Monthly Archives: June 2019

I arrived in Copenhagen very early in the morning, so I sat at a cafe in the central station for a bit and had a hot chocolate and cinnamon bun while I got my day planned out. After I stored my luggage at my Airbnb I decided to go out and explore a few places that were quicker stops.

I first went to the Church of Our Saviour because it’s tower is known as one of the best views of the city. The steeple is quite unique, as it spirals around, and you can actually walk up the spiral to the very top.

Next, I stopped by the National Library, which is also called the Black Diamond. It’s a pretty cool building but a quick stop before I continued on to the Denmark Architecture Center, which was right next door. There, I went through the exhibits and saw some interesting building models.

The next thing on my list was a tour at Rosenborg Castle. It was actually right next to my Airbnb, so very convenient, and while it is a small building it was interesting to hear about the history of the royals using it as a summer home. In the armory we got to see the Crown Jewels and lots of other expensive-looking things.

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For the rest of the afternoon I relaxed for a bit and then ventured out to try a nearby bubble tea place and walk around a shopping area.

At night I went to Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park in the city center. I didn’t go on any rides, but I walked around and then went to the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra concert, which happened to be on that night. It was really good! Once it got dark enough they did a light show over the little pond in the park, which was actually really cool. They used smoke machines and lasers to create 3D designs, which I had never seen before.

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After a long day I slept very well but was happy with all I was able to fit in, since my time in each place is pretty short.

Today I wanted to fit in a few more of the must see sights so I got up and went to the City Hall. I took the guided tour and went up in the tower. This is where the Nobel Prize banquet is held each year, so it was interesting hearing about that event- I even learned that all 1300 guests (including the royal family) get served dinner in under 8 minutes in order to keep the food warm! It was a really interesting and beautiful building and then after I was able to get a ticket to go up in the tower for beautiful views of the city.

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My next stop was the Vasa Museum, which is about a huge warship that sailed out in the harbor in the 17th century for about 20 minutes but then sank. It was brought back up over 300 years later and was in relatively good condition, so it is now displayed in its own museum. This was a really great museum and I spent more time than I expected there. It really was incredible how big this ship was and the story behind it is so interesting!

My last stop of the day was Skansen, an open-air folk museum that showcases life in Sweden throughout history. It reminded me a bit of Sturbridge Village with all the buildings you can go into with tradespeople doing their trades. But, all of the buildings at Skansen are historic buildings that have been transported from all over Sweden. It was cool to walk around and go in the buildings, but my favorite part was the folk dance performance that I watched. They had live fiddlers and performed several traditional Swedish dances, which was really fun to watch!

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After visiting Skansen I just had a couple hours left in Stockholm, so I rode the ferry back to the Old Town and walked around a bit more before getting my luggage from the hotel and heading to the bus station. I’m taking the overnight bus to Copenhagen, so stay tuned for what I get to do tomorrow in another city and country!