Copenhagen--part 2

The following day we picked a new point and headed out with a general idea of what we wanted to see.....Castles and the Little Mermaid. Being that the hotel offered us breakfast for a mere $35.00, we decided to explore and find cheaper eggs and toast.  Well sometimes pargabunking (letting the wind decide our direction and experience) works, sometimes not so much.  We are walking past various hotels, government buildings, apartments, churches, parks and palaces with not a cup of coffee and toast in sight.  Blood sugar is lowering as a $35 breakfast is sounding better and better.

Walking along the streets with no cafes

The park by the canal and Christianborg Castle

Looking at the castle and church from the park. 

Panorama of the Christianborg Castle complex.  There are four huge residences and government buildings

They guard the complex 24/7

Jeff looking for breakfast

Statue of Christian IV

I explain that the time to eat has past and it is now time to consider chewing on my wrist for sustenance!  Kathy breaks out her trusty Iphone to locate a restaurant and comes up with a food just 4 blocks away at a place called Toldboden and we are about to take off when I look across the street and spot a restaurant called Cafe Toldboden 41.  We make an immediate left and a moment later being seated by Lars, our greeter, seater, waiter, philosopher, humorist, and man entrusted with the keys to the secrets of Copenhagen.  THIS, is what makes the true pargabunker golden!  Crap to Golden in under 1.7 seconds.

The Tolboldon

Bagel, lox and egg.  Yum!

Loved the matching dishes but REALLY loved the coffee

We took an interesting stroll through beautiful parks fronting the main canal, and a protestant church until we finally came across the first destination, "The Little Mermaid".  We took a bench and enjoyed people watching where every category of tourist flaunts their stuff.

Protestant Church

One of the ruling Christians

Fountain along the way to the little mermaid. 

So many statues in the park

Finally, The Little Mermaid.  From the Hans Christian Anderson book and symbol of Copenhagen

Lots of lookers from land and sea

We walked through a park

And past a marina

We saw lots of these colorful jays

Statue on the way to Rosenborg Castle

Our walk continued with stops, starts and u-turns.  We are on our fifth mile when we hit Kathy's next destination, Rosenborg Castle where the Danish crown jewels are kept.  I sat in a comfortable cafe with a coffee and Danish (bakery item, not a local) while Kat climbed a thousand steps to see the Monarch's family jewels (gems).

Jeff and his Danish.  He decided to skip the steps

Rosenborg Castle.  Built and used by King Christian IV

Inside were 3 floors of decadence

In the basement, guarded day and night are the Danish Crown jewels and collections of Monarchs from the past.  Here are a few of the many examples of their riches.

Golden weapons.  Too heavy to shoot

So many rings.  This was just one of 4 cases

Emerald and Pearl sets

So much gold

Jewel encrusted music box

The crown of the Danish kings

Queen's crowns

Continuing our walk, we discovered the perfect area that we had missed before, filled with a wonderful selection of restaurants, grocery stores - all a close stroll from the hotel.  We returned to the hotel for  R&R away from the maddening crowd.

This little bar is the perfect place for day drinking

We recharged, strapped on our shoes and returned to our new favorite dining area and found out what fine dining was all about at Ravage.  Yes, Ravage is sweet in Copenhagen. Dinner was a culinary experience of epic proportions and the stroll back to the Strand was a perfect way to end a perfect day.

Jeff's perfect lamb chops.  Just like Mom used to make.

Stay tuned for Copenhagen part 3!