After arriving in Copenhagen in the morning, we walked from our hotel, which sits by the water between the Indra By and Vesterbro neighborhoods, through the city to the Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK). The first thing we noticed (and love) about Copenhagen is how cool, breezy and clean the air is. It feels wonderful on our skin.
We walked through the gorgeously wide city streets, under an endlessly blue sky and bright sun, past all the four-to-five storey buildings set one against the other, each balanced with rows of large windows on every floor, and often gables on the tippy top.
Danish architecture is awesome. We fell in love with it immediately. And we feel incredibly comfortable and at ease here, even though we’re sleep deprived and tired.
The SMK is divided into European art, which was mostly old masters, French art, Danish and Nordic art, and Danish art after 1900. They are all amazing, but I especially love the rooms dedicated to Danish and Nordic art. I kept taking photos of the paintings because I’d never seen anything like them before. They were such a surprise and such a delight.
Some of my favourites are by Christen Købke, Christian Skredsvig, and Harald Slott-Møller. Then we visited the “sculpture street”, a collection of about 20 to 30 sculptures set at intervals along a long, wide avenue, with a glass ceiling three stories high and glass walls on either end that filled it with light. The sculptures are all by different artists and in different styles that were lovely to walk around and admire from all angles.
After leaving the SMK, we walked through Rosenborg Garden, which is an enormous green space, cross-crossed with paths, many of which are lined on either side by tall trees so that you feel like you’re walking through a beautiful green tunnel. On the grass between the paths, people picnic or sunbathe on blankets, soaking up as much of the summer sun as they can. The park is serene and gorgeous and we felt very lucky to have been able to enjoy it on our walk.
Our next stop was lunch, and we decided to try Mr. PHO, where we had some fantastically fresh vegan noodle soup, which helped keep us awake.
Then after some more walking, this time through the Strøget area, a pedestrian only set of streets with shops and restaurants, we made our way back to our hotel to change for a swim at Islands Brygge Harbour Bath, which is open water swimming in the middle of Copenhagen. It has four different swimming areas surrounded by decks and a several-metres-high diving platform, built to resemble a part of a ship that juts up from the sea. The water is glorious. Cold but so refreshing after a day of travel and another day of sightseeing – and little to no sleep. We wake up immediately.
After a quick shower at the hotel and a change of clothes, we went back into the city for some sweets as dinner, before heading home for some much-needed rest. Rowan was asleep before his head even began to sink into his pillow.
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