Copenhagen and Roskilde

Rain, rain and more rain. Out comes the wet weather gear again. Bacon and pancakes for breakfast and I make a couple of sandwiches to take with us. We walk up to the railway station and hop on a train. It’s only thirty minutes before we arrive at Copenhagen North station.

It’s still raining so we head off to the tourist info office to get a cuppa and make a plan with a free map and our trusty Scandinavia Lonely Planet guide. Share a rhubarb pastry too.

22000 steps later we’ve walked and walked around the highlights. We pass the Tivoli gardens, wander through an amazing plaza Rådhusplasden aka City Hall square and then through Kongens Have, the oldest park in Copenhagen that used to be a royal vegetable garden and is now a lovely city park. Manage to eat half our butties here in the sunshine.

Onto Rosenborg Slot a castle with a moat that houses the Crown Jewels which we don’t see. There’s some rather large fish in the moat.

We continue wandering towards the harbour via The Kasselet the remains of a star shaped 17th century fortress which we walk around until we eventually reach the Little Mermaid. Had to be done but we don’t really get it. It was rammed with coach loads of people.

The Gefion fountain is next then onto Amalienborg where four identical royal palaces line a square with soldiers guarding them wearing bearskins.

Lively and colourful Nyhavn is next, a waterfront district lined with 17th and 18th century buildings fronted with bars and restaurants. We find ourselves a prime spot in a seafood restaurant and enjoy a rather gorgeous late lunch.

Our final spot is the Black Diamond a jewel of a building that is an extension to the Royal Danish Library. We take the escalator up to enjoy amazing views of the waterfront from the atrium. We also manage a sneaky peak into the original reading rooms which are lovely but not quite as lovely as the Picton Room in the Liverpool’s Central Library.

A tired march back to the station now and the train back to Roskilde. A beer in our favourite bar Cafe Vivaldi and back to the van where we get a second wind and wander around the harbour for a sneaky view of the Viking museums longboats now closed.