My now yearly ritual of getting away during the winter has brought me to Denmark this January! Palaces, castles, fairy tales, and history were on my agenda for this four day weekend trip!
This was my first flight on Lufthansa Airlines. The “western vegetarian” meal is actually their vegan offering. My dinner on board was a vegetable dish of greens, a chopped zucchini, peppers, and onions in a tomato sauce with a side of rice and a potato salad with corn. The dessert was a fruit salad. The quality and taste of the food was satisfactory.
I brought several snacks from home to keep in my carry on and handbag. A chocolate Pure bar, as well as mints and vegan gum would keep my taste buds and tummy happy between meals.
For health precautions, I also brought along some probiotics and Zand vegan throat lozenges, in case of scratchy throats or colds in this winter climate. Vegan “Toothy Tabs” in place of toothpaste and some vegan dental floss rounded out the travel items in my handbag.
Fresh fruit salad and a wheat roll with jam was the airline’s breakfast option for me.
When I arrived in Copenhagen. I stumbled upon this magnificent old church in the square, on route to my hostel.
The gold-trimmed fountain with the surrounding lovely architecture was a pleasant sight to welcome me into the square where my hostel accommodations would be in Copenhagen.
As I walked down the cobblestoned paths to my accommodations, I was drawn to the vibrant colors of the buildings along the side streets.
Upon arrival at the hostel, I quickly checked in and dropped off my belongings and set out to do some sightseeing for the remainder of the day! My first stop was Copenhagen’s Christianborg Palace. This is a MUST DO on any tourist’s itinerary!
Statues representing various poses and expressions greeted the tour group in the palace lobby.
We began our ascent on the magnificent staircase to the upper level of palace rooms.
The tour guide showed us the set of chairs where the king and queen sit and welcome their dignitary guests.The queen’s chair is purposely taller.
Each elegant room was decorated in a different color scheme such as pinks or blues.
Many of the rooms contained gold-rimmed items or exquisite marble.
The Grand Hall room was commissioned with many tapestries as wall coverings. They each depicted a story from a time span during the past 1,000 years of the country’s royal history.
Even the library has a elegance and distinguished look about it.
After spending a couple of hours touring each of the glorious rooms and their treasured contents, it was time to move on to another sight. As I left, I glanced upon the back of the palace in awe of it’s enormousness.
The canals outside of the palace focused my attention again to the architecture and color scheme of the surrounding buildings.
The next stop on my itinerary was the Glyptotek Art Museum. This museum is known for being one of the finest collections of paintings and art in all of Denmark. I viewed the artwork of Danish artists and also had some time to see the French art and sculpture exhibits. The garden courtyard with its’ sculptures are a popular tourist attraction.
The Stroget is the first pedestrian shopping mall in Europe. This massive street consists of clothing stores, gift shops, restaurants, and music venues.
I just had to stop into the lego store on the Stroget to see the lifesize lego characters!
Along my walk, I stumbled upon a hot dog stand called DOP(intersection of Købmagergade on Stroget) which also serves vegan sausage with mashed roots(potatoes). This was my afternoon snack. It was quite delish!
A musician played some jazz pieces on his sax.
After touring, strolling, and shopping for a while, it was time for a late lunch. 42 Raw(42 Raw Restaurant) is an all vegan, raw food restaurant in Copenhagen.
They have a display case full of vegan treats such as various brownie flavors and energy balls.
I opted for the raw fig energy ball as my dessert.
My main meal selection was the raw Thai noodles with curry and mango. It was fabulous!
They even had some vegan muffins that would be great to bring back to hotels for a quick breakfast the following day.
My beverage was a raw fruit juice.
It was time to walk around the city center some more and visit a variety of shops on the Stroget. Popular souvenirs in Denmark include local amber jewelry, paper cut scenes, H.C. Andersen statues, and anything castle or palace related(eg. crown jewels magnets). Of course, I purchased all of these.
I headed next to the Radhus:Copenhagen’s City Hall.
A statue of Hans Christian Andersen is located to the right of the Radhus.
Also located further to the right is the famous Tivoli Gardens. During the summer, it is a very popular amusement park, while during December it hosts a Christmas Market. It is closed for the remainder of winter.
After my invigorating stroll, shopping, and sightseeing, dinner time had arrived.
Botaniq(Botaniq Restaurant) is a more upscale vegan restaurant in Copenhagen which serves raw food.
My main entree for dinner was the baked celery root with braised onions, apple compote, and lentils.This creative dish was quite tasty and flavorful.
For dessert, I chose the licorice cheesecake doused with beet root sauce and berries. It was fabulously amazing! The hot green tea was the perfect complement to my decadent sweet treat.
The first day of my winter vacation was now complete. It was a great introduction to the architecture, palaces, museums, and dining scene of Copenhagen. I went back to my hostel with eager anticipation of my next day’s journey to the birth place of Hans Christian Andersen in the town of Odense!