The University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens are AMAZING! Over a dozen large greenhouses are surrounded by acres of outdoor annuals, perennials, ponds, rock gardens, and lush trees. Our day in this garden was a redolent treat. After the garden we met Ellen and Søren at the Canal Kafeen where they treated us to a “traditional” Danish lunch – herring, cheese, and beer 🙂 The curried herring and smoked herring were particularly good. Refreshed, we walked past the Caritas Well on Gammeltorv and took a tour of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory (souvenirs!).

We spent one morning at Rosenborg Slot, the castle in the center of Copenhagen which houses the Royal Danish Collections and the Crown Jewels. The castle is surrounded by the Rosenborg Castle Gardens (commonly referred to as the King’s Gardens), which are the country’s oldest royal gardens (established in the early 1600s). We toured the castle and had a nice lunch at the little cafe on the castle grounds.

On our second day touring Copenhagen we decided to walk from Ellen and Søren’s’s apartment to the Danish Royal Residence of Amalienborg and then on to wherever we might go. That made for a little bit of a walk. Fortunately we got a chance to use some of Copenhagen’s ‘City Bikes’. The city of Copenhagen operates a generous scheme, called Bycykler (City Bikes), by which anyone can borrow a bicycle for free. Motivated in part by a desire to limit motor-vehicle traffic in the city center, private businesses and the city council sponsor approximately 2000 bikes for the Bycykler program. The bikes can be found at hundreds of bike racks…

We took the night train from German to Denmark, arriving the next morning at Københavns Hovedbanegård (Copenhagen Central Train Station). Ellen met us and led us back to her lovely apartment. Ellen and Søren were wonderful hosts – I hope we can return the hospitality in the future. Ellen and Søren’s apartment faces the Søerne. The view out their windows is spectacular, as you can see in the picture. LisaDiane and I spent a few days exploring the city. We visited the Round Tower, shopped along Kobmagergade, and explored Nyhavn.