With the Ubuntu Developer Summit ending a day sooner than it has in the past, I decided to take the opportunity on Friday to do some touristing in downtown Copenhagen. I didn’t have many plans, but I did want to see The Little Mermaid statue and do a little shopping. The night before I sketched out a plan that would take Pasi Lallinaho and I through downtown and up to the mermaid. After breakfast in the hotel we were off.
A quick Metro ride put us in the city center. From there we walked north and quickly found ourselves in the central courtyard of the palaces of Amalienborg. From there we walked along the waterfront in my journey to see The Little Mermaid.
And I saw her!
Visiting the little mermaid!
Now, she is just a statue and even at 10AM there was a crowd snapping pictures. But I’m a shameless tourist and there is no disappointing me when it comes to visiting a famous landmark.
Once a sufficient number of photos were taken, we headed back south and started walking around about half of the huge Kastellet star fortress.
To warm up after the morning of walking we stopped for some drinks at a small cafe before heading over to the Design Museum. Half the museum tracked the long history of Danish classical design and then had some other exhibits of design from around the world. The last half was a lot of modern design. There were a lot of chairs (and other furniture), Danes really like designing chairs.
Furniture at the Design Museum
We stopped for a lunch of steaks on our way walking back to the city center. I got some of my shopping done and then were able to walk through the castle gardens of Rosenborg Castle. The castle itself was closed that day (sad!), but we did end up buying tickets to see the royal treasury and I paid the extra fee to be able to take pictures inside.
Crown of King Christian IV
From here we did a little more shopping and then went to another cafe where I enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate before heading back to the Metro so Pasi could get to the airport for his flight. I grabbed some dinner in the very expensive hotel restaurant and turned in early so I could be up at 3AM to make my 6AM flight.
I’ve uploaded photos from the Ubuntu Developer Summit as well as my tourist day here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pleia2/sets/72157631927163838/
I wish I could have spent another day in the city, my guidebook was brimming with suggestions of things I wanted to see, including doing at least one of the palace tours, a river ferry ride, their lovely zoo with the huge elephant exhibit and a brewery tour at Carlsberg. Some day!