160 years ago. First we watched a pantomime performance which was an experience, not a good one but an experience. Stacy insisted that pantomime can be good and mistakenly had higher hopes for the performance.
Next up were the rides. My mom and I love the teacups back in the States so were looking for something similar. We found something that was a combination of the scrambler and the teacups and it was great. Since Stacy suffers from motion sickness in just a plain old car, she passed on the ride but got just as nauseous just watching us.
The park was full of fountains, gardens and lanterns and not at all like the 6 flag variety amusement parks in the States. At first I wasn’t excited to go to a theme park, but after walking around the grounds I was so glad that we did. The best part was that since it was dinner time there were absolutely no lines for anything.Before leaving the park, Stacy and I wanted to do one roller coaster. We got ready to get in line but there was a restriction for pregnant women so I couldn’t go on. We decided on a smaller roller coaster that didn’t go upside down and didn’t have a restriction for pregnant women.
On the way out we grabbed an ice cream cone and it ended up being the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Thankfully, the ice cream cone held us up just enough that when it started pouring rain, we were only across from the train station so had a dry place (or semi dry place) to wait out the rain. It was raining so hard that in a few areas, it was actually raining inside the train station. After the rain subsided a bit, we headed back to the hotel.
On Wednesday morning, we headed out of town up to the small village of Roskilde to visit the Viking Ship museum and a 12th century Cathedral. It was a really windy day so Stacy got a free peep show when a prostitute’s skirt blew up, letting us know she must have forgotten to put her underwear on; it must have been a laundry day.
Roskilde was a quiet little town about 30 minutes from Stockholm. We checked out the Cathedral and then headed to the Viking Ship Museum. In the 1960s, they excavated remains from 5 Viking ships which had sunk in the Fjord. They meticulously preserved each piece and reconstructed the ships with the salvageable wood. Using the information they gained from those fragments of the original Viking ships, they constructed another Viking ship using the same methods the Vikings would have used and then sailed the ship to Ireland. The trip took a few months and from the documentary looked like a grueling voyage, not to mention very, very wet and cold.
They also had a model boat and some dress up Viking clothes so Stacy and I couldn't resist getting back to our Viking roots. 
Back in Copenhagen, we went to grab a very late lunch at Riz Raz. It was a Mediterranean buffet and did nothing to improve my opinion of buffets. I am of the opinion that life is way too short to eat bad food so I didn’t eat all that much. I was already planning to go back to Le Le for some Vietnamese noodles.My mom was too tired to venture out again so Stacy and I went to Le Le on our own. Stacy ordered the mussels in coconut milk and lemon grass while I went for the Vietnamese noodle salad. Both were excellent. Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on getting a fruity non alcoholic drink, and Stacy hadn’t planned on getting anything to eat so we found ourselves scrounging through the bottom of our purses for money. We briefly panicked and each starting strategizing on how to get the other person to go back to the hotel for more money. In the end we found some hidden money and ended up with 10 cents to spare.
Our final day in Copenhagen was spent at the free National Museum. It was a good collection of modern art as well as impressionist. However, we really didn’t have much time so it was a quick visit and was then overshadowed by another lost camera incident.
Although we don’t know any of our distant relatives in Denmark or Sweden, it was nice to go to the country where my mother’s grandparents were born and to share it with my mom and sister. 
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