[Eng] – #2 The Castle Islet- Copenhagen

Hello and welcome to the second episode of my visit of Copenhagen. In April 2018 I decided to attend an event in the capital of Denmark and I jumped at the idea to visit one of the best cities in the North of Europe. The Castle Islet (or Slotsholmen) was the main focus of my second day in the city.

As I had done the day before, I woke up really early and I was in the city center already at 8.00 in the morning. The weather had improved and it was not that cold, but it was still Copenhagen and I was wearing a jacket the whole day. Headed out to Slotsholmen, there are a lot of cool palace to visit beside the famous Christiansborg palace. The first one that I looked upon was the Christian IV’s Stock Exchange, also known as Børsen. It is a very large building with a picturesque entrance and a very particular appearance. The most notable characteristic is however the tower, with its distinctive spire that represents the tails of four dragons twined together.

One of the building that I really liked was the Royal Danish Library and the adjoint garden. It is a very old building that gave me a sensation of peace.

As I walked toward the Christiansborg palace, I started realizing that I made a very big mistake. Everything opens at 10 a.m. in Copenhagen and I was one hour early for any of the museum and monuments in the area. The central tower of the palace was not even opening until 11 a.m. A bit disappointed and annoyed at myself for not having checked the opening time, I hanged out in the area for a while and took some pictures of the buildings.

Not willing to wait inert in the square, because of the coldness but mostly for my relentless need to explore as much as possible, I decided to switch my plan and literally sprint to the Christianshavn neighborhood. In particular, I wanted to get a closer look at the Church of Our Saviour that I had seen briefly the day before during the boat trip. This baroque church has an external golden winding staircase that can be climbed to the top to get a pretty view of the city. Unfortunately, and seriously I can’t remember why, I wasn’t aware it was possible to climb and I didn’t make it to the top.

After a short walk around the church, I decided it was time to go back to the Castle Islet and enter the Royal Palace. The Christiansborg palace is full of very precious items, including some very awesome carpets. For this reason, you are forced to cover your shoes with plastic. This reminded me of my job, because I have to wear something similar every time I enter the laboratory of my company. I found it super funny and I texted a couple of colleagues to share a picture and to remind them that, even on vacation, I was 100% supporting the working team. Yes, sure….

The dining hall was pretty impressive, as some of the furniture in the other rooms.

In the lower level of the palace, it is also possible to visit the foundation of the previous palaces. In fact, the actual palace is the third built over the same place since the previous two got destroyed by war and fire. In the underground, there is a small museum that also shows reproduction of the previous castles.

Heading out of the royal palace, I decided to climb the clock tower to get a very beautiful view of the city and of the island from above. The tower is not very tall but I still could get some really nice pictures.

I concluded the visit with a short exploration of the kitchen, where there were plenty of reproduction of the instruments used to cook when the king was still living in the palace. It was nothing incredible but it was still a very nice visit.

Leaving Slotsholmen, I had still plenty of time before heading to the Royal Arena for the second day of the event I had decided to attend. I decided then to visit the National Museum of Denmark and I had lunch inside, in a nice small café, eating some sort of fried fish or cheese that I never had before. I don’t remember exactly but I have in mind the memory of something really good with a particular taste that was new to me. I think it was something typical of Denmark but I couldn’t find it on the internet. I guess I’ll have to go back if I want to remember.

Anyway, the museum is focused on cultural history and I was curious to learn something about Denmark. I focused a lot on the Bronze and Middle Age, where the influence of Vikings was more significant. I watched with particular attention old weapons and armors, being very interested in this kind of artefact and trying to find inspiration for the fantasy book I am writing (in which weapons are really important for the story). I also love to fantasize in the museum about the history of the weapons showed and imagine how a certain item would look like in perfect conditions and in the hand of a mighty warrior. This is one of my favorite things to do in a museum, beside learning new things, which is always useful.

After my visit at the National museum, it was almost three o’clock and I had once again run out. So I hopped on the metro and went back to the hotel, to quickly change my clothes and finished my day in the Royal Arena. I was sitting in the same place and I found some of the friends of the day before, having definitely a lot of fun.

This is all for the second day in Copenhagen. The last episode is coming up in the next article. Be sure to follow the blog to be notified when the next publication goes online.
Thank you very much and see you next time.

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Next article – Hamlet Castle