To round out our trio of the Scandinavian countries, we caught an 8 AM train this morning to head to Copenhagen, Denmark. It took a total of 5 hours, so we didn’t arrive until around 1:30 PM. After throwing our luggage in lockers at Central Station (since we could not check-in to our B&B yet), we grabbed a quick bite before heading out to catch a free walking tour.
Our tour guide, Benjamin actually turned out to be Canadian! He had been living in Denmark for 6 years since his partner was Danish. It was easy to see that he loved the city by his energy and enthusiasm, and he certainly had some interesting stories to share with us.
We assembled outside of the City Hall. If you look carefully, just to the right of the Scandic sign, you see two lure blowers. Legend has it that if a young virgin walks by you will hear their trumpets sound. Benjamin then interceded to say, with humor, that to-this-day the horns have yet to be heard, after all, Denmark is a very progressive country.
Just a short distance away was the Tivoli Gardens, the second oldest amusement park in the world. If you read Tivoli backwards, it reads “I love it.” The park is also home to a more than 100-year-old wooden roller coaster that dates from 1914. It is so popular that presidents, royalty, and even pop icons have a fondness for the ride. The coaster is also one of only seven that still requires a driver, called the brake man, on board. Obviously Tom was enthralled by this and now wants to returned to Copenhagen just to spend a day in Tivoli. I, on the other hand, am less than thrilled that I maybe dragged on another coaster against my will.
We learned about the history behind the Carlsberg Beer, how Prince Fred met Mary, and even some interesting laws concerning equestrian statues. Apparently if both the horse’s hooves are on the ground, the rider died peacefully, if one hoof is in the air, the rider died from wounds sustained in battle, and if both the horse’s hooves are in the air, the rider died during battle.
After our long day, Tom and I were exhausted. So we picked up our luggage, checked into our B&B for the night, and grabbed pizza nearby before settling in for a quiet night of “How I Met Your Mother.”
CestLaJu 