Copenhagen: Day Four

We woke up feeling rather royal, literally, we slept in until 9, so we hit up a couple palaces today. 

First, stop Rosenberg Slot (I think Slot translate into palace). The gardens were grand, and I can tell in a few weeks they were going to be covered in beautiful blooms.

 A castle with a moat!

The crown jewels are on display at Rosenborg Slot. A lot of the pictures I choose to take were what I think the girls would like to see and know more about. For example, I thought they would get a kick out of this ornate jewelry box.

I will let the next few pictures speak for themselves.

 I just loved this set with emeralds!

 Inside the castle the floor to ceiling paintings reminded me of the castle in Frozen; I thought the girls would enjoy that concept as well.

 Evening the ceilings were covered in paintings!

 Fancy writing desk of a past King! So much gold around here.

 King Christian IV, the king when Denmark was at its height, built Rosenborg as his summer palace. It was his favorite palace and it was where he died. The thing I found interesting was the soft lace crowns that he wore, when lying down, even on his death bed.

 The girls ask about bathrooms a lot so here is what I King's bathroom looked like long ago.

 This mirror room blew my mind. One of the Danish kings had this room built for his erotica pleasure! I was shocked. Mirrors on all six sides of the room.

 The thrones used for coronation.

 After Rosenborg Slot, we walked a few city blocks to Christainborg Slot. I know crazy, there was several palaces/castles right in the middle of the city.

 We had to wear booties through this castle. It is still used for Royal functions on occasion.

 The history of the buildings on this campus is interesting. There have been seven different castles or palaces built here. They have be demolished because they wanted better for royalty or fire destroyed some of the nicer ones.

 The current Queen

 So grand and ornate

 The Royal Dachshunds!

 This castle grounds also houses the Royal Stables.

 Like I said, the girls often ask about bedrooms and bathrooms in foreign countries. This is inside our hotel room and the bathroom. The bathroom has no separate shower stall. The water just goes everywhere and flows into the drain under the sink.

The town shuts down at 6. The only thing to do after is eat or drink. Not even the shops are open. So every night we hit up the ice cream place right by our hotel and then relax. It has been really great honestly.

 But how can we resist the ice cream when you walk by the open window by the waffle cone maker several times a day.... IT. SMELLS. SO. YUMMY!

Copenhagen Day Three: "To travel is to live"

Today is a Monday. Mondays in Denmark means lots of (government run) tourist hot spots are closed. So we hit up a lot of random spots, and still had a blast. 

Blu Planet, an aquarium, is one of the newest tourist additions to Copenhagen. Built about three years ago, it is a architectural sight to behold. Honestly though, seeing the building from the outside was the best part. 

 Even though the constant flowing of locals and tourists into the place told us otherwise, this place was small and short coming of our expectations. The most interesting thing inside was the school of fish that are in a cylindrical tank. They swam in a small circle over and over and over; there were the rogue few that rebelled. I gave them a virtual high-five, well high-fin.

 I do chuckle EVERY time I see the under side of a ray.

 The Aquarium experience that filled up 45 minutes of the expected three hours, left us walking around and just enjoying the sights. We stopped for lunch and this was our view. I love it! I think just looking at all the buildings has been my favorite part so far.

 We spent our afternoon at the Hans Christian Andersen Museum. Learning about H. C. (as the locals refer to him) is one of the things I looked forward to the most. This quote made me smile.

 The museum featured many of his fairy tales in three minute summaries with animated scenes.

"The Little Mermaid"

 "The Little Match Girl"

 "Thumbelina"

 Again, these buildings...amazing! This is City Hall. Don't ask what that goofy man is doing in the front!

 Another dose of H. C.

I sat on his knee and asked him to tell me another story, and he rudely turned his head. The nerve!

 What is a trip without a little aerospace. I know we are all shocked that Karl wanted to visit the Tycho Brahes Planetarium. Again, like the aquarium, the facade was the most intriguing part. At least we both appreciate a pretty building.

 I did wish our space loving Reese was with us since they had a scale representation of all the planets. See itty bitty Earth behind Jupiter? That was about it for displays.

 There is so much ingenious public art here. Here there were about five pieces for the kids (young and old) to climb on. Also, notice the cobblestones. This is what 95% of the sidewalks are like. So you are constantly walking on uneven surfaces. It has been interesting with the two pair of shoes I choose to pack.

 Another interesting thing about the city is there are as many bikers and car drivers. Every street corner looks like this. There are also bikes with cabins on the front so parents can tote multiple kids around or pile in groceries.

 Another date night... we were just playing around, our faces don't accurately display the great fun we are having!