Valentine’s Day was a whirlwind of delicious food and fantastic sites!
My friend and I started off our day with coffee and chocolates (we had a big exchange of Swedish and Canadian sweets the previous evening) before heading over to the metro. I’ve got to say, the Copenhagen Metro is 10000000000000000x better than Ottawa’s light rail train. It not only shows up, its GPS board shows the time down to the half-minute, it is super clean, spacious, and the wheels seem to actually be round. Amazing!
It was a gorgeous, sunny day so we decided to explore outside. We headed over to Strøget, a pedestrian, car-free shopping street in the centre of town. It’s one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe at 1.1 km! Our target was Lagkagehuset, an amazing bakery chain in CPH, where we planned to get pastries for that morning’s breakfast and a couple of loaves for the rest of the week. We chose that bakery in particular because we heard that they had a delicious gluten-free loaf, which was a necessity for my friend.
The bakery had placed hearts on all the displays and they had scattered rose petals on the floor. The other patrons were amused by my excitement over the festive decor (I can’t help getting excited about the little things!). There were so many incredible options, but I settled for a fancy pretzel pølser (Danish hotdog), a cappuccino, and Skagensbrød (wholegrain & rye sourdough with poppy seeds and sunflower seeds). My friend chose the gluten-free loaf, but wasn’t fancying pastries, so we headed over to a hot dog stand to grab a sausage sans bread. We sat in a square to enjoy our breakfasts, with a view of a tiny wine bar with a big patio.
Strøget is a quirky and wonderful place. Chinese lanterns are stringed above all kinds of shops and restaurants. You can find everything there, from handmade chocolates to Lego to designer clothes, and anything in between. There are lots of food options from all corners of the globe — yes, even including shawarma (shout out to Ottawa!).
This is where I found the postcards that I had sent, as well as Hotel Chocolat, an award-winning chocolatier with delicious hot cocoa. We found small courtyard alleyways, with even more interesting shops. There was one tiny coffee shop — Jack’s Hole in a Wall — that had the funniest signs.
From there, we made our way to the colourful waterfront of Nyhavn. A rainbow of 17th-century townhouses, bars, cafes, and restaurants stretch along a canal from all the way to the harbour front, just south of the Royal Playhouse. The area was buzzing with people enjoying the sunshine. We strolled down the walkway, taking in the sites, before turning back, crossing a love lock bridge, and making our way to Inderhavnsbroen, a combined pedestrian and bicycle bridge with great views of the Opera House.
Upon crossing, we found ourselves at a restaurant that I have been dying to try for months! I’m not sure if my friend planned it or not, but he mentioned “Hey, isn’t that one of the restaurants you wanted to go to?”, as we walked by. Obviously, we had to go in!
Restaurant 108 is a one Michelin Star restaurant. I discovered them through Instagram and immediately fell in love with their beautiful plating, fresh atmosphere, and dedication to local ingredients. Our experience there was absolutely wonderful. In fact, it was so good that I dedicated a whole blog post just to 108 here!
After our lunch, we strolled on over to Christiania, Copenhagen’s famous freetown. In the middle of the city is a community that operates independently, with their own laws, their own flag, and their own way of life. In 1971, a group of homeless people turned an abandoned military area into a home. Since then, its community has grown to almost 1000 members, who have all agreed to live by a certain set of principles which include fairness, equality, and no taxes.
Despite operating outside Danish laws, Christiania has its own set of rules to keep the peace, many of which are based off idealistic ‘hippy’ views (not my words). The first rule is zero violence. Another rule is no running, as it invokes fear. No cars. And no pictures (they didn’t seem to mind people taking photos in the outskirts, where I took mine). Hard drugs are banned, but weed is readily available (police raids are frequent though, and they tend to slap tourists with heavy fines). There are cafes everywhere, serving local, organic food, and there are lots of vegan and gluten-free options. The street art here is fantastic and there are even art galleries too! This area was so different from the rest of Copenhagen — different from really any other place I’ve ever visited.
After exploring the area, we made our way back to the Copenhagen Harbour. We saw landmarks like the Opera House at sunset. Behind us, I had my first view of Amalienborg, the home of the Danish royal family. Behind it, I could see the magnificent dome of Frederiks Kirke.
Cute little coffee trucks dotted the walkway. They were so tiny that they were basically just mobile Italian espresso machines!
We spotted a luxury yacht named after one of the most iconic James Bond films. I did a bit of research and apparently the Dr No boat was custom build by eccentric millionaire Tom Perkins as a hobby project. It is a yacht designed for underwater exploration.
Across the walkway was the Royal Cast Collection. Part of Statens Museum for Kunst, over 2000 amazing casts fill this Danish West Indian Warehouse. Michelangelo’s David, Nike of Samothrace, and I Am Queen Mary are three striking examples of what you can find there.
Continuing on, we saw Gefionspringvandet, a bronze fountain completed in 1908, depicting goddess Gefion plowing the sea with 4 oxen. In norse mythology, she is a Goddess of fertility and agriculture.
We made our way through Langelinie, a pier, promenade, and park that is home to the famous Little Mermaid statue. Lots of people told me that the statue was ~small~, so I was actually expecting something itty bitty. The statue ended up being about 40cm shorter than me lol.
The Little Mermaid is a bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen, depicting a mermaid becoming human, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. A gift from Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen to the City of Copenhagen, it was first unveiled in 1913. Jacobsen actually fell in love with the character while watching a ballet and commissioned Eriksen to create the sculpture because of that. The ballerina didn’t want to pose nude for the artist, so it is actually modeled after his wife. Unfortunately, the Mermaid has been the victim of vandalism. She lost her head twice, lost and arm once, and had paint poured on her several times. Luckily, she was in pristine condition when we visited her!
My friend and I ended our Valentine’s Day with a reservation at Vækst. Located in the middle of Copenhagen’s old Latin quarter, this restaurant centres around a beautiful greenhouse, stretching up through the its two floors. It is recommended by the 2020 Michelin Guide, and after our fantastic visit, I can see why! Like our lunch spot, you can read more about our experience in my blog post here.
Overall, I absolutely loved spending Valentine’s Day in Copenhagen. It was low key and relaxed, with lots of delicious food and abit of adventure. There are a lot less tourists than in the summer and the weather was milder than expected. If you have the chance to go, do it!
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