European Adventure Part VI: Day 4

Today was lovely! It was another walking tour and we learned so much about the city and about Denmark. My brother Nick is joining us on this leg of our Adventure, and we were all ready to see what Copenhagen had to offer! 

CLOUDY BREAKFAST 

First of all, I forgot to mention how lovely our hotel is. It's the Axel Guldsmeden and is located super close to the train station. It has this Bali feel to it, and we walk through a quaint little courtyard to get to our room. Our hotel rooms face into the courtyard too and it almost feels a bit French the way everyone has a balcony that looks into the courtyard.Kristin and I let Nick sleep in for a bit and made our way to breakfast. The breakfast place that I chose opened at 9:30am as opposed to 9:00am like I thought, so we found ourselves looking for another place to get breakfast This handsome and helpful Scottish man kindly told us that there wasn't really a place for a hot breakfast (or a Full English) in that part of the city, so we made our way to this coffee shop called Espresso House. There are a million all over Copenhagen. It was so comfy inside with huge overstuffed and tufted couches, and ample seating. I got a cup of tea and yogurt and did some people watching.

WALKING TOUR!

Soon it was time for our tour! We went with the same company where we had the awesome tour in Edinburgh a few years ago. I love free walking tours. A good guide will have a certain amount of charm and humor, and will also be full of information about the city. Most of all, you can tell that they love what they do. All of these things were true about our guide, Francisco. He told us about the history of Copenhagen including how there were two major fires that burned both sides of the city. This is because the Danes love their candles, and as a people are the largest of consumer of candles in the world. I didn't realize that he was so serious until I started noticing how many public places have lit candles.

Francisco also told us about this Danish word Hygge, pronounced hue-ga. While tough to define, it's generally the feeling of being comfy and cosy, and having a feeling of contentment and peace - basically what I'm trying to do with Daydreams. The Danes bring this into their lives by spending time with family, drinking a beer in a bar with friends, and doing what you enjoy. Hygge is often linked to the reason why Danes are often ranked as some of the happiest people in the world.  

BEST BURGER EVER. 

Next we headed to Gasoline Grill. It's literally a burger joint in a the middle of a gas station. I think it was the best burger that I've ever had in my life, so it makes sense that it was named one of the best burgers in the world. After waiting in line and getting our burgers with truffle salted French fries, we headed to the Kings Garden which also has Rosenborg Palace. We didn't get a chance to go inside the palace, but instead we got to explore the gardens, which were lovely!

AN AMUSEMENT PARK! 

We took a little bit of a break in the hotel, and then decided to go to next door to Tivoli Gardens which is the second oldest amusement park in the world. It's where Walt Disney got the inspiration for Disneyland and it takes about ten minutes in the park to see the connection. It's so quaint and doesn't feel as artificial as many of the other amusement parks that I've been to. We had a Danish dinner at this restaurant that was situated along a lake. I had salmon! It was such a lovely way to finish a very wonderful day.

UP NEXT: We're leaving Copenhagen and headed north to explore the town of Hillerød