Something about the setting of a dark, cold and snowy February evening (with the Superbowl playing in the background) to put me in the mood for another Denmark recap.
The first stop on Day 13 was Fælledparken. Located a mere five minutes from the apartment, this expansive green space has something for everyone. Exercise venues, various unique playgrounds, soccer nets and other sports paraphernalia, and a massive skateboarding park. Perhaps most unique, to me at least, was Trafiklegepladsen – a location where Danish children can safely learn “traffic laws.” Although it’s not overly clear from the picture, everything is scaled to child-size, including all signs and benches.
There are relatively distinctive sections to the park, including a water area, complete with small lakes and fountains. This park is also bordered by Parken, the large city stadium (where we looked longingly at the Coldplay concertgoers).
We’d visited the park once before, but there were 25,000 runners competing in a race for charity – so we hadn’t been able to truly appreciate all the park had to offer. Next we headed to Thorvaldsens Museum – Thorvaldsen being the sculptor behind the gorgeous Twelve Apostles installation in the Church of Our Lady.
True to typical frugal form, we elected to attend the museum on the specified day when entrance fees were waived. Despite having lived in Copenhagen over a year, Tim had yet to visit the museum, so it was a learning experience for us all. Most of the sculptures were original plaster casts, used in preparation for the final marble versions. Many were commissioned by political/religious leaders, and all were impressive in regard to both sheer size and attention to detail.
The architecture of the building was as impressive as the sculptures; the employee conscripted to provide a brief blurb upon our entrance, was refreshingly passionate about the venue and insisted we remember to look up. The intricate paintings/etchings on the ceilings were spectacular. In some locations, we passed below scaffolding where we could observe artists reconstructing ceiling panels to their former glory.
The museum housed the plaster casts of the Twelve Apostles; interestingly, Thorvaldsen had an apprentice work on a variety of casts but was unhappy with the end product two of the casts and ended up re-doing much of the work himself. Casts by both Thorvalden and his apprentice were on display for comparison, and it was clear why Thorvaldsen was the instructor! Much less impressive in their plaster form and in cramped quarters, but beautiful nonetheless.
A statue of the artist, who is buried in the central courtyard of the museum.
There was a special exhibit in the basement including a variety of Alexander the Great pieces but Abby had reached the end of her patience for sculpture observation. So I headed outside with her in search of some source of distraction. A handful of rocks worked their magic.
This picture captures her personality so well…
I’ll admit, so many months removed from the events, I’m at a loss as to the agenda of that particular afternoon, but I’m suspecting it involved lunch (likely sandwiches on some delish Danish bread) and naps. Then we headed off for another highlight of our trip – a visit to Tivoli.
The second oldest amusement park in the world (we had visited the oldest amusement park a week earlier), it welcomes nearly 4 million visitors every year. Right in the heart of Copenhagen, Tivoli is like a whole different world – arcade games, restaurants galore (Hillary Clinton ate at one of the park restaurants when she was in the city), and a variety of rides (too expensive for our taste, and far less impressive in scale than Canada’s Wonderland).
After the Deer Park, I would say Tivoli was my second favourite outing while in Denmark. Partly, I suppose, because Abby was perfectly content the entire evening. There was no lack of interesting sights and sounds.
A floating restaurant.
Another famous restaurant in the park.
One of the “streets” within the park, including various food stands and arcade booths.
Our second taste of churros didn’t disappoint – fresh from the frier, these were delicious.
There was a great little playground in the heart of the park. The entire base of the playground was covered in a soft rubber to make it easier to withstand bumps and falls. Before we could actually make it into the playground proper, we got side-tracked by the musical opportunities.
As we’d noticed throughout our stay, everything was child-friendly. And for good reason – kids are everywhere. Playing happily on their own most of the time, while parents observe from a distance. Children seem happy, active, and obedient. On a brief tangent – the same attributes seemed common among Danish pets!
Lots of fun playground to explore. I suspect another time we visit, this will hold even more appeal.
Another event that endeared the park to me – a heated, luxurious changing room for kids, complete with complimentary (good quality) diapers and wipes!
We finished the evening by watching a pantomime show. It was a hilarious performance, and was a perfect end to the evening.
And thus ended another great day in Denmark – complete with a snazzy railing.
Optimisic Musings of a Pessimist 