History and Science
I spent the morning at the National Museum (Nationalmuseet) where I learned about Danish history. The timeline started with Neandertals (prehistoric relatives of humans) and went right up to the present day. (For those of you who have read The Lord of the Rings, I learned about burial practices in barrows. Archaeologists learned them rather more safely than Frodo did!) It turns out this was the perfect day to learn about Denmark's history. Today is the day that Danes commemorate their 1849 constitution and its 1953 revisions. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy (like England) which means they have a queen but also a Parliament that makes the laws. This is not as big a celebration as the Fourth of July in the U.S., but it's a celebration nonetheless!
Towers and Churches
I set off after that to find a particular church. Unfortunately, it was closed, but that set me on a path to other sights and wonders. I learned that Copenhagen is a city of bicycles. There are so many bicycles – including cargo bikes, child carts, and even taxis – that bigger streets have bicycle lanes that are almost as big as the car lanes. There are also streets that don't allow cars at all.
Copenhagen has more bicycle traffic than car traffic!
From right to left, you can see the sidewalk, bicycle, and then two car lanes.
One of the things I found as I learned my way around the city was the Round Tower (Rundetaarn). It was built in 1642, so it is nearly 400 years old. It was built to honor Tycho Brahe, an early and important Danish astronomer. It still houses the oldest functioning observatory (for observing the stars) in Europe. From the tower you can look into Trinitas Kirke. I'll bet you can read some Danish because you can probably figure out the first word; the second is 'church'. You climb a winding ramp to get to the top, and from there you can see all of Copenhagen and, on a clear day, even Sweden. When I came back down, I set off again to find the churches I could see from above.
This tower is an observatory built in 1642.
Trinity Church is connected to the Round Tower.
From the Round Tower you can see Copenhagen's Cathedral.
Capped off with an Amusement Park!
Finally, at about 6:00, I went to Tivoli Gardens; so many people told me to go that I knew it was not to be missed. It is part gardens, part entertainment center with several stages, and part amusement park complete with roller coasters. All of this is right here in downtown Copenhagen! Words to describe it might include fun, quaint, kitschy, and colorful. There, like elsewhere, I heard many, many different languages, some of which I can identify, but many I cannot. I'm working on reading some Danish though. I can pick out a bunch of nouns, verbs, and prepositions, but I can't actually say much more than, "Please" and "Thank you"!
Tivoli Gardens games.
Stream and garden in Tivoli Gardens.
Boat ride and roller coaster in Tivoli Gardens.