Our second full day in Copenhagen started with a leisurely, long breakfast with Tine, Bjarn, Christian and Sofie. The adults chatted while the kids left the table to play Foosball. It was fun to see how quickly they had become good friends. Christian practiced his English and taught Hamish a little Danish – more on that in a minute.
After breakfast we walked over to the Central Station to farewell our hosts. They had taken time off work and school to spend time with us and it was time for them to go. Once at the station we had a long farewell. The kids grabbed every moment to “connect” with each other on their mobile phones. I wonder if they will stay in contact? 
Just before we parted, Christian played a prank on Hamish. Thinking he was learning a final piece of Danish, Hamish recited a phrase to Tine, that went something like “you are stupid”. The exact translation got lost in the laughter and Hamish’s embarrassed rosy cheeks.
A great big thank you to Tine, Bjarn, Christian and Sofie for spending your time with us and showing us the parts of Copenhagen that are special to you. You have an open invitation to join us in Australia if ever the opportunity presents.
During our walks the previous day there were a number of shops and places the kids wanted to revisit. First on the list was a souvenir shop to buy a couple of postcards. As much as they are having a great time, they are both missing their classmates and wanted to send a postcard to their class. After that it was off to a big toy store where they found toys much the same as they’d find at home and then to the Lego store where they saw more Lego than they thought possible. Amelia and Hamish took the opportunity to make 3 custom mini-figs, while I tried to work out how I could fit the Millennium Falcon set into my backpack.
This time of the year sees Christmas Markets popping up all over town – and Megan is a sucker for a market. Despite finding many things of interest Megan did not buy anything, worried about how we would get things home without breakage.
We had planned on finishing our day at the Tivoli Gardens Amusement Park, but the weather conspired against that plan with rain and windchill dampening our enthusiasm. Instead we returned to the bar/cafe at our hostel where we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting, blogging, journaling and planning the next day. In the end we had an early dinner there also, before heading upstairs for an early night.
We have all been exhausted and still find ourselves struggling with our sleep patterns. Megan went to bed around 8pm and i’m sure she was asleep before her head settled into the pillow. I got the kids sorted out and into bed and then hopped into bed to read a book. At 11:30pm Megan awoke and assuming that she has slept the whole night proceeded to tell me that she had enjoyed a most amazing sleep. She then asked what time it was and I did not have the heart to tell her that she had not even made it to a new day!
The next day dawned with plenty of things on our Todo list, but all good things come to those who wait and first we needed to get some washing done – domestic chores wait for no one. Great facilities at the hostel allowed us to lounge in the library while waiting for the washing and gave Megan a chance to catch up on some work.
With the washing done and folded we headed off to walk through Tivoli. Although officially open most of the attractions were not operating so we walked around a bit to get our bearings before heading off to the Christiansborg Palace. This is not the royal residence, but rather the seat of parliament and the royal offices. The public spaces are well kept, giving a great insight into the history on Denmark and it’s royalty. The pictures do not do justice to the grandeur. The site of the current Christiansborg Palace has actually been home to 4 castles/palaces and has been intrinsic in the history of Copenhagen. Under the current palace, we did s tour of excavated ruins of the original castle. Amazing trying to wrap you head around the timeline. Our time at the palace finished with a visit to the royal stables. Hamish was oblivious to the fact there would be “real” horses there, but our noses informed the rest of us of this fact.
Many hours of walking had us searching for some lunch, but also our next exploration. We settled on a cafe at the National Museum with Megan having her hopes of a hot bowl of soup lifted only to be dashed when told that it was a goats cheese soup – possibly the only soup on the planet she could not stomach. After some really nice sandwiches we briefly explored a small part of the museum. The kids misread a sign, thinking there was a history of Lego but instead we found ourselves looking at the history of toys (with some of the best doll houses we have ever seen!) and then Denmark through the 17th-18th Century.
Wandering back to the centre of town we went to the Hans Christian Andersen museum. Although small, we got a good sense of his life and motivations and enjoyed snippets from some of his well-known stories including Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid and The Emperors New Clothes.
By this stage it was getting dark outside (a repeating theme) and it felt like we should head back even though it was only about 4 in the afternoon. Instead we visited the Guinness World Records museum, particularly enjoying the second floor with many interactive exhibits.
Heading back to Tivoli to see it lit up at night, the weather was unkind and although persevering with a walk around the park, the kids were disappointed to miss out on doing some rides. Some warm, candied almonds lifted our spirits and then we had a delicious dinner at Wagamama – hardly Danish but it certainly hit the spot and warmed us up after a long day of walking. Back to the hostel to pack our bags in readiness for our departure in the morning for Sweden.