(Apparently it had originally been built in 1847 but was all wood because it was outside the main fortification and those buildings weren't allowed to have foundations - that design did not serve its purposes long.) The hotel I was staying at was conveniently close to the station in South Copenhagen, so I consulted my map and set off, duffel bag, purse, and painting in hand. As it was before check-in time when I got there, I dropped my things off and asked the fellow at the front desk where he recommended for lunch. He sent me to a Cafe Norden near Kongens Nytorv, a relatively central location in the city. He also sent me right into the midst of a parade route. The cafe that he sent me to was two stories, and although the ground floor was packed I was able to get a table next to one of the open windows upstairs (which was decorated with mounted deer heads of various species and had furs draped over some of the benches - I felt very at home despite being 5,051 miles away as the crow flies... though I don't think crows fly that far), which provided a great vantage-point for enjoying the festivities.
Not to mention the food was really quite savory! I stuck with a simple open sandwich of kapers og laks med røræg og salat (capers and smoked salmon with scrambled eggs and salad). I'll go ahead and say it now: I was thoroughly impressed with all of my meals while I was in Denmark! I never thought that the Danes were particularly well known for their food, but I was surprised (and pleasantly so) to learn something so unexpected; everything I had was truly delicious!
After lunch I did my typical new-city-acclimating by just wandering down whatever streets looked interesting. One of the interesting motifs I kept passing was a large painted fiberglass elephants. They were seriously rampant (sorry, Andrew, I don't mean rearing up with forepaws raised -linked for anyone who doesn't know the heraldic stance - in this case), and quite vibrantly painted.
Elephant 33: Censor
Of course I wasn't going to let this go un-sleuthed, so here's what I found out: The mission of The Elephant Parade is to become the world's largest Asian Elephant financial support organization. During the summer of 2011, Copenhagen and Frederiksberg are hosting a large (103 elephants large) exhibition to raise public awareness of and support around the globe for the cause of Asian Elephant conservation as their population was declined 90% in the past 100 years; today there are less than 35,000. If you want to learn more, you can check out their website. Or, if you would like to buy your very own elephant to take home today, you can do that, too. You may also be wondering why Denmark is concerned with the continuation of the Asian Elephant. It may have something to do with Elefantordenen, The Order of the Elephant, which is the highest order of Denmark and has its origins in the 15th century. I heard that everyone in the royal family used to own an elephant, but I'm not certain what time period that "used to" would fall into...Shamefully, though, my endurance failed me. Around 3:30 I was starting to nod off so I figured it was time to consider a little siesta. Walking back to the hotel I passed Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, a great art museum that has, most notably, a whole room of Rodin works - apparently the largest collection of his works outside of France, paintings by van Gogh and many other Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, and a lot of Danish Golden Age paintings and sculptures. There is also a quiet garden out back
complete with flaming facade.
I had wanted to go to Turandot at the Opera House that evening, but it was the last performance and tickets were rather hard to come by. Thus I figured my second best option for a Saturday night was to check out Tivoli, "part amusement park, part cultural venue, part wonderland," - Eyewitness Travel, Denmark guide - (and quite close to the hotel).
A pretty apt description, all things considered. I traversed the grounds for a bit, taking in everything Tivoli had to offer from open air Chinese stage
to Nimb, a palatial Moorish-style restaurant.
I brought a book to read while waiting for dinner, and after I finished eating it was so nice out that I decided to keep reading until it got dark. After what seemed like a pretty long time (I got through many a chapter), the light was vaguely beginning to fade. I checked my phone. It was 10:30. I had been reading for almost two hours. It slipped my mind how far north I was and that the days were significantly longer. I had been wondering why I was getting sleepy again... It was high time to turn in for the night and again try and catch up on the sleep I had missed out on during my little train ride.
A few other pictures to give a glimpse of Copenhagen:
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