Last week I told you already all about our first day in Copenhagen, where we visited Nørrebro, Nyhavn, the Foodmarked, and Christania.
If you visit Denmark you just have to go and see the capital as well, as most of the famous sights are there. It is a very nice place to be and there are so many things to explore from art, food, architecture or simply fun! You will find something for everybody!
On day 2 we started close to where the last day had ended, right next to Christania at the Church of our savior.
Church of our Savior
It is one of Denmark's most famous churches. Since the serpentine spire was inaugurated in 1752, it has been a popular pastime to climb the 400 steps to the top.
Here on the top, the savior himself stands on top of a golden globe and keeps an eye on the royal city of Copenhagen. That is why it's named Church of the savior.
Each year, more than 60.000 people climb the many flights of stairs to the top, 90 metres above street level.
My friend told me that once the architect finished this church, he went to the top and jumped to kill himself... because he had made the stairs the wrong way, and was so depressed about it!
Frederik's Church and Amalienborg Palace.
We again took the metro and went directly to Amalienborg.
Getting out of the metro station we found ourselves right next to this big beautiful church. The Frederik´s Church Frederik's Church also known as The Marble Church. It is very famous for its rococo architecture and it is an Evangelical Lutheran church. The church forms the focal point of the Frederiksstaden district; it is located right next to Amalienborg Palace.
From here following the road we arrived right at Amalienborg Palace. This is the Copenhagen city residence of the Danish Queen Margrethe II. - Just like Buckingham Palace in London. The palace is of course owned by the Danish royal family. What many people don't know: When the royal family is present, the changing of the guard takes place in front of the palace every day at 12 noon. - Not this day! :D
The castle ensemble is formed by four individual palaces around an octagonal square. The houses were originally built as the center of a new neighborhood for various Danish noble families and over time became the property of the royal family. The Palais Levetzau houses a museum, the Palais Moltke can be visited as part of a guided tour.
Following that street, you get directly to a fountain with a view of the opera house. Fie told me that once a year there are jumping competitions going on from the roof of the opera house. I would love to see that one day, but that day we moved on along the water to our next stop, passing ships and sculptures.
Kastellet and Gefion Fountain
The Kastellet is one of the best preserved fortresses in Northern Europe. It is constructed in the form of a pentagon with bastions at its corners. Kastellet was continuous with the ring of bastioned ramparts which used to encircle Copenhagen but of which only the ramparts of Christianshavn remain today.
A number of buildings are located within the grounds of Kastellet, including the Citadel Church as well as a windmill. The area houses various military activities but it mainly serves as a public park and a historic site.
Right next to it we found the Geffion Fountain. I just love fountains and this one is truly special! The perfect spot to have a coffee and take a break!
The Gefion Fountain shows a group of animals being driven by the legendary Norse goddess, Gefion. It is the largest monument in Copenhagen and is used as a wishing well, like every famous fountain. 😅
According to an ancient legend, Gefion was the goddess who ploughed the island of Zealand out of Sweden. The Swedish king Gylfe offered the goddess Gefion as much land as she was capable of ploughing in one day and one night.
Gefion received help only from four oxen. She had transformed her four sons into immensely powerful oxen and had them plough so deeply in the ground that they raised the land and pulled it into the sea. This is how the island of Zealand was created.
The lake Vännern in Sweden approximately resembles the shape of Zealand, proving that there must be some truth in the story. 😉
From here, on a sunny day like ours, it is just a wonderful 10 minutes walk through the park along the ocean to our next stop.
The Little Mermaid
My friend uses to say that there are two places, that are always super crowded here in Copenhagen. It doesn't matter what day it is and what time. These two are Nyhavn and The Little Mermaid. This is also why we took one fast picture and went on ;) - I don't like big crowds and for the dog it was super stressful.
Unveiled on 23 August 1913, The Little Mermaid was a gift from Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen to the City of Copenhagen. The sculpture is made of bronze and granite and sits in the water at Langelinie Pier.
It was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s famous fairytale about a mermaid who gives up everything to be united with a young, handsome prince on land. Every morning and evening she swims to the surface from the bottom of the sea and, perched on her rock in the water, she stares longingly towards the shore hoping to catch a glimpse of her beloved prince.
If this story sounds familiar to you, it is probably because it was the inspiration for Disney to create the story of Ariel.
Reffen Streetfood Market
After all that walking we were pretty hungry. So we decided to go to the biggest streetfood place around, which is the Reffen Streetfood Market. It would be the best place to have food and drinks + finish the day.
I don't actually know how famous this market is. I am pretty sure that day I didn't see many tourists walking around there. The locals love it though, and it is pretty awesome!
The easiest way to arrive is by boat bus. So we took the one leaving between the mermaid and Amalienborg, which brought us directly to the Island where Reffen is at.
On the way we saw a few countainer houses made for students, which looked also pretty great. I wonder how much it costs to live there.
After around 10 minutes walking, we already arrived at the main place.
Reffen is an organic street food market and urban area for start-ups, innovation and creativity. All of the stalls have to follow the sustainable dogmas "Reduce and Reuse": Use compostable food service, reduce food waste, use organic, free-range and local ingredients wherever possible. They also have to sort their waste so it can be reused as far as possible.
At Reffen you'll find more than 50 start-ups in the form of food stalls from all over, bars and creative workshops. Reffen consists of an 6000m2 area, and there is access to another 4000m2 area by the water, which is perfect for enjoying your dishes and drinks with front-row views of Copenhagen harbour.
We were sitting there to chill a bit. Right next to us kids were skating and some other guys played boccia at a boccia field. The balls one could rent for free at one of the stalls.
It was the perfect vibe, the perfect food, the perfect spot and the perfect ending for that long day walking around the city.
Cheers,
Liz
What a beautiful architecture all around also, the weather looks pretty lovely to have some walk.
The buildings look pretty good. The story of the architect who wanted to commit suicide for wrongdoing is impressive. It is very difficult to find such excellent architects nowadays.
Yes indeed pretty sad that story!
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Congratulations @lizanomadsoul! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next payout target is 18000 HP.
The unit is Hive Power equivalent because post and comment rewards can be split into HP and HBD
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1661.
Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!
Become part of our travel community: