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On day six, it was time to move to Odense.
Surprise, surprise! The sun greeted us yet again when we woke up. And as much as I am eager to tell you everything about our first day in the hometown of the great Hans Christian Andersen, my comments will come a little later.
Here is a ”silent” tour in the meanwhile 🙂
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As previously mentionned in my last posts, the incredible weather has got me running late on this blog. Tonight, I hope to post the pictures of days 6, 7, 8 and 9. And possibly start completing my previous ”pictures only” posts. I’ll make sure to publish a note as soon as I get there.
In the meanwhile, I hope you’ll enjoy the pictures for Day 5. They are mainly of Vikingeskibsmuseet (a museum about viking ships), and Roskilde’s Museum.
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Another beautiful morning in Copenhagen…
Sipping on my warm cup of tea, I took one last long gaze at our amazing view over the city, knowing we’d be back in the capital at the end of our trip.
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But it was time to move on, and the next step in our journey was Roskilde. So we packed our bags, left a little note to our host on the kitchen table, and locked the door behind us one last time.
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A short (about half an hour long) train ride later, we arrived in Roskilde. I had always wanted to stop in Roskilde which is mainly known for its famous summer music festival (we were a little early for that), but never had done it in my previous four trips.
Our Airbnb apartment was in a quiet residential neighbourhood, at walking distance of pretty much everything interesting in town. It was nice and cozy, and after discussing a little with the owner, we headed out to explore downtown Roskilde.
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Room/living room, all you need when you’re always out and around….
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Our colorful kitchenette
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The first obvious stop was Roskilde’s Cathedral (Domkirke, in Danish). I didn’t know much about the cathedral, other than that it was an absolutely awesome building seen from outside.
The entry cost 70 Kroner (about 14 Canadian Dollars), and my jaw dropped the second we walked in.
About 800 years of the Danish history lay there, before our eyes, with the tombs of most Danish monarchs, in different alcoves and crypts.
Seriously in my top ten ways to spend 14$!
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The King’s Door
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If you’ve ever watched the Danish movie ”A Royal Affair” (En Kongelig Affære) with Mads Mikkelsen, you might remember that the story revolved around the life of King Christian the 7th… And this above is his tomb.
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After taking in so much history, a nice walk was welcome. So we just wandered around, and enjoyed the warm yet windy spring afternoon.
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We stopped in a little fast food restaurant to grab a box of fries to nibble on…
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And immediately made a friend!
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We noticed a couple of these springs along our walk, and I had a flash. A ”spring” in Danish is called ”kilde”, and my host later confirmed that the name of the city was related to these once considered sacred springs. Roskilde is actually Ro’s (actually Hroar, who was the founder of the city) kilde (spring).
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As it always seems to, time flew by and before we knew it, it was already time to find a grocery store, grab something for dinner and head back to our apartment.
Our feet needed a little rest, and after a hot shower, we just dove under our cloud-like duvets. To be ready for yet another day of adventures!
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Day three started with a little scare, since this was the view from our balcony. I thought I might have broken Copenhagen! Luckily it seemed to have been more of a smoke-show than anything else, because we didn’t find any mention on the fire on the internet, and everything was under control when we walked downtown.
But let’s begin at the start.
After a good night of sleep, we were surprised to find the sky absolutely cloudless again. It was still pretty (understatement) windy, and the temperature was still a little frisky, but it was very promising.
So after two cups of tea for me (coffee for David), we packed up what we needed for the day, and left the apartment, decided to go check for ourselves where that thick smoke was coming from.
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On our way, we walked in front of the Glyptotek. We didn’t have time to visit it (again), but if you ever come to Copenhagen, and love visual arts, I really recommend making a stop there. For one thing, the Carlsberg family has provided the museum with an impressive collection of Rodin scuptures. The place is huge, and filled with masterpieces of all kinds. Just a friendly advice, though… If you buy yourself a ticket to the Glyptotek, make sure you have time on your hands, because you won’t want to leave for hours!!
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Many canals run through the Danish capital, and above are just a couple of the numerous bridges that pedestrians and cyclists use to move around the city.
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… And as you can see here, people are quite happy with the easy access to the different neighbourhoods!
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Our walk along the water took us back to Nyhavn, and I thought I’d take David to the hostel when I had stayed during my last trip in 2019. The Bedwood Hostel is a little gem, hidden along the famous canal, and probably the only way I ever could ever afford to sleep at Nyhavn. The advertising isn’t very flamboyant, when you walk in front of the adress, but a few steps away, in the inner-yard, you discover all the charm of the place. The staff is super welcoming (even if you’re not a twenty-something kid discovering the world). And if you are comfortable with sharing a dortoir with a couple of fellow travelers, it is quite cozy, and affordable!
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Next stop was at Kultorvet, to pick up some yummy cheese at Osten Ved Kultorvet.
Unfortunately, when I entered the small shop, the man behind the counter wasn’t the owner. I had doubts at first – it had been four yours since my last visit, after all – but Mikael couldn’t have changed that much.
It so happened that it was his only day off, and when I explained that I was from Montreal, and had made it a tradition to come by everytime I traveled to Denmark, the man at the counter started chatting, suggesting places to go, and asking about my previous trips, while preparing my Viking Blue and Fyrmester (both a-ma-zing Danish cheeses) packages.
He even tried to call Mikael, to let him know I was at the store. I meant to tell him that the owner might not even remember me after all this time, but he dialed before I could do so.
I promised to try to come again when we’d be back in Copenhagen at the end of our little tour, and we left the store.
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There was one last spot where I wanted to take David, before our feet gave up on us. But we still hadn’t been able to change our phones’ SIM cards, and I knew we’d need them working as we would start moving around the country.
So we stopped in a Telia store. We very much doubted that they would help us, not seeking business with the company, and not even having purchased the SIM cards from them.
But surprisingly, when I explained our situation, the young man that welcomed us in the store picked our cell phones, and our cards, and took care of everything in no time. No questions asked. He then offered us coffee, and started chatting about our trip, and how his brother had a stand in Torvehallerne, a fantastic food court just a couple of minutes walking away from the store.
So we walked in doubting we’d get any help, and came out with our phones working in Denmark, and a great new place to pick up stuff for dinner!
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Unfortunately, we didn’t find the guy’s brother… But we did get a ”pain batard” (bastard bread). And call me childish, I thought that was funny.
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Because Danish days never seem to come to an end starting in May, we still had time to go to a park I wanted to show David.
We cheated a little… We took the metro to Nørrebro Station. When we got there, I was confused. I clearly remembered Superkillen, and it looked nothing like the above. I did remember the swings, and the murals, but where was the rest of it?
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We walked a little, and I realized that we had just entered the park from the opposite side, compared to my first visit.
So here it is, Superkilen with all the cherry blossoms making it even prettier.
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And everything to keep the young active in the heart of the city!
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It was getting late, and we needed to get back ”home”. On our way, we caught this mini-mini-mini escalator. And to save you a couple of minutes, we did the research, and the smallest escalator in the world is in Japan, and has 5 steps! Oh, Denmark, you were so close to a World record!!
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And, finally… We got back to the apartment, to feast on our ”pain batard” and our cheese and other little things.
It was time to charge the batteries for the next day to come!
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Day two started rather smoothly.
A three weeks tour around Denmark is a marathon, not a sprint and we figured we didn’t need to be out and about as soon as the sun rose, although I was awake when the first rays appeared over the horizon.
We left the apartment a little before noon, well rested and ready for a second round.
David suggested that we went to Tivoli Gardens, because the last time we had visited it together, it was in late September, and not quite as impressive as we imagined it would be in May.
I agreed, but we had second thoughts, when we arrived near the entrance;
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It was Sunday, and the weather was nice, so of course, we weren’t the only ones who got that idea. We didn’t feel like waiting to get in the park, and it would probably be way too crowded anyway, so our visit was postponed to the evening, hoping to catch a few pictures of the park all lit up.
So, instead, we stopped at Copenhagen’s Central train station to grab some lunch, and decided to go to one of my favorite spots; Kultorvet.
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We walked along one of the (if not the) best known streets of Copenhagen: Strøget. If you like shopping, this is the place for you!
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I’m not much of a Gucci or Prada girl, or a shopper in general, and much prefer these less crowded allées, with their older and colorful buildings!
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We also walked by Rundetarn (The Round Tower), a must, on your to-do list if you ever visit the capital.
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One of the reasons I wanted to go to Kultorvet, was to visit my favorite cheese store: Osten Ved Kultorvet… Unfortunately, it was closed, and we’ll have to go again today. I can’t wait to meet with the owner again. I’ve come here for a piece of Viking Blue and Fyremester cheese on each of my previous trips, and even if it’s been four years, I still hope Mikael will remember ”the girl from Canada”, hehehehe.
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Because it was just around the corner, we made a detour to take a few pictures of the apartment I had stayed at with J, in 2017.
Souvenirs, souvenirs…
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Since we still had time on our hands before a second attempt at entering Tivoli Gardens, we decided to give Copenhagen’s ”Believe it or not” museum. Because traveling doesn’t need to be serious at all times, right?
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An egg the equivalent of 183 chicken eggs… My worst nightmare!
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A woman statue entirely made of buttons!
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A vampire slayer kit!
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And last, but not least… ZOLTAR!!
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We also tried the Hans Christian Andersen Experience… But… Hum, not quite worth it, if you already know pretty much anything about the legend already. Keep your kroners for something more exciting, hehehehe.
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It was finally time to go back to Tivoli, but not before having one of these equally beautiful and delicious Smørrebrød! Yum!!
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Finally Tivoli… I’ll let you scroll through the pictures! I really wanted to get great pictures with all the evening lights on, but the Danish sun is a tricky one. And it just won’t go to sleep. Even if the Internets said it was supposed to be in bed by 8:59 PM, it still was asking for a glass of water by 9:15, when we finally left…
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The Turtle's Journey... 