Copenhagen - Day 3
One of the things we've noticed about this part of Europe is they are not early starters and in case you missed it, it's still light at 10pm so there’s usually stuff going on late. Which is nice as we dont feel the need to set an alarm everyday and get out too early. We're still managing to do and see stacks.
Today's plan is to actually check out the area we've been staying in, the Meatpacking District. We head over to the part it's named after and where they (you'll never guess) used to buy and sell meat. There's still a bit of trade and industry going on, but it's slowly being gentrified with cafes, bars, restaurants and bike shops. The whole area was built in the 1930s but it looks like 1970s style. It must have been well ahead of its time in that respect, which is why its now heritage-listed. It's another sunny day so we opt for an outdoor seat at a Cafe called Prolog. We order strong coffees, bread and cheese and yoghurt and muesli for breakfast. Bread rolls and cheese are a staple around here which is great, but protein for breakfast anyone?
Continuing on our Danish TV show tour, we want to check out the police headquarters which they film in in The Killing (we previously thought we found this in Stockholm, but later realised it wasn't the same place, it just looked similar 🙃). The walk there is a non-event down a highway. Weird seeing so much car traffic, as bikes and pedestrians rule the roost around Copenhagen. We make it to police headquarters and we can't get in. That was a bust. It's just started pelting with rain so we take shelter under a bus stop and plan our next move.
The rain eases, onwards to the Black Diamond library we go. It's an impressive looking black diamond structure which it is famous for. Jeff has quite the moment with the architecture. We head in and it's equally well designed inside. We wander around for a bit and see lots of people using it for study. There's some cool old bits they've kept from the original library too.
Next we're going to see Christiania, the “Freetown” in Copenhagen. It's a commune in an old military base, most famously known for its free trade cannabis, which is illegal in Denmark. It's a rainy Monday so there's not many locals out and about and very few tourists. We assume it would be popping off if it was a sunny Saturday or Sunday. We enjoy our stroll around, nonetheless. We note a sign that talks about Pusher St being closed due to unwanted dealers coming in and problems associated with them. Christiana is very much about the weed only and don't want this to become a dangerous drug den, they are strictly no hard drugs. Peace and love, man.
Well it's been a minute since our last bread bun, so we make our way to a yummy looking Cafe. It's located below street level in a hotel, very cosy on this rainy day. We order a chicken pesto sandwich and a pork beetroot one, along with coffees. And a cookie to wash it down. It's all fantastic. “Sandwich of the trip!” Jeff declares.
We catch up on a bit of blogging and onwards we go to see the Little Mermaid statue. The Little Mermaid is based on a Hans Christen Andersen story, hence the statue. The guy who created it was obsessed with the Little Mermaid and had his wife pose for it. The statue is nice.
When we were at the Black Diamond library earlier today Jeff spotted an architect museum which he thinks might be worth seeing. We want to ride there (do as the Danish do and all that) but the app doesn't seem to want to play ball, so we get a taxi instead. We head to the ticket desk and after a bit of sass from the attendant we find out only one of 3 exhibitions is actually open, so entry is free. We head up to the expo. Jeff seems to be into it and there's some stuff about the Sydney fish market and another Quay building in Sydney still being built (we think).
We take a seat and think about what to do next. It's our last day in Copenhagen and we've covered plenty of ground. I know, the casino! We need a chip for the collection after all. We walk over, pay the entrance fee and Jeff's plays a very quick game of blackjack. It's quiet, being a Monday arvo. We get our chip, although Jeff is sure he already has one, despite not remembering being here on his last visit to Denmark.
It's time for dinner. We've heard a bit about the fish market and want to see how it compares to the Swedish ones. Yep, it's fishy. Lots of fresh fish, as well as cooked to eat now options. There's also a few other cuisines on offer. We get sucked into buying some traditional delish Danish treats, marshmallows coated in chocolate. We settle on food for dinner, Courts with fish and chips and Jeff orders from a place that lets you pick a certain number of fish items, and a certain number of salad items, but the fish options are like salmon ceviche, tuna sashimi in fancy seeds, for example. So fresh, so healthy.
We think we've done and seen a fair chunk of Copenhagen, so we head back to the hotel for the night.
