Rather than write the three posts about Copenhagen in chronological order, I've decided to order them in terms of themes, as that seemed to make the most sense from my photos.
I lucked out and found a pretty cheap return flight to Copenhagen (about 25 quid, bargain!). I landed on Saturday and headed to my Airbnb. What a lovely little apartment it was in the Vesterbro area, literally opposite the food market area there (and mother pizza, yum!). After I got settled, I headed straight out to the water, found a cafe right on Nyhavn, ordered a glass of wine and enjoyed the slowly setting sun.
The next day, I was up early. The plan was to have a look around then at 11 or 12, to head out on a walking tour - I like those "free" tours because a) they are interesting because that's how they make money, b) the tours support local students who seem to run them, c) you meet some nice people just by striking up a conversation and d) you learn some secret things about the place you're in, as well as seeing the usual tourist things.
Since I was out with a few hours to spare, I went wandering around the university area and popped into a few churches. Then went on the walk, where I usually don't take photos because I'd rather listen to the guide.
After the tour, I went into the Amalienborg Palace. It was lovely but quite dim inside so most of my photos were garbage.
Next, I went to the nearby Frederiks Kirke, which was pretty nice
I also went to visit the little mermaid sculpture. The guide on the walking tour said not to bother, but it was such a nice day and lovely to walk by the water. On the way, however, there was a big American car gathering - it was September 11 and they'd been to lay a wreath and were getting together to have a barbeque in a big parking lot near the water. It was pretty cool, and amazing to see so many renovated American cars in a place like Denmark! (I mean like proper NYC cabs and cadillacs and a police car... how did they get there...?). Anyway, the guide was right, the mermaid was nothing special, but it was quite funny to watch the tourists almost fall in the water to take a photo. I then walked through the Kastellet area, which was very nice.
I walked back to Vesterbro, and went to mother for dinner! The pizza was damn good.
The next morning, my plans were to go up the Church of our Saviour in Christianshavn. I got there early (no surprise..) so had a wander around the areas first before heading up. You can walk around the outside of the spire.... it was pretty scary for someone with a fear of heights but the view was lovely. I then went to Rosenborg Palace, but I'll cover that in the next post!