The last two days have been filled with non-stop exploring Copenhagen (or as M was saying "Chicken Eggen in the Europe").
The city is located on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand in Denmark surrounded by the North Sea in the north and the Baltic Sea in the south. Copenhagen is an extremely flat city and very walkable (and stroller friendly!). Though cars aren't banned in the city center most people use bikes as their primary form of transportation. There are apparently two bikes for every person who resides in Copenhagen.
The commitment to sustainability and being environmentally friendly is notable in every aspect of city life here from the ample green spaces, to the prioritization of bike lanes, to the easily accessible public transportation. The local government has a goal of making Copenhagen completely carbon neutral by 2025, which would make it the first carbon-neutral capital city in the world.
Copenhagen isn't a beautiful city but it is accessible, safe and friendly-enough. Josh and I both agreed that this was an unexpectedly great choice for a first Europe trip for my parents. We have definitely done significantly less sightseeing than we have on previous trips - primarily due to having a baby and my parents in tow. But, the slower pace has allowed us to enjoy things we don't usually take time for - checking out playgrounds, spalshing in fountains and lots and lots of snack breaks.
Over the last two days we've explored the historic city center seeing the Parliament and Supreme Court buildings. We also visited the famous little mermaid statue and the modern, architecturally stunning Opera House, which featured a seaside valet for those arriving via personal watercraft.
Yesterday, we made a failed attempt at visiting Freetown Christiania (the anachist society established in the 1970s inside a former army barracks on the east side of the city). Until recently, this was more of a peaceful, self-sufficient hippieish community with its own school and shops and a history of turning a blind eye to "soft" drug use by locals. But, in recent years local gangs have established a place in the community and some of the original values of peace and love seemed to have shifted. The week before we arrived there was a shooting in Christiania that resulted in one death and several injuries (not big news in the US - but here, where gun violence is much less common - it was big news). Despite best efforts of residents to keep hard drugs off the streets, there does seem to be an on gong issue.
I was excited about the idea of checking out this counter-culture haven just to see what it's like for people who live on the outskirts of societal norms. Unfortunately, there was immediately very open drug use and several sketchy characters loitering inside the community gates. So, we decided it was probably not the best place the bring the kid (or the parents, either - haha). Perhaps the hippies and the peace-and-love folks were making flower crowns and dancing a little further down the street, but we'll have to find that out another time when M isn't with us.
Today, we made better choices and spent the morning visiting the Copenhagen Zoo which had a excellent kangaroo exhibit that allowed you to walk a short trail through their habitat for up-close observation (we even saw a joey in a pouch!). The zoo also featured two giant pandas named Xing Er and Mao Sun who (very, very, sadly) were not out while we were visiting.
We had a great lunch at a small Danish resturant where we were graciously assisted by the staff as we navigated the menu. My mom, who is an extremely picky eater, struggled a little, but the rest of us had a great meal. Josh got wiener schnitzel and my brother and I both had roast pork with cracklings (which our waiter said is a common Christmas dinner there). Side dishes of cabbage and boiled potatoes were served family style along with cucumbers and pickled herring served with capers and fresh horseradish. The pickled herring was surprisingly good and had sweet, cranberryish flavor. Our server was just as surprised as we were to learn that M loved the herring and devoured nearly the whole serving.
After lunch we visited Fredericksborg Palace and Rosenborg Castle. Fredericksborg Palace was built in the 1700s and known as "Denmark's Versailles." The palace is still regularly used by the current royal family and not open to the public outside guided tours. We did get to explore the palace gardens which are a world renowned example of French-style gardens.
Rosenborg Castle and its surrounding gardens (which offered a stunning example of English-style gardening) is located in the city-center. The castle was originally built in the 1600s as a summerhouse for the royal family. The castle has housed the Danish Crown Jewels for over 400 years in the royal treasury, which we were able to visit. We also saw the great hall and King Christian IV's bed chamber.
We are always on the lookout for the most unique thing inside old castles and manors when we visit. The most interesting finds here were the toilet located in a beautiful delft-tiled room. As with other castles we've visited, the super advanced for its time bathroom featured an indoor outhouse setup which released waste directly into the moat below.
The other interesting find was the wine room in the basement containing wine barrels and bottles belonging to the royal family. The barrels once contained a white Rhenish wine from 1590s known as "Rosenborg Wine." The wine is still served annually at the royal family's New Years Banqet and a few other special occasions. It is said to taste like a dry sherry - but we were unable to confirm this for ourselves.
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