Copenhagen, Denmark
Scandinavia Part 4 of 4
SEPTEMBER 2018
The last stop on our Scandinavian adventure was in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was hard leaving Sweden, but our excitement for this city was high. I think what I was looking forward to most was the bike riding experience - and visiting Morgenstedet for dinner. Both tuned out to be major highlights of the trip. This was by far the most fascinating and beautiful city I had every visited! So clean, friendly, and calm for a major city too. It definitely altered my perception of what was possible in “city life”. People watching was half of the fun here for us. Everyone was really fashionable, but not in a snooty way - in a “this is just how the culture is” way that felt very equal. I could have just had tourist eyes, but that was my feeling. The coffee, bread, and food was amazing - and I was especially taken with the open air produce market in the city center. Lots of pictures of this spot below. I tended to just snack here throughout the day, and was definitely taken with the danish plums and apples! Now onto our last post to wrap up this trip, it has been wonderful reliving these memories with you.
*Photos were taken by my husband Scott.
x Jessie
Our airbnb & grød
We crossed over the bridge from Sweden into Copenhagen in the afternoon. After dropping off our bags at the AirBnb we were to be staying in, we drove to return our car at the airport (only 15 minutes away). We didn’t want to worry about parking, and knew we would be getting around by foot and bike anyway. After taking the train back to the city, we walked to our AirBnb, picking up groceries on the way, made some dinner and hit the sack - we were feeling pretty spent!
The next morning we woke up fresh. Being such an early riser, I had been up and had breakfast (oatmeal using leftover groceries we had) for a while. When Scott rolled out of bed I was itching for coffee, and convinced him to rent bikes for a trip to coffee and some breakfast for him. We used the Donkey Bikes app to find bikes near us and rented two for the day, they were so great! We really loved using this company. Plus the bikes had cool names - we will always remember Lorenzo and Kit Kat fondly ;).
We were staying in the Vesterbro area and rode our bikes up to The Coffee Collective and Grød in the Nørrebro neighborhood. It was so beautiful! The bike lanes are huge, and while it took us a little while to pick up on the hand signals and bike etiquette - it was overall pretty easy and wicked fun. The Coffee Collective had some really delicious coffee (although I think I’d enjoy any coffee with Oatly in it) and going to Grød was such an experience! This location was so cozy, and Scott went all out with indulgent toppings (sorry for no photos of the food, we tend to tuck our cameras away when eating!). Bonus: these two places were right across the street from one another.
*We highly recommend the AirBnb we stayed in, it was so cozy and in a good location too. The bathroom/shower is super tiny, but the apartment is incredibly clean and furnished with the loveliest things to make you feel at home. Birgette was such a kind host, too!
Torvehallerne
We biked from breakfast down to Torvehallerne (still cannot pronounce this right) and accidentally went through the most gorgeous cemetery. Every corner we turned in this city showed us something uniquely stunning. We got to Torvehallerne, which is an open air produce market that is open all-day every-day, such a dream! I was in heaven, and immediately bought a few danish plums and apples to snack on, they were unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. So sweet and flavorful. On either side of the market are two buildings chock full of different vendors selling all sorts of local drinks and eats. From bread to sugar cane juice, from tacos to whiskey. This was my favorite place.
ATELIER SEPTEMBER
We parked our bikes at Torvehallerne and walked aimlessly through a few parks and streets near that area. We love exploring without a map and found ourselves near the coffee shop Atelier September. We stopped in for some coffee and the prettiest avocado toast on danish rye bread. This place was so rad, if we lived in the city I would probably post up here a few days a week. What a beautiful space.
the round tower
We walked over to the Round Tower after our coffee and toast, not really expecting anything but a neat climb with some views. This tower blew us away. The history! We loved the little facts written on plaques by each window, asking you questions and having to go to other numbered windows to find the answers. The architecture was beautiful, and the views from the top were unforgettable. Plus there was a really neat museum halfway up! Definitely worth the $4 admission fee. Afterwards we walked down and checked out the cathedral attached to the tower. No words to describe it’s beauty - you’ll just have to see!
lunch & nyhavn
It was mid afternoon and we were needing some food to fuel us through more bike riding, so we headed back to Torvehallerne and bough a loaf of sourdough bread, a box of cherry tomatoes, and some figs. While I was buying these Scott found some vegan chocolate gelato too. We sat in the sunshine and feasted on our snacks, then hopped on Lorenzo and Kit Kat (aka our bikes) to do some more exploring. First up was Nyhavn.
I hope the person wasn’t on their bike when this happened! Haha.
freetown christiana + morgenstedet
We rode our bikes over a few bridges, exploring new areas down towards Freetown Christiana. We biked back over towards the city center to go to Kompa 9 for an oat milk cortado, herbal tea, and some vegan banana bread (but none of this was documented - oops!). Afterwards we “explored” (aka got lost) in the vicinity of Freetown Christiana on our way to dinner at Morgenstedet. This was the best meal I ate on the entire trip, and possibly ever. We got the lentils and rice plate, but it was anything but this boring description. I still dream of its flavor! (Managed to get a photo of this dish - it was so stunning.)
After, we biked over to the amusement park Tivoli Gardens, but it sadly wasn’t opened this time of year. We ditched our bikes cause out butts were tired (ha!) and walked back to our apartment for the night. We crashed hard, having been biking or walking most of the entire day. Such a great feeling! Hearts and bellies were so full.
The next morning I think Scott had had enough of taking photos documenting our trip ;). We went to Rist Kaffebar for coffee and biked back down to Torvehallerne for some airplane snacks, and Scott grabbed another bowl of oatmeal from the Grød location there. From here we checkout out of our AirBnb, walked to the rail station, and caught the train to the airport to fly out by noon. What a whirlwind 48 hours in this city to cap off the best trip we have ever been on. Till next time, Scandinavia!
