Defeat the demon in Tivoli Gardens

After a late breakfast in Malmö, we crossed the famous Øresund Bridge by train and left Sweden behind. Just 40 minutes later, the Danish capital Copenhagen welcomed us with rain. For this reason, the visit to Christiansborg Palace was on the agenda today. Alongside the Danish Parliament, the office of the Danish Prime Minister, and the Supreme Court, the palace also houses the impressive reception rooms of the Danish Crown. During the tour of the throne room, various smaller rooms (Velvet Room, dining hall, Alexander Hall), a library, and the grand Knights' Hall with its impressive tapestries, one could feel like a princess or prince ;). Here's a little bit of useless knowledge that stuck with us: In the large dining hall, there are 3 chandeliers that the Danish Royal Family bought from the Norwegian Crown in Oslo after Norway's Royal Family decided to electrify their lighting. Several years later, the Norwegian Crown missed their sold chandeliers and instead had replicas of their old chandeliers created, which still remain in the possession of the Danish Royal Family. In addition to the reception rooms, we also visited the ruins of the first Christiansborg Castle (Absalon's Fortress) and the former Royal Kitchen with the largest collection of copper pans, pots, and utensils. In the evening, we had probably the best and most delicious dim sum we have ever eaten in our lives.

On the next day, we got up early to take a closer look at Copenhagen. First, we returned to Christiansborg Palace to see the royal stables. Although the stables were not officially open yet, we simply walked through the open stable door and were able to have a close look at the horses (probably white horses) of the Danish Crown. At that time, the stable staff was also in the process of harnessing the horses to a training carriage before it drove to the riding arena in front of the palace. No, we didn't see any royals this time, but we had a very interesting conversation with an older stablemaster who explained to us how the horses are trained and how they must be kept according to Danish law (at least 3 hours outside per day, with one hour of movement, for example, pulling a carriage). Afterwards, we continued our walk through the entire Copenhagen. From Christiansborg Palace, we went to the Christianshavn district, past the Church of Our Saviour, crossed the Inderhavnsbroen with a short detour to Nyhavn. From there, we walked along the water past Amalienborg Palace to the Little Mermaid. Pascal didn't want to believe me at first that so many people could be crowded around a small statue in the water. But when he saw the crowds, he was proven wrong. We circled around Kastellet and then went to the King's Garden for ice cream and coffee. Finally, we strolled along the shopping street in Indre By and returned to Nyhavn in the evening sun. We ended the evening with a Danish dinner and beers at the hostel for Latin Night. On this day, we walked about 18,000 steps, which made us collapse into bed.

We wanted to do something fun on our last full day in Copenhagen, so we spent the entire day at Tivoli Gardens. This is a small amusement park right in the city center with small roller coasters, carousels, a roller coaster, and other rides. The biggest roller coaster was called the Demon, which we successfully conquered twice. We also relaxed in the sunshine and enjoyed popcorn, ice cream, and Danish hot dogs.