We started the day with coffee and cake in the apartment. That bakery makes a great confection with an ample amount of whipped cream.
Our big plan for today is to go to Christianborg Slot and climb the tower, but first we head back to the bookstore. Not for the Claude Shannon paper, but for a collection of H. C. Andersen stories translated into English in the 1850's. Souvenir acquired.
We walk to the castle which, now that we've got our bearings, is quite close to where we are staying. There are several areas to tour. First, the royal apartments, which are obviously bonkers and require guests to wear disposable booties to keep the floors clean.
The library is epic.
There is an annual dance each year, where much of this complex gets regular use. In addition to the lush wall treatments and interesting floor patters, there is also an exhibit about the Danish West Indies, slavery, the revolt, and the end of slavery in Danish colonies.
Next, we headed to the tower for the view. This is a 400 step climb. Or it would be if there weren't a set of elevators to take you up, after going through security and making sure to take you past the restaurant. There are still some stairs to get up to the last floor, but not nearly as many or as tight a spiral as our accommodations. The view is great.
On a clear day, Sweden is visible. On this cloudy day, the bridge and the edge of the Swedish coast are still visible.
After climbing down the stairs (yeah, down is steps), the next stop was the ruins of two former castles on this site. A section of the outer walls of both has been preserved in the basement of the current palace. The first was torn down by conquerors with the aid of 27 stone masons. The second caught fire and very few pieces of property were rescued. The current castle was completed in 1928.
Next was the Royal Kitchen, which is set up as it would have been during the largest feast ever prepared there. All the cookware is copper. The dessert menu was respectable.
The last area to tour was the Royal Stable, where to this day several white horses are kept. There are also plenty of historic carriages.
Having castled Bill out, it was time to start drinking. We headed to a cocktail bar on his to do list, arriving a few minutes before they opened. This was close to Halifax Original, a hamburger chain in Denmark, so we got an early dinner first.
The bar itself was small, but well appointed, including some leather and wood chairs we'd seen at the design museum. Our cocktails were good, but not at the same level of creative as Ruby. Before it got too crowded, we headed back out.
Our last stop of the evening was 1105, a cocktail bar right by our apartment that is only open Thursday through Sunday. We were the first to arrive and sat at the bar. The bartender here was very knowledgeable about his craft, and eager to share info about spirits and recommendations for other bars and restaurants. I got two of the cocktails on the menu, the first very floral, and the second warm and comfortable. Both were excellent. Bill tried a cocktail from the menu and then went for two rounds of dealer's choice with the bartender. The first was a twist on a negroni, which was good but not mind blowing. The second was an aquavit drink using whatever a Christmas flavored aquavit is, and it was heaven in a glass.
We returned to the room for a puzzle game we call "packing" and finished the drinks in the fridge. Tomorrow will be a slightly early start as we change hotels, but we still have one more day in Copenhagen.
Our big plan for today is to go to Christianborg Slot and climb the tower, but first we head back to the bookstore. Not for the Claude Shannon paper, but for a collection of H. C. Andersen stories translated into English in the 1850's. Souvenir acquired.
We walk to the castle which, now that we've got our bearings, is quite close to where we are staying. There are several areas to tour. First, the royal apartments, which are obviously bonkers and require guests to wear disposable booties to keep the floors clean.
The library is epic.
There is an annual dance each year, where much of this complex gets regular use. In addition to the lush wall treatments and interesting floor patters, there is also an exhibit about the Danish West Indies, slavery, the revolt, and the end of slavery in Danish colonies.
Next, we headed to the tower for the view. This is a 400 step climb. Or it would be if there weren't a set of elevators to take you up, after going through security and making sure to take you past the restaurant. There are still some stairs to get up to the last floor, but not nearly as many or as tight a spiral as our accommodations. The view is great.
On a clear day, Sweden is visible. On this cloudy day, the bridge and the edge of the Swedish coast are still visible.
After climbing down the stairs (yeah, down is steps), the next stop was the ruins of two former castles on this site. A section of the outer walls of both has been preserved in the basement of the current palace. The first was torn down by conquerors with the aid of 27 stone masons. The second caught fire and very few pieces of property were rescued. The current castle was completed in 1928.
Next was the Royal Kitchen, which is set up as it would have been during the largest feast ever prepared there. All the cookware is copper. The dessert menu was respectable.
The last area to tour was the Royal Stable, where to this day several white horses are kept. There are also plenty of historic carriages.
Having castled Bill out, it was time to start drinking. We headed to a cocktail bar on his to do list, arriving a few minutes before they opened. This was close to Halifax Original, a hamburger chain in Denmark, so we got an early dinner first.
The bar itself was small, but well appointed, including some leather and wood chairs we'd seen at the design museum. Our cocktails were good, but not at the same level of creative as Ruby. Before it got too crowded, we headed back out.
Our last stop of the evening was 1105, a cocktail bar right by our apartment that is only open Thursday through Sunday. We were the first to arrive and sat at the bar. The bartender here was very knowledgeable about his craft, and eager to share info about spirits and recommendations for other bars and restaurants. I got two of the cocktails on the menu, the first very floral, and the second warm and comfortable. Both were excellent. Bill tried a cocktail from the menu and then went for two rounds of dealer's choice with the bartender. The first was a twist on a negroni, which was good but not mind blowing. The second was an aquavit drink using whatever a Christmas flavored aquavit is, and it was heaven in a glass.
We returned to the room for a puzzle game we call "packing" and finished the drinks in the fridge. Tomorrow will be a slightly early start as we change hotels, but we still have one more day in Copenhagen.
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