Europe 2022 – Copenhagen, Denmark

By Kathleen Ennen / July 9, 2022

Copenhagen – 4-9 July 2022

4 July

Arrived at the CPH airport an hour+ later than scheduled due to late departure from JFK on July 3. Seems the plane, though at JFK since mid-morning, was delayed due to staffing shortages to “clean and cater” it. It was a midnight dinner, but the Row 3D seat was comfy enough to lie flat and get a few hours of sleep.

With the delayed arrival there was time for lunch before meeting Anne in baggage claim. An airport taxi sufficed to get us to the flat in downtown shortly after check in time. After a little time to get mostly settled, we wandered off in search of a drink. We found a nice corner with a view of the back of Christiansborg, the seat of government.

It felt terrific to be traveling again!!!

After a short stop for a nice drink, we wandered to and along the riverfront. We ended up in Nyhavn and, after a bit of searching, found a small table near the walkway in order to have dinner and people watch. There was a nice band nearby with enjoyable music.

5 July

We decided to get the Copenhagen Card which provided entry to sites and amusements as well as use of the metro/train system. Our first destination was Elsinore to see Hamlet’s place. It was raining on and off, and coming down hard during part of our visit. The train trip is very scenic. We had lunch of the famous Danish open face sandwiches at the Maritime Museum. We didn’t spend much time in the museum as I’d been in 2018 and Anne was more interested in getting some lunch. There is a terrific gift shop there.

Daughter Katie recommended several restaurants and we tried Den Vandrette for our second night’s dinner. Fantastic!!! Small plates; excellent bread and the homemade cheese we selected came last and was a perfect desert.

6 July

The weather continues to be cool and mostly grey; occasionally we see the sun in the afternoon. We did some harbor touring on the boat bus and then walked over to Tivoli. We thought of doing the bumper cars until we saw how small the “arena area” was. We walked around to see the rides but it was very crowded. We’d hope to see a jazz concert at 4pm but it didn’t happened. We sat in the lawn area in the chairs provided for a long while. When it was time to eat we thought better of eating inside Tivoli as it all seemed pricey even if well rated. We opted for the rooftop restaurant at Illum’s, a large department store down the street from our flat.

7 July

Our Copenhagen Card expired at 10:40am so we wandered down the block to the Round Tower, about 5 minutes from the flat. The view was worth the climb up the ramp but, again, it was grey and not too worthy of picture taking. We spent the next few hours shopping. We found lots of stores but mostly trendy stuff and much of it very expensive. I did find a nice blouse for our upcoming Amawaterways cruise.

We returned to the flat for a nap and decided to venture to one of Katie’s other recommended restaurants. This time we took the metro which was easy to navigate. Il Buco offered another fabulous meal and a terrific wine list. We opted for the 400DKK dry Riesling which turned out to be a liter bottle (great buy based on the various wine lists we’ve seen!!) and was very much like a Vinho Verde, one of my favorites!

Anne had her oysters and I tried a small piece of “retired dairy cow” which was delicious and properly cooked, rare! The chef came by our table and it was fun to realize she was from North Carolina. Wonderful creations….

8 July

We had somewhat of a quiet start and ventured out around lunch time to the nearby square hoping to find more jazz. We lucked out and found a sandwich shop that brought our selections to a table we found in the center area where we could sit, have lunch, and enjoy the music. We sat for quite a while before wandering on to the big department store we had spotted on the way to dinner the night before. Le Magasin.

We shopped all the sale racks and each found something useful. Anne found a summery dress for St Lucia and I found another top, though it’s rather muted dark colors, something that could be dressy enough for our upcoming cruise. It was on sale so it turned out to be fun. We found the food market in the basement and after a bit of searching bought dinner stuff and sandwiches for the train to Hamburg on July 9.

9 July

Today is a travel day as we head to our next stop – Hamburg, Germany.