This shouldn’t be a big surprise for most of you. After spending Christmas with my boyfriend in León, and New Year’s with him in Palencia, I set off on a short solo trip to Copenhagen, Denmark. I just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t go somewhere new during the winter vacation.
Denmark was good to me. I say that not just because I enjoyed myself (I almost always do while traveling), but also because I saw everything I wanted to see and more. The first day I spent in the city, seeing museums and castles and palaces, aka the European city thing. Below are pictures of Rosenberg Castle, the national portrait gallery (Statens Museum), Amalienborg Palace, and Nyhavn, all things I managed to see in the first day.
For the other two days, I had a couple different things planned but was not sure how long it would take to do them. Turns out, with Denmark’s public transportation system (the best in Europe!) (not to mention the bicycles!), the answer was much less time than I had originally planned.
First, I set off to see Frederiksborg Castle in the small city of HIllerød. It was very impressive, with Baroque gardens behind it, and surrounded by water. Although it was freezing, it was still enjoyable to walk through the gardens while waiting for the castle to open.
Next, with more than enough time to spare, I went straight to another small town called Rungsted, to see the estate-turned-museum of Karen Blixen (read my previous post!), one of Denmark’s most famous authors.
On my last full day, I traveled to the medium-sized city of Helsingor to visit yet another castle, called Kronborg Castle. While Frederiksborg Castle featured a museum of the history of the castle, Kronborg Castle was preserved as a castle, and featured a tower, barracks, and even underground passages that were super creepy. And you could see Sweden in the distance!
When I arrived back to Copenhagen it was still relatively early, so I went to a museum called the Ny Carlsberg Glypoteck, which had the biggest collection of French Impressionism in Denmark, so lots of Monet, Manet, Degas, Gaugin, etc. I also went to my first sculpture museum, which featured the works of sculptor Thorsvaldsens, who redesigned the Christianborg Palace (the royal family’s historical residence) after it burned down in the 1800s.
The only surprising thing–which really wasn’t that surprising, because I did my research; more like jarring–was that the sun sets at 3:30 p.m. in the wintertime in Denmark! So it seemed as if it were 10 p.m., when really it was only 7 p.m.
Every time I go somewhere new, I learn so much about not only the place, but about me, too. Travel is the only thing that makes you richer; I truly believe that, I and will never stop. I hope you won’t either. 😉