Copenhagen (with a side trip to Malmö) – Part 5 of 7

7th July – Do it for free

We decided not to sleep in too much, even though the breakfast buffet was open half an hour later than on weekdays (!) so we could use our Copenhagen card to use the bus to get to the Botanical Gardens (sorry, can’t get the official link to load, so I give you the tourist version), otherwise it would have been quite a walk from the hotel – about 3km. We walked around the Gardens for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet, and not enjoying the rain, so we didn’t really see it all since about half of the paths were slightly muddy (the other half have gravel and it’s much nicer). On our way to the center we stopped once more at Baresso (yep, we are coffee addicts, and proud to be) to rest our feet for a bit.

Our next stop was the Nationalmuseet, a place where I could probably spend a full day (but Jan would get bored). We saw part of the ground floor, that hosts an exhibition about Danish Prehistory (13000 BC – 1050 AD):

Experience 14.000 years of Danish prehistory, from the reindeer-hunters of the Ice Age over the Bronze Age and Iron Age to the voyages of the Vikings.

One very cool thing about this exhibition in my opinion are the tidbits (in Danish and English) with folklore and rather silly stories about what is on display. For instance, above the skeleton of a woman, it read something along the lines of (paraphrasing here):

The woman known as William, who managed to live hirs (sic) life as a man and is a perfect example of transexual behavior of the era. William had a wife and two female slaves to satisfy hirs sexual appetites, and got hirs wife’s children (biological father unknown) recognized as hirs own. The richness of the tomb shows how profitable it was to live as a man.

For lunch we walked into the Strøget (one of the pedestrian shopping streets) to find something. We decided upon Lagkagehuset, a bakery that sells sandwiches and coffee besides breads, pastries & cakes. Afterwards we walk again to Magasin du Nord, this time to actually explore the store inside. Everything is incredibly expensive, even more than what we had thought seeing the prices of restaurants and knowing that sales tax is 25%.  Let’s say that their Sales prices are what I’d pay full price in most cases. We also bumped into the Lego store – all you want in Lego in one place. We contained ourselves and just took a picture.

Lego Guard

After indulging in the above mentioned window shopping, we walked to Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady), Copenhagen’s Cathedral. We had passed by here already before visiting the Nationalmuseet but there was an organ concert planned for noon, and so it was closed to visitors. We hoped for the best that it’d be open now a couple of hours later. I would say it is small for a cathedral, but it is a nice church, that impresses but does not impose. The interior is decorated with sculptures of the twelve apostles amongst other things.

Copenhagen's Cathedral

Bishop Absalon

Another stop at Baresso to rest the feet and refuel with a cup of coffee followed the visit to the cathedral. Afterwards we walked around Højbro Plads and nearby streets, to sit later at the Stork Fountain to listen to the Jazz band that was playing on a stage in Højbro Plads. Around 8pm we were hungry, so we went to the closest RizRaz (Sticks `n` Veggies) for dinner. RizRaz is a restaurant that serves a vegetarian buffet to which you can add meaty dishes a la carte if you want. Lots of options for a satisfying veggie dinner. After eating we decide that the day has been long enough and go back to our hotel to rest.

Read part 1, part 2, part 3 & part 4. See all the pictures here.

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