Exploring Copenhagen’s Beauty & Culture

Despite the cloudy skies and ever-present rain, Copenhagen is still quite beautiful. We spent our third day in the city exploring stunning views of the city and some of the art culture it offers.

Just around the block from our hostel we found plenty of architecture and design to marvel over.

View of colorful apartment buildings from our room

We walked along Gothersgade on our way to many destinations.

Rosenborg Castle

On the grounds of Rosenborg Castle

Almost everywhere you look the scenery is beautiful.

Hans Christian Andersens Boulevard

What our guide told us he thinks is one of the most beautiful streets in Copenhagen

Seeing Copenhagen from above was a must-do, so we visited the 110ft+ high Rundetaarn (“round tower”) and climbed the unusual spiral passage to the observatory.

After seeing the magnificent Copenhagen cityscape we ambled over to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an impressive museum filled with paintings, sculptures and ancient artifacts.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

NY Carlsberg Glyptotek

Inside the museum

The Laurentian Sow

Caligula

Asklepios, God of Healing

The dimly-lit stairwell that led to the mummies and sarcophaguses.

Mummified bodies

A sarcophagus

Sarcophagus of a mummified cat

Jackal-headed god

Inside the Museum

Often our excursions took us down Strøget – one of the longest pedestrian-only streets in Europe – the Fifth Avenue /
Champs-Élysées / Bond Street of Copenhagen with a splash of Melrose Place. Up and down Strøget are shops, restaurants and boutiques hailing from many countries ranging from the most upscale like Gucci to more wallet-friendly options like Zara: a shopper’s paradise. Side note: the Danish are really tall; at 5’1″, I feel like a toddler clumsily climbing onto stools that are too high and ducking the flailing hands of passers-by in conversation.

Strøget

Strøget shops

For dinner that evening, we opted for a Danish meal at a restaurant within the freetown of Christiania, Spiseloppen. To say that the restaurant’s location is sketchy would greatly understate the level of anxiety we felt as we climbed each narrowing step, rising higher and higher away from safer ground, bypassing a group of thuggish-ruggish looking twenty-something men I named the “Danish Get Fresh Crew,” one of whom whistled at us as we passed by. Happily, we avoided our own Law & Order: SVU-type tale when we opened a heavy-wooden door to a perfectly respectable-looking restaurant with an affable host/server and warm and comforting dishes.

Restaurants in the shabby building

Sketchy stairwell of impending doom

Inside the restaurant

Absolutely fantastic, could-eat-it-all-day, parsnip potato leek soup with sour cream and herbs

Fried leg of lamb with julienned creamed potatoes, spinach with feta cheese, corn chips with tzatziki in a lamb sauce with ginger, coriander and chili. Very filling; unique flavors.

Nøddeflorentine Dessert with vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice cream, apple-blueberry compote and a mango . Dee-lih-cious!

Danish rice pudding with cherry sauce which we were told is a traditional Christmas dessert. I liked the rice pudding, but the cherry sauce was incredibly rich. Still free makes things taste better.

At the end of our meal, our server informed us that it was the last night the restaurant would be open until January 17th. “We’re taking a much-needed break for the holidays.” I told my friend I couldn’t imagine a restaurant in the United States closing for almost a month to give everyone time off. We’re opening up shops on Thanksgiving Day now for goodness’ sake!

In honor of the occasion he comped us free pints of the Danish seasonal holiday beer, Tuborg Julebryg, along with a traditional Danish Christmas dessert or rice pudding topped with a cherry sauce. Tuborg, isn’t my favorite. I must admit, I prefer German and Belgian ales and lagers, but the gesture was kind nonetheless and a lovely way to end a great day.