It’s a good thing visiting a new city means lots of walking or biking, because I did not go hungry in Copenhagen! Living with food sensitivities means I have to be picky about where I eat, so when I find a place that works for me I usually stick to it. This was the case in Copenhagen as well, I ate the same breakfast and lunch everyday.
Breakfast was eaten on the waterfront strip of Nyhavn, at a restaurant called Ved Kajen. The restaurants in Nyhavn clearly showcase how touristy this waterfront strip is, because all of the restaurants have the same menu. The brunch menu had four options: toast or a croissant, eggs and bacon, avocado toast, and “brunch” which was like a leveled up version of bacon and eggs.
I got the bacon and eggs, without toast, add avocado. The side salad was cute, about 1/50th the amount of greens I usually eat in one sitting, but I wasn’t there for the greens. I needed fuel to keep me going more than just a couple hours. This breakfast lasted me the morning of my bike adventure, as well as the following day of sitting on the hop on hop off (hoho) bus.
The hoho bus was a great idea, we just did it too late in the trip. We were only in Copenhagen for three days, two of which were also travel days. We did the hoho bus our last day (our flight wasn’t until 7pm) but we were only able to ride it once. We did get off the bus at one of the stops – the Rosenborg Castle.
Sadly because of the time crunch, we didn’t get to go inside. I guess this means I just have to go back someday! The hoho bus was a good way to spend the morning of our final day, I just wish we had more time to utilize the stops. We had already seen a handful of the stops thanks to our bike adventure the previous day, as well as our walking adventure the day we arrived, but the narrative on the bus provided more history of the city.
The day we arrived in the city, we started exploring around 1pm, and wasted no time exploring by foot. The walk from our hotel towards the city center brought us through the most beautiful and tranquil park. The park had a large loop with runners/walkers/and bikers enjoying the paths around a lake called Stadsgraven.
Our first stop was Our Saviour Church, to climb the tower. None of us knew anything about this place, and we stumbled upon it while trying to find something else. Naturally we got in line because #everyoneelsewasdoingit.
We got in line in front of an Australian man, who also had no idea what the tower was. We weren’t sure if we had to pay, or if we could pay with a card, but we quickly learned that everywhere in Copenhagen is not only card friendly, but they are often card ONLY! We climbed the 400 steps of the spiraling tower for an amazing panoramic view of the city.
I also climbed The Round Tower for a city view the following day, but this view was superior.
One of my secrets for traveling light – I wear the same outfit more than once.
The tower climb has a charge, but the church itself is free to enter. After climbing the tower we decided to visit the inside. The savior himself sits atop the spiral tower, and the inside had a beautiful blue and gold color scheme. I’ve yet to enter a church I don’t gawk at in Europe, but the simplicity of this one was charming.
After preparing our souls with the good vibes of the savior, we made our way across the street to Freetown Christiania. Christiania is an alternative district in Copenhagen that is mostly known for its weed selling. This former military barrack area was taken over by squatters (similar to Metelkova) in 1971, and these days over 900 people live there.
The community also has restaurants, a music venue, cafe’s, and souvenirs. There is one strip of area called Pusher Street that is completely dedicated to the selling of weed, which is illegal in Denmark. It seems that although weed is illegal in Denmark, people turn a blind eye to the community of Christiania.
I tried to get my dad to buy a weed brownie, but no such luck.
Aside from the edibles, Christiania also has amazing art work from murals to sculptures to giants made of wood. I can see why people enjoy living within this community, the way of life is carefree and chill. I’m not a smoker of the hash, but to each their own! After doing some research on the area, it appears the original community was not a fan of the weed selling, and local residents of this mini community don’t all appreciate the illegal drug selling.
You’d have thought we indulged in one too many magic brownies after leaving Christiania, because I WAS SO hungry. I mentioned earlier that my lunch of choice was the same during my time in Copenhagen, which was completely unexpected. Copenhagen is known for their hotdogs and for smørrebrød, an open face sandwich with many different varieties, but both of those have too much bread.
I don’t eat bread (unless I want to be a zombie for a day) and I don’t eat hotdogs, so my meal of choice was found at the outdoor street food market called Broens Gadekøkken. Of all the options at the market, the one that seemed the safest for me was at a place called Dhaba. I flew all the way to Copenhagen to have some bomb ass Indian food.
Go figure.
I got double veg and double chicken, however there is a vegetarian option as well. I loved the simplicity of the menu’s in Copenhagen making the ordering process much easier. Most of my homemade food has no spices or seasoning, because I just enjoy eating things plain. Plain food is safe food, so this was an extra treat because the flavor just about blew my mouth off my face. There was some spice to the sauce too, which was nice.
Copenhagen is a very sustainable city, and makes an effort to be as green as possible. The plate served with this Indian food was edible, and made from wheat. I didn’t eat it, but edible plates mean compostable plates! Love me a good sustainable city.
Copenhagen is an amazing city. The people are friendly, the pace is slow, the vibe is chill, and the energy is uplifting. I don’t often feel the need to visit a location twice, but I would visit Copenhagen again. I’d love to see more of Denmark in general, specifically the nature outside of the city.
I’m thankful to have experienced this quaint city with my dad and my stepmom, they made wonderful travel partners. I’m trying to be more present with my travels, and having family with me on this trip helped me slow down and appreciate the moments more. It’s interesting how traveling helps me grow as a person, even in ways I wouldn’t normally think it would.
Life is too short to live anywhere but the present moment, especially with family.
Q: Would you indulge in Freetown Christiania edibles? No judgement…
