Everything we didn't do in Denmark...

If you are like us, then when you think of Denmark, you think of Lego - or Legoland, to be exact. An entire city constructed out of lego with rides and statues. A wonderful fantasy dream-land where the streets are paved with lego. What trip to Scandinava could be complete without a trip to Legoland?

Unfortunately it wasn't to be. We thought long and hard (and asked for expert advice from 'Foggy', our tour-driver) before deciding that we would have to reluctantly pass on a four-hour pilgrimage from Copenhagen, involving various forms of public transport, in order to actually see the city that the locals call Kobenhavn.


Lets start by saying that Copenhagen, home of Hans Christian Andersen, Copenhagen ice cream and most importantly Carlsberg beer ("probably the best beer in the world") is an amalgamation of all things European. Bikes, fashionable locals, canals, cathedrals, not one but two palaces, a brewery, gardens, massive scale architechture, clock towers and oh yeah, hippy communes. Or maybe that one is uniquely Copenhagen...

Christiania, a short bike ride from town and on the separate island of Christianhaven is called the 'freetown' for a reason. Our introduction to this area was a terrifying experience in which our tour leader freaked the group out by advising that we leave all our possessions on the bus away from the wandering fingers of the gypsy people and layabouts of this tiny commune. She then proceeded to herd us like cattle in one entrance and straight out another. Needless to say we were fascinated by the brightly painted walls, markets, and starnge and wonderful smells and were determined to find our way back to this lawless world. After commandeering two of the most tourist looking bikes ever imaginable and being advised by locals that we had taken them 'out of bounds' we explored deeper into this amazing community of people. We avoided the dodgy-looking food (and the even dodgier-looking people selling their 'cups' of suspicious plant-based material) before venturing up a winding path - the only place where taking pictures was not forbidden.



Other note-worthy events of the day included visiting the must-see statue of The Little Mermaid. This masterpiece has sat upon its rock to be photographed by truckloads of tourists everyday for 97years. It lived up to the hype created in the Scandiavian lonely planet guide as probaby the most over-rated of all tourist 'must-dos' in Europe.

We stalked an English speaking tour guide on our way back to the town centre. We probably remained unnoticed. Along the way we saw both palaces, which 'probably' are the most beautiful in Denmark. We didn't find our way inside or manage to see the changing of the guards. We found the picturesque houses and boats lining the canals of Port Nyhavn and after experiencing the free, ridiculously designed National Museum -which 'probably' had a Viking exhibition - we braved paying for admittance to the Hans Christian Andersen museum.


By this point we decided to give up on a cultural museum filled day and set out to find the Carlsberg brewery. 'Probably' the largest most exciting brewery in Europe. Don't doubt our committment to this mission. After several wrong turns in the S station we did eventually find the brewery. Finding the visitors centre however was just as hard and when we finally pinpointed where we were and where we should have been we realised the centre was closed anyway. It 'probably' would have been a great place to experience.


On our quest to find Kate a warm jacket for the Scandiavian 'summer' (13 degrees Celcius) we experienced the funky student Latin Quarter with its op-shops and boutiques. And of course, what day could be complete in Copenhagen without icecream? Served with whipped cream and jam it gave us enough energy to ride our bikes over to Tivoli - a 160 year old amusment park in the centre of city.

Here we amused ourselves with taking pictures and by spending the last of our Danish Kroner. Unfortuately all we could afford was the carousel and the kiddie-rollercoaster. It probably wasn't as fun as Legoland, but the ilumination show over the Tivoli lake was a fitting end in a city of fairytales.