Friday 15 February 2008

Velkommen til København

Since Dad had a business meeting in Copenhagen, it seemed a good excuse for Mum and I to join him for a weekend away.



Mum and I spent a relaxing Friday morning - getting up late, and then strolling down to the Nyhavn, a very picturesque street with colourful houses and a canal running down through the middle. As we happened to see a canal boat tour about to leave, we decided to jump on for the 1 hour ride around the canals and harbour. The trip itself was quite fun, taking us past the new theatre and opera house up the canal to the Little Mermaid (who is rather disappointing in the "flesh") and then back down through Christianshavn - an area which is known as Little Amsterdam, for its canals, and is also the setting for the book "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow".


At the end of the canal tour we headed up into the centre of Copenhagen to meet Dad and two of his business associates for lunch at the Schønnemann restaurant, which opens at lunchtime only, and serves traditional Danish smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches). The food and atmosphere in the restaurant were both excellent, and we were all very taken with the convenient ordering system - simply tick the box on the menu next to your choice of sandwich. A very nice easy option when you don't speak the language!


After lunch we visited the Rundetårn, a 17th Century tower that was (and still is) used as an observatory. The tower has a wonderful circular passageway leading up it, which were used by a horse and carriage to bring books to & from the library which was accessed by the tower. The top of the tower gives a fantastic view over the city - something I didn't fully appreciate on my previous visit to Copenhagen, as the weather had been very cloudy.


After leaving the Rundetårn, we headed slowly back to the hotel through the shopping streets and back along the Nyhavn, trying some toasted almonds, which were available from numerous street stalls, along the way.

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