Copenhagen Day #3: Kastellet, Gefion Fountain, GoBoat Adventures

I have a relatively short recap for today! That doesn’t mean it was lacking in fun, though.

We started the day at Kastellet. This is considered one of the best-preserved “star” fortresses in Northern Europe. It’s a beautiful place to wander, with lots of bright red buildings and walking paths. It’s also still an active military site.

Kastellet was built as part of Copenhagen’s defensive fortifications in the 1600s. By the time the British attacked the city in 1807, advances in artillery meant their cannons could fire way beyond the fortress walls, rendering this sort of traditional fortification relatively useless.

Not pictured, but a major highlight of the morning: Indy spotted all sorts of fish in the moat around the fortress.

And, of course, he made time for some tree poses.

The grounds of Kastellet offer a nice view of St. Alban’s Church.

Reporting for duty…

It wouldn’t be Copenhagen if there weren’t bikes everywhere!

Despite being relatively small, The Little Mermaid statue is one of Copenhagen’s most famous landmarks. There were hordes of tourists lined up to take a picture of this relatively small statue perched on a rock. I think it’s a bit like the Mona Lisa—you have to go in with reasonable expectations or you’re likely to be disappointed. I actually really like it.

I remembered the Gefion Fountain was close to The Little Mermaid statue (Hans Christian Andersen was Danish, if you’re wondering about the connection) from our last trip to Denmark and it was on my must-visit again list.

I love this fountain, especially because of the backstory/legend associated with it.

According to Norse legend, the goddess Gefion was promised as much land as she could plow in a single night by the Swedish king Gylfi. She immediately transformed her four sons into oxen and used them to plow an enormous piece of land, which she then threw into the sea. The legend says this land became the island of Zealand (now Denmark), while the hole left behind filled with water and became Lake Mälaren (in Sweden).

Can you see two kids leaning against the wall in the far left of the photo? Those would be mine; they’re watching some teen boys fish in the moat surrounding Kastellet. Indy would have stayed watching them all day.

The water is SO clear at this fountain. I got some flak from other people in the group, but I declared this my favourite fountain. For me, it tops the Trevi Fountain in Rome. I know it might not be nearly as impressive, but I love the aesthetic and how rustic and natural it looks in the surroundings.

We left the fountain and walked around the city for a while.

If you look down at the cobblestones, you’ll spot sobering reminders of the Danish Jews who were deported and later died in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

We walked by Amalienborg Palace, the official residence of the Danish royal family.

Things were BUSY. It was the day of the Royal Run, an annual event where the King of Denmark runs in various places around the country, ending the day by leading a race within central Copenhagen. It’s a massive undertaking and there were barricades, hydration stations, and runners everywhere.

It’s a big family event as well, with all sorts of different distances and race timings, so we saw a lot of kids out with their parents in running gear.

Another day, another picnic at a palace. This time we went to the King’s Gardens outside Rosenborg Castle.

The last big thing on our itinerary for the day was renting a GoBoat. My brother had recommended this to us as a great way to see the city. While we’d done the Harbour Bus the previous day, that only took us along the main waterway in the city. The GoBoat is a self-driven boat designed to go up and down the smaller channels that are linked to the central harbour in Copenhagen.

Each boat comes with a map (different routes are suggested for 1-hour vs. 2-hour trips; we had the latter). I was happy to sit back and relax and let other people navigate.

Renting a GoBoat was definitely a highlight for me from our time in Copenhagen. Once again, the weather was lovely and we had a great time exploring the city and spending time on the water.

Each boat has a central picnic table, and you can even buy prepared picnics from GoBoat to bring along. We had already eaten lunch, but did munch on a few snacks.

The seating was comfortable and the weather was spectacular. (This would not be a particularly fun experience on a cold, windy, or wet day.)

Another view of the opera house.

And another view of the Circle Bridge.

We let Indy take over the controls in some quieter sections on the route.

But most of the time, he was content to hang out at the front of the boat.

Because it was the Royal Run, there had been a special deal for public transit passes, so we felt like we should go somewhere else to get the best bang for our buck.

I had a short list of interesting things to see and we settled on Superkilen Park.

Have you ever had the experience of online research not quite matching the reality of a place? That was definitely the case for this park.

Here’s what I was expecting:

For starters, the view matters. The perspective on the ground is so different. Also, this picture was taken when the park was newly opened and things have definitely… faded. I didn’t even take any pictures from the “pink” part that had originally drawn me in.

That said, it was still an interesting place to explore. It will surprise no one that Indy found plenty to keep him busy.

I am still puzzled by these climbing rings. They are so high and so far apart I’m convinced only giants could actually use them. Indy needed multiple adults to help him out, but he was determined to swing from one to the other and he managed to do it… once.

He also shimmied all the way to the top of this rope. Needless to say, this boy slept like a rock later that night!

As per usual, we headed back to the apartment for a late dinner. Eating times took some adjustment. With kids we’re used to eating a bit earlier in the evening; by the time we finished dinner most nights in Denmark, it was probably 9:00 pm. But with such great weather there was good reason to stay out late.

Another day in Copenhagen wrapped up!

Your turn:

• Could you shimmy up a rope? My upper body strength is horrific so my answer is a quick No!
• Would you like to navigate your own little boat through a city canal system?