Sunday, June 12, 2022
Another full day (our last...) to explore Copenhagen!
Today we went to the opposite side of the city. This was away from the main tourist areas, and, being a Sunday, it was full of regular Danes out enjoying the beautiful weather. They really want to be able to enjoy these few months of relative warmth and abundant sunshine; the winters are long, cold, and dark. It has been in the upper 60s for the highs, but being on and close to the water, there has also been a constant chill. We have also had a few brief showers (it is actually thundering as we type!), but we are fully prepared with slickers and foldable umbrellas at the ready.
We headed northwest to find Donut Supreme! To get there we happened across a fabulous park with beautiful trees and ponds filled with many kinds of birds, and lots of people having picnics and loungers enjoying the day, and of course, more statues.
The trusty map worked very well this time, as the shop was at the intersection of two major streets.
Never saw donuts displayed this way: each one was under its own glass dome!
Every one looked scrumptious! Wendy opted for caramel crunch for the photo op but didn't eat it at all. A first!
Next, we wanted to find an old Jewish cemetery. Though it was only several blocks from the doughnut shop, it was outside of the "city centre" part of the map. So we had to use the one on the reverse side which had the whole metro area. Of course, the small-street names were non-existent and the major ones required a magnifying glass to see. We walked in the correct direction for two blocks and then stopped to try to determine our coordinates. As we were looking around, we realized we were standing right at the cemetery! It is the Mosaisk Nordrebegravelsesplads, which means "Mosaic Northern Cemetery". This is Denmark's oldest Jewish cemetery, having first been used in 1693 and had burials until the late 1960s! 90% of the headstones are in Hebrew. As you might imagine, some of them are so old that the inscriptions have been completely weathered away. You could actually scan a QR code to learn more about certain people (technology is everywhere!), but we were unable to get a WI-FI connection to do so.
It is located in the middle of a neighborhood, surrounded by apartment buildings (with balconies overlooking!), but it was ethereally quiet as we walked the rows of graves.
That was the last of our planned itinerary, but we wanted to keep exploring as we headed back to the hotel. The map (back on the main side) showed a large park a few blocks east, so we meandered in that direction. When we got there we saw that it was
Rosenborg Castle Gardens (also known as The King's Garden), the oldest and most visited park in central Copenhagen. It was established in the early 17th century as the private gardens of King Christian IV's Rosenborg Castle. It featured many flower beds and well manicured bushes and trees.
As we had been walking for several hours, we decided to take a break for some beverages. There was a nice cafe with covered outdoor seating. Just as we sat down, another thunderstorm broke out! It poured pretty hard for about 10 minutes. As we were finishing, the rain stopped and the sun came out again. Couldn't have timed it better!!!!
From the park map signpost, we also saw that this is where the statue of Hans Christian Andersen was located. At last!!!!
Doesn't look like Danny Kaye at all!
We resumed our meander heading in the general direction of the hotel. And we came to a street that was blocked from traffic......saw several policemen carrying automatic weapons...um...maybe we should turn around? What's going on? Then we noticed we were standing right in front of the The Great Synagogue of Copenhagen. Note: we had tried to book a Jewish tour in Copenhagen while still in the States but for several reasons (including that our free time was on Shabbat) it did not materialize. Certainly the cemetery and this synagogue would have been included (and the Jewish Museum is not re-opening until mid-July). The building is almost 200 years old. Not sure if such police presence is always there, or if it was because there was a special festival going on in the rear courtyard. Anyway, after having our bags x-rayed, we were able to go inside.
We read online that there are some interesting Egyptian touches (such as the outside of the building) here--unlike other European synagogues.
And we saw this laminated card which contains bat mitzvah prayers in Hebrew and Danish. Quite a find!
We meandered outside for the festival with lots of food and noticed a Holocaust Memorial (partially blocked by a mini trampoline for the kids (but isn't that such a metaphor for Jewish history--tragedy and joy in such close proximity)?
Once again...heading back...and spotted this sign:
Wendy was tempted...but we carried on together.
Finally got back around 3:30, and rested for an hour or so before heading out to the final Copenhagen stop: the famed Tivoli Gardens. First opened in 1843, it is the third oldest amusement park in the world. It takes up one large city block, and totally brought Wayne back to the late 60s and Riverview Park in Chicago. It had the same feeling, and many of the same rides and side attractions (knock down the milk bottles, shoot the moving ducks...WIN A PRIZE!). It also has lots of restaurants and different kinds of shops. A lot is squeezed into a small space. Wendy, not knowing Riverview, found it charming and endearing.
We were greeted by this parade of high school and middle school students (reminding us of Emily's Marching Band experience at Disney World back in the day).
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Of course, there was a donut stand!!!! Another first: 3 mini donuts on a stick.
Who could resist????
And...a silly picture kiosk! We love to do these. So why not be the Royal family!
Wendy went on not one, but two different merry-go-rounds!
(someone had to stay on terra firma to take the photos!).
It also happened to be "Gospel Music Weekend" (who knew?), so we saw and heard two different choirs perform. Some of the songs were in Danish, but most were in English. And these groups had a lot of soul! Really excellent.
By now it was time for dinner (two days in a row with no lunch must be a record for us). We ate in the park at The Peacock restaurant. While we were eating, a real peahen walked by outside!
Wayne started with stegt kammuslinger (pan fried scallops with cauliflower and mussel sauce). Yummmo.
Wendy had Hvide asparges (white asparagus with peeled shrimps and sauce museline). Yummmo2.
Next up for Wendy was Bagt helleflynder (easy to understand as baked halibut, with green and white asparagus, saffron potatoes, and halibut bisque). She thought the fish was too well done for her taste, but Wayne loved it.
Wayne again opted for Roastbeef (yes..Danish!) med pickles og ppeberrod (roast beef with pickles and horseradish smorrebord).
It was a heaping plateful and though good, not as tasty as the one earlier in the week.
But we still enjoyed the meal.
We saved room for dessert because we had passed by Cakenhagen earlier (as the name implies, beautiful little slices of different pastries), but when we went there it was closed!!! It was about 7:30, and though the park was still open, we realized it was pretty empty and that most of the rides were shut down. Not sure why (maybe Sunday?) with several hours of sunlight left.
So once again Wendy opted for a soft serve. She got a small "scoop" in a cone with sprinkles. OMG! What they gave her was bigger than her head!!!! She vows to begin her juice fast as soon as the vacation is over.
Sure got her money's worth.
Speaking of money, we were told before we left home that it was not necessary to bring any kind of krones with us (previously, we always brought local currency). And after a week in these two countries we know why: no one uses cash!!! We have not seen any bills or coins since we came. Everything is done via credit card. Buy an ice cream cone for $1...give them your credit card...no problem.
So now it is late Sunday night. The rest of the group has gone on to Norway, but we stayed behind. Unfortunately, we must cut our trip short, so this is the last posting. Wayne has occasional spells of vertigo which make it difficult for him to function for several hours. He had one of these a few days ago. We reassessed the Norway part of the trip (taking into account information we had not received until arrival in Europe) and decided that it would be too risky for him and a possible drag on the group to continue. So we are heading home tomorrow. We are both disappointed, but it is the right thing to do. We apologize that you will not get to read or experience that part of the itinerary. Wendy may decide to do it again at some point, so stay tuned for her posts if she does.
With that, it's been great having you along. Your reactions to our posts mean so much to us and we hope you have enjoyed Stockholm and Copenhagen as much as we have. Portugal is on the horizon for next summer and who knows what might come up before then.
In the meantime, stay safe and take care.
Love,
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