Literally John and I walked out of our hotel to me exclaiming, “what an awesome day”. But less than 5 minutes after we’d gotten on our “steeds” the skies opened up! Luckily we were able stop under a bridge – as any creepy tourist would do – to wait out the rain on our way to meet Gaby for breakfast.
We showed up just slightly damp at Grod, a breakfast and lunch restaurant that I’d read great things about. Apparently porridge is a traditional breakfast staple in Copenhagen and this restaurant caters to that need. Termed a porridge and risotto restaurant, patrons can order their signature porridge, overnight oats or a variety of other healthy options. All of us ordered one of their “favorite” items – overnight oats for John, porridge for me and a chia bowl for Gaby. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t take a photo because they were unique and served to warm me up on a yucky weather morning.
We honestly didn’t have a lot planned but made our way back to the shopping street of Stroget. We decided to head up the church of the Round Tower to see a 360-degree view of the city from above. Rundetaarn (in Danish) is a 17th century tower that was built as an observatory. The tower features a spiral ramp taking you from the church on the main level to the library, exhibit and concert spaces and finally the platform at the top of the building. The view from the top is incredible. There were signs every quarter of the way around pointing out the structures visible in the distance. Unfortunately those were not translated into English but we were able to make out quite a few famous buildings.
On exiting the church we happened upon a local artist selling his paintings and mixed media art depicting Copenhagen. He was one of the first friendly Danish people we’d met and I loved his work! This will be one of our mementos of the trip and I’ll have fond memories looking back on this piece.
We headed next to the Norrebro neighborhood of Copenhagen and one of it’s famous shopping streets Jægersborggade. This is a trendy and hip neighborhood that used to be filled with drugs and crime but now is home to local art, boutiques and restaruants. It was very cute! It seemed as if a lot of locals live there – lots of moms and kids, prams and young men in football jerseys. We stopped for lunch and did some window shopping.
Back towards the city center of Copenhagen to Christiansborg Palace. Christiansborg Palace is a former royal palace and government building where tourists can see how royalty lives. The palace is still used for royal functions and the rooms are over the top ostentatious and also beautiful and oh so rich. It was fun to walk where royalty has walked and read about the stunning artwork and décor in the place.
Another brief downpour during which we hid within the palace walls and then we went to take care of our sweet teeth – yes, again. I wanted to try a local gourmet cookie shop called Leckerbaer but, alas, it was closed. So we settled on a shop called Munchies. Located right outside Freetown Christiana, one had to wonder if that’s where they came up with the name.
For what was supposed to be a more relaxing day, we were whipped. Gaby went for dinner with friends, John and I went for a quick rest and then he and I were back on the bikes for a trip to another famous food hall called Reffen.
Reffen is decidedly different from the Torvehallerne food hall that we visited a couple of days ago. That was filled with luxury foods and goods and this was international STREET FOOD. It is all outdoors and termed an urban playground for adults and kids alike. It was quite out of the way in the Refshaleøen neighborhood of Copenhagen. Honestly it didn’t seem like we had a destination in mind on our way but we did finally arrive to what looked like docks and a couple of warehouses right on the canal. We didn’t even see a lot of people, let alone food. But just keep walking. Very industrial and COOL. Lots of lights strung from poles to create an eclectic and fun vibe.
There were food stalls every which way – and bars of course. The food was so interesting – everything from Vegan to Greek to Afghan to Kurdish to Italian and American. The smells were incredible and you really want to try a little bit of every darned thing. We – finally – settled on the Kurdish stall called Gosht and ordered a Chicken Shish. Very similar to a Greek gyro but with amazing spices and tomatoes and served on naan. Oh So Good!
This place has such a great vibe – they also do events in the summer and will be doing live jazz next Thursday when we return to the city. Perhaps needless to say, we will be there!
Drinks and plans at our hotel restaurant ended another wonderful day in Copenhagen. Off to Odense, Denmark tomorrow!