5th July – The Little Mermaid, and the side trip to Malmö
After breakfast we headed to Amalienborgslot. We were told the Guard Change takes place every hour but I had my doubts about that, so while we did see a small change of guard around 10 am, it wasn’t the main change, that one takes place at noon. So a tad disappointed we headed to the Marble Church (Frederiks Kirke), which is a quite impressive church, but sadly was in works when we visited :( So we couldn’t visit the top floor. Being still too early to go into Amalienborgmuseet (opens at 11am, like most museums here), we decided to walk up to the Kastellet (Citadel). We walked through Churchill’s park, and then came across St. Alban’s, the only Anglican church in Denmark and a beautiful one – the stained glass windows are worth a visit! Our last stop in the Kastellet was The Little Mermaid (Den lille havfrue) to take the mandatory touristy picture. You know, because you can’t go to CPH and not visit the little mermaid.
We then walked back to Amalienborg following a different route and went inside to see the Royal Chambers and an exhibition on Royal Gala. Apparently there is no etiquette on what to wear when invited to a Royal event in Denmark, but it is traditional to wear a long dress (women) and uniform (men). Here we came across something for the first time and that will repeat itself at other Slots (palaces) – the photography fee. Most places will allow you to take photos, for the low price of 20-25 DKK (2,7 – 3,4 €). That after an entry ticket of at least three times that price (or the Copenhagen card). So we skipped the taking pictures and just went in to enjoy the visit. We got out of the palace a couple of minutes before noon, right on time to see The Manor Watch (since no member of the Royal Family was in residence, we got to see the short version of the Change of Guards, with no music).
We then took the bus back to the center, but decided to get off early and stop at Magasin du Nord, a department store next to Kongens Nytorv metro station. We chose one of the two Joe & the Juice (warning music playing site) located inside for lunch: a milkshake and a grilled sandwich. After lunch we took a bus to go to Malmö with a bunch of friends. We got there crossing the Øresund Bridge. There are some amazing views, like a windmill park on the sea (link to picture from my phone). Once in Malmö, we walked about a bit, all the time trying not to eat the tiny flies that swarm around the city and feeling yucky with the high humidity. We visited S:t Petri Kyrka and we did a little indulgence shopping across the church, in a store called Cacaofonie, that sells pralinés, cake & coffee. We got a couple pralinés and a piece of cake with candied fruit & angelica, and chocolate pieces. That cake was delicious! Around 9pm we went to an Italian restaurant to share some pizza since we’re a bit hungry and it was still a while until we would get back to CPH. Another hour in a bus and a 15 mins walk and we were back in our hotel ready to crash.
Read part 1 & part 2 if you missed. You can also see all the pictures here.