Our last full day was going to be another exciting day of sites and sounds. We had a few sites still to visit - not least among them would be the world famous Tivoli Gardens. But first we had to get our priority straight.
We went to the bakery again to sample yet another Danish Pastry. This time Kanelstang Stykke. Again it was outstanding. I could make a habit of this. Thank goodness I don't live here. . .
From the bakery, we walked to the botanical gardens. This was another community improvement project that was paid for by Carlsberg Brewery. It is a beautiful park complete with a lake.
In the heart of the park is a classic Victorian Era Greenhouse. It was renovated in the 1980's, and looks wonderful. It reminded me a lot of the Bio Dome I visited with my parents outside of Tucson, but on a much, much smaller scale.
It houses a remarkable collection of plants from all different climates. I can only imagine how difficult it is to take care of all of these different plants during the cold Danish winters.
In one section of the greenhouse, some plants were even sited as having come from California. It was warm and dry, and made me feel right at home. I suppose just like the plants the room held. For transplants, I guess we were both doing well in Europe.
The greenhouse even had some flesh eating plants from the Amazon. I'd read about one of these exact plants recently when it ate a bird. The bird had slipped and fallen headfirst into its flower, couldn't crawl out, and died. The plant was slowly digesting the bird, but unfortuately, the bird was starting to rot, and the bacteria that were also eating the bird would ultimately kill the plant too. So in some way, the bird would have its revenge on the plant. Such drama in nature.
From the biological gardens, we walked across town, across a bridge to the neighboring island of Chistianshavn. There we went to the beautiful Vor Frelser Kirche (Our Saviors Church). It's most unique feature is its spiral steeple with an exterior stairway ascending to the top. At one point, this had been the tallest building in town.
It is definitely the most beautiful church we saw while we were in Copenhagen. Interestingly, we didn't see much stained glass in any of the churches here. Only clear. There was a really cute baptismal fount surrounded by frolicking creepy rococo babies.
Dominating the interior was the most amazing pipe organ. It is huge, and artfully constructed to appear to rest on the backs to two elephants. I guessing these are symbols of not only purity and loyalty, but also the royal family. I bet it is amazing to hear it play.
There are some wonderful sculptures of different angels lining the alter in the front of the church. Especially good was the statue of Michael blowing his trumpet. I would love to come to a service here, except, I'm willing to bet it is all in Danish.
Tony and I accended the tower to the top. It is a wood structure, and gets crowed with tourists. Tony got nervous when we emerged to the exterior spiral path leading up to the top, so I had to go on by myself.
It was a bit disconcerting, but I just kept telling myself to go on and enjoy the amazing views of Copenhagen.
There was only one thing to do after expending all that energy climbing that tower - have a coffee and a Danish pastry. This time, we tried a cake - Drommekage fra Brovst (Danish Dream Cake). It is a yellow cake with a caramel coconut topping. Was it ever good! I'm going to be scouring the internet looking for recipes when I get home.
We were only 2 blocks from the famous squatters town, Christiana, so we decided to take a walk on the wild side and go see it. It was a part of a military base until it was closed. After that, squatters moved in, and have stayed there some 10 years now. It is its own town with its own laws, and it is known for its free attitude towards art and hash.
Tony and I walked through as much of it as we could even into the "green area" where photos were not permitted. It reminded me a bit of Venice Beach. It was strange to see hash and marijuana sold so openly.
We walked back toward Copenhagen, and it was a stunningly beautiful and clear day. The view was amazing.
They had all of these painted elephants around town that were going to be auctioned off for a fundraiser. Tony found an elephant he wanted to adopt.
I did too.
That afternoon, we walked over to Tivoli Gardens. One of the oldest and most famous theme parks in the world. It was an inspiration to Walt Disney when he created Disneyland, and you can definitely see it in the park.
It is just across the street form City Hall, which put it only a couple blocks from our hotel. It was very convenient for us to go over there to enjoy an afternoon and evening, and the size of the park makes it very doable in that amount of time.
It was surprisingly not crowded, and as soon as the sun went down, it emptied out leaving us the park to ourselves pretty much.
They have a few rides, but as the space is fairly tight, there aren't that many. The park is definitely aimed at being a family park with a little bit for everyone. If you want a lot of thrill rides, I gather that there is another park a little further outside of town.
Mostly, the park is a place for people to wander around and enjoy on a sunny day. There are tons of places to get ice cream and candy. They have a midway with games. It is a very quaint park, that I imagine is really busy over the summer.
Alcohol is freely served in the park harkening back to its, I suspect, Oktoberfest roots. The park has its own Microbrewery, and after taking a few rides and needing a break, we sat down next to a lake and had a pint.
Here's something you won't see in Disneyland, two people having pints of beer made in the brewery right in the park.
With all of our running around, it was nice to stop and enjoy a beer lakeside. I guess this is what Tivoli Gardens, or any urban garden is really about - stopping to enjoy a moment.
Tivoli is beautiful at night when it all lights up. Tony and I wandered around the quickly emptying park and enjoyed the lights.
One thing I wasn't expecting was the large number of quality dining options. We looked around at the different restaurants represented in the park and saw some that are the same as the restaurants that had been recommended around town.
We went to Madklubben, a restaurant that we'd been wanting to go to, but didn't have time, so we finally got to eat there in Tivoli. They serve traditional Danish food. They describe it as food your grandmother would have made. I had a chicken that was delicious comfort food. I guess it is not uncommon to go to Tivoli on a Friday night to enjoy an evening in the park and have a nice meal.
Our timing was good, because no sooner had we gotten in the restaurant, then the rain came pouring down. We took the rain as a sign that it was time to start to wind down our day. On our way out of the park, we saw a statue honoring the founder of Tivoli. He had a great idea and it changed the way the world thinks about urban parks. Now time for bed. It's been a busy, busy day.
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