Category: Denmark

Magical Tivoli Gardens

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Have you been to the Tivoli Gardens? I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you haven’t, but I”m sure you’ve imagined or dreamed about it.

Think about Disney World (or Land if you’re a West Coaster) and take away everything commercial, remove all the characters and marketing pieces. Also take out all of the gift shops and expensive food spots. Take away the heat as well.

Replace it with things only a child could dream up on their own. Include rides with names like “The Dragon,” “Star Flyer,” and “The Panda.” Add in shops and little restaurants. And a beer garden, of course.

Then, I think you’d have an idea about Tivoli Gardens.

After Jana’s wedding festivities concluded, we still had a final day left of vacation to spend in Copenhagen. We were pretty tired, spent nearly all of our vacation money, and just wanted some time for the two of us after a very involved few days with the wedding party.

We hadn’t even planned on this (look at us being spontaneous!) but after a brief half-hearted discussion that went something like:

“What are we going to do in an amusement park?”
“I don’t know, walk around and see it?”
“I don’t like rides”
“I’d rather wander aimlessly in here than in the city”
“Fine, we’ll go in.”

We went. And love it. There’s not much more to say, you just have to see it to believe how adorable it was.

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Okay, honestly, I did’t take many photos while in Tivoli. We spent the entire day eating ice cream (that’s a toppings bar, you can literally just stand there re-sprinkling your cone as you eat it #heaven) and then did lunch in a beer garden. Did you expect anything different?

Unfortunately, we have no plans to be in Copenhagen in 2016. But 2017 is getting pretty close…

Another Year, Another Stop in Copenhagen

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So, let’s start from where we left off in 2015: Leaving Paris, heading for sunny Copenhagen…

My oldest, most exotic, smartest and most favorite friend was getting married. No adjectives are enough to describe this lady! And, the man she was marrying is, most definitely, the coolest (he’s a creative musical genius AND a librarian), so if I was happier for her I likely could have exploded.

We stayed in an AirBNB near KØDBYEN – which was a perfect location, and a beautiful apartment for our five-day trip. The apartment was just a quick walk from the central station as well as many bus stops. You can’t tell from the photo below, but this place was the epitome of Danish design style; very natural, minimal and modern, and cosy.

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Oh, and it was close to the one and only thing Kyle wanted to do: visit Warpigs Brewpub, a new collaboration brewpub from 3Floyds and Mikkeller that had just opened right before we arrived. It was right around the corner from the Mikkeller bar.  #TOTALLYROCKINGUNTAPPED

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Upon arrival to our Copenhagen apartment, I had approximately 1 hour to settle in, freshen up and get myself to Jana’s bachelorette party. That I planned (with loads of help, thank God). Jana is very creative so we had kicked it off with a glass blowing class – we all sipped bubbly while Jana worked on a matching set of glasses.

Due to plenty of help from the other ladies, we had our own party room at a taco bar. Thank goodness we had our own room since things got a little crazy (piñata crazy)! I can only share a final shot of the bride in her Carmen San Diego hat – a hint into the party theme.

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Commanding the Copenhagen Canals

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It has been about 2 full weeks since we have returned from our trip and I think we might finally be recovered. I would love to blame the amount of walking we did (a lot) but I really think it was the crazy-delicious food. They say Americans eat a lot – but, I’d bet the Danes eat more.

On day 2 in Denmark we continued touring around, with the “high point” being a canal boat tour around town. In DC the boat tours really don’t see much (#truth) so when J&C were pushing it in Copenhagen we were a little skeptical. I stand corrected, because there were few sites not accessible by boat in this town.

Here I am before we took off:

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This is the new opera house: DSC_2216

This is an important office building:

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If you look closely you’ll se our old friend David – this statue is literally following us!

DSC_2222You can barely see our fearless guide at the front of this boat. This lady gave the tour in Danish, German, and English all at once – quite impressive. 
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These are the royal homes and the cathedral, which we’ll visit later in the day…DSC_2259 DSC_2263Hey we were just at this church yesterday! 
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The fearless crew:
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Ok, time for a post-tour photoshoot: DSC_2360* DSC_2363 DSC_2366* DSC_2368

We decided to go back to the royal residences for some closeup shots. See below the guards marching around: DSC_2377 DSC_2379

It seemed a bit illegal to get into these guard-shacks (see: guards marching in above photos) but that didn’t stop a couple of us from testing them out ourselves:DSC_2387DSC_2386*

DSC_2388After that we made a run for it into a museum. But first, check out these lovebirds (for once, it’s not AZ&KZ):

DSC_2393Alright these next few photos are from from Denmark Design Museum which was pretty interesting if you’re ever in Copenhagen. It not only chronicles the  history of Danish home furnishings design, but it also is a torcher museum for people who like testing out chairs. There were so many chairs, and you were NOT allowed to sit in them.  At first, I was saying “ok, this is fine, it’s a museum not for touching things,” but by the end of it I was nearly in tears wishing I could test some of them out for myself. What is form without function? Really.

DSC_2394 DSC_2395 DSC_2396The guys, checking out the wood options for cabinet building: 
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Next stop on this trip: BERLIN!