Day 5 - Copenhagen

It looked like the weather forecast was going to be accurate today; it must have rained at some point before I was awake to the world, or should it be to Copenhagen? There were signs of the fact it had rained and the sky was still somewhat overcast when I first got up today, but by the time I had finished breakfast I could see blue sky not too away, so I knew the answer to whether I'd have to lug the famous Brazilian umbrella around was "no".

The day started out with a nice walk to Denmark's National Gallery. Admission to the general gallery is free, but they also have a Bob Dylan exhibit on right now, which costs to see. I choose to skip that exhibit and just explore the general gallery. There is a lot of amazing work there, mostly from Danish artists but I also found one Picasso and a few Rembrandts. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Picasso; I've seen his work in several galleries around Europe now and I just can't seem to get a taste for it. Show me a Monet any day and I'll be very happy.

After the gallery I hoped on the M2 and got off in a neighbourhood called Frederiksberg. I had read that this area was supposed to be a classy upscale neighbourhood with spotless streets and tree-lined avenues. This area was nice and after walking just a short distance from the Metro line, I arrived at Frederiksberg Have, a large park. This park, along with the adjacent Sondermarken Park provide about 64 hectares of green space. Next to Frederiksberg Have is the zoo; I didn't go into the zoo. Frederiksberg Have was laid out when Fredrick IV started construction on Frederiksberg Castle as a palace garden. It wasn't until 1865 when access became unrestricted. The park has many winding pathways through it with ponds and canals and of course lovely trees. The view from the castle looking down onto the park was truly breathtaking. I can only imagine what it would have been like to live in the castle and then host parties on the lawns overlooking a pond. My first thought was how lovely it would be to have a wedding there on a warm summer day. I wanted to get into the castle to look around, but was told that it is only open to tours on the last Saturday of every month. The castle is used today as a military academy.

Seeing as I couldn't get into the castle, I wandered off and slowly made my way back through Frederiksberg on foot to the hotel. I decided I would walk back so I could get a better look at the city and I'm glad I did. It was a beautiful day and I was enjoying basking in the sun soaking up all the natural vitamin D I can get. After about 5 hours of walking around, I was a little tired. So I went back to the hotel to rest up a little before dinner.