All my “big” recaps of Denmark are finished, but I still had lots of random photos from in and around Copenhagen.
- Sweden to Denmark + Copenhagen Days #1 and 2 (Church of Our Saviour, Christiania, Koldskål)
- A Day Trip from Copenhagen: Visiting Roskilde Viking Ship Museum + Roskilde Cathedral
- Day Trip from Copenhagen: Lille Tilde, Burial Mounds, Island of Møn
- Day Trip from Copenhagen: Day #2 on the Danish Island of Møn (+ Visiting Møns Klint)
One day (I can’t remember which at this point!), we met up with one of my brother’s friends. He has a pass to Tivoli, which meant he could get us in for free. This was a very nice perk because there’s a steep entry fee just to get inside the park.
Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843 and is the second-oldest amusement park in the world. It’s right in the middle of Copenhagen, but somehow feels like its own little world! There are gardens, thrill rides (sort of), theatres (they have a lot of concerts on site), and lots of restaurants.
The oldest amusement park, Bakken, is located just outside of Copenhagen. My sister-in-law worked there as a teen, and she and my brother took Belle and Indy there for a quick visit when we were visiting. (In case you were curious, the third oldest amusement park in the world is Prater! So the kids got to visit the Top Three.)
Back to Tivoli!
We arrived a bit early for our rendezvous, so we took advantage of the fact that there’s a LEGO store right outside the park entrance.
Indy was happy to get a chance to hoist the FIFA World Cup trophy. I’ll admit I was holding my breath the whole time and praying it didn’t slip through his fingers and smash into a thousand little plastic brick pieces.
It didn’t!
We didn’t buy anything, but it’s always fun to tour a LEGO store.
We had told the kids they could go on one ride at Tivoli. By this point in the trip, we’d spent plenty of money at amusement parks (Prater! Linnanmäki!), and Tivoli is more famous for its atmosphere than its rides. There was one floorless roller coaster that had caught their fancy called the Dæmonen.
As soon as we arrived at the park, their hopes were dashed because we learned that particular ride was under renovation. Womp, womp.
Tivoli is especially famous at Christmas time. I can only imagine how gorgeous this space would be decked out in twinkly lights.
There are all sorts of little shops and alleyways. It reminded me a lot of Disney.
The railings at Tivoli are adorable.
Apparently I didn’t take any pictures of it, but the kids DID manage to go on a roller coaster. And not just any roller coaster! They rode Tivoli’s classic wooden coaster, Rutschebanen. It’s been running since 1914 and is one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the world.
While in Denmark we had set our sights on trying smørrebrød, a traditional Danish open-faced sandwich. It’s basically yummy stuff piled on rye bread. We opted for a slice topped with chicken filling at the Tivoli food hall, and it was delicious!
We loved spotting a Canadian flag drawn in chalk by a street artist.
Speaking of flags, I celebrated my birthday while in Copenhagen and had not one, not two, but THREE birthday cakes. The first was purchased by John at a nearby bakery ahead of my actual birthday.
People in Denmark are very passionate about flags, and it’s common to fly the national flag outside your home on your birthday. I thought the mini Canadian flags my sister-in-law used to decorate the top of my cake(s) were adorable.
Speaking of cool things, I thought this next idea was BRILLIANT! We saw quite a few people collecting bottles for the deposit, and usually they had to rifle through bins full of trash. But on the outside of garbage cans in Roskilde, there were slots where people could leave bottles and cans to be returned for the deposit money.
Visiting the Church of Our Lady was a standout memory from our first trip to Copenhagen many years ago. I knew I wanted to go back, and it didn’t disappoint. I love the clean aesthetic of all the white marble statues (carved by the Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen).
When we arrived, it was open and basically empty, but then two people showed up and started arranging chairs on the main stage. When we walked by a few hours later, there was a wedding going on! Turns out we unknowingly timed our visit perfectly. I don’t imagine the bride and groom would have appreciated us wandering in during the ceremony…
That same morning, we strolled along Strøget, the main pedestrian street in Copenhagen. There are lots of upscale shops, and it’s a lovely place to walk.
John and I took a swing by Nyhavn!
Our final little adventure was heading out to see one last Thomas Dambo statue. This one was our favourite, and it’s called Kaptajn Nalle.
(We saw Green George in Christiania, and Lille Tilde on the way to Møn.)
It can be tricky to get to his statues without a car, and we were grateful to my brother for driving us to see it.
This particular troll is huge and has so much personality!
I enjoyed visiting Dambo’s sculptures more than I expected to and definitely recommend making time to check out a few if you happen to be in and around Copenhagen. (He has sculptures all over the world, so you’re not actually limited to Denmark.)
And that’s a wrap on our time in Denmark!
Your turn.
- Have you ever unexpectedly wound up in the middle of a wedding?
- LEGO: yes or no?
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We love Legos here! Although my boys are getting older, they still have some of their favorite creations on display in their room. And ii bought the Chrismas tree and centerpiece to be made during advent for table decoration.
Love that cathedral- a wedding there would be magical!
I would love to have some Christmas LEGOs. Sounds like a very fun and festive tradition. My husband collects Star Wars LEGO sets, so we have A LOT of those.
Crashing a wedding is one of the plotlines of the movie The Best You Can and it made me want to crash one myself! I’ve never been in the middle of one, but I’ve walked/ drove by many in my time.
I love roller coasters! I would have loved that. Also that birthday cake with flags looks amazing.
I have NEVER wanted to crash a wedding. But, then again, I don’t love making casual conversation with strangers which seems very much up your alley!
The birthday cake was SO good. Give me anything with peanuts and chocolate and I am a happy girl 🙂
When I moved from the UK to the USA, I had to pare down the contents of a large family home into a van (due to shipping costs). One of the things that I just couldn’t part with was a large box of my (grown) children’s lego, so over it came.
My parents still have all the LEGO from my childhood and I don’t ever see my kids/husband parting with their LEGO!
I’ve walked by a few weddings, mostly when I was in college in a popular tourist town. It always brought a huge smile to my face and I was lifted for the rest of the day. I have never unexpectedly walked into one, though.
Yes, lego! I’m trying to build the Hogwarts castle in one bag a week increments, one night a week instead of collapsing on the couch and scrolling. My kids and I have built the Up house and the Encanto house together and got the Home Alone house as a Christmas present last year to build over Christmas break this year.
I love, love, love seeing weddings <3
What a fun idea o stretch out your LEGO build!
I wonder if they close the church to the public during weddings or if it’s just made known ahead of time to the couple that their wedding may include tourists coming in?!
I’m not sure… I didn’t try to go in, that’s for sure!!
Absolutely yes to Legos, even though the days when you were guaranteed to step on at least one per day have long been over for our family.
The next time that I’m in the Dayton area, I will stop by and visit my “local” Dambo troll.
I rarely step on LEGO these days, though it’s still on lots of surfaces in the house. Indy likes to build it, but tends to keep things confined to one nook in the basement. I hope it’s always so.
Yay! I can’t remember if you’ve seen the Dambo troll before? So cool!
What a cute cake! I love the flags! Yes to LEGO, although I would rather watch someone assemble a LEGO creation than try to do it myself.
That statue is fabulous! I love it so much!
I don’t really have desire to make anything out of LEGO. A set, maybe, because I can follow directions, but coming up with something from scratch/out of my imagination does not appeal to me.
It really does to my son and husband, though!!
Legos forever! I mean that literally. My son was a Lego fanatic growing up, and still gets sets every once in a while. My daughter never got into them, until her boyfriend started bringing Legos over for them to build together, and now there are Lego pieces all over my house again.
Did someone mention WEDDINGS??? Did I tell you my son is getting married in nineteen days??? jk. I think everyone has heard plenty about that event by now!
I am SO excited for this wedding, Jenny. I feel very invested in the whole experience and I hope it is nothing short of pure joy and delight from start to finish.
My son and husband love, love, love LEGO. I could take it or leave it, but I love how much joy it brings them, so by virtue of that, I’m a big fan <3
Copenhagen sounds so amazing. I’ve only been at the airport on a layover 😉 I can imagine how much fun the kids had at the Tivoli and the LEGO store!
I really love these wooden trolls that you visited. Amazing artwork!
The trolls were an unexpected highlight from Scandinavia!