3D Trip 2022 Day 9 - Hidden Gems
When I pictured Copenhagen in my head I pictured cold cloudy days with random showers. Luckily we hit it just right and got another perfect day. I’ll never forget opening the blinds in our stunning hotel room this morning looking out on crystal clear skies. We couldn’t have asked for a better day to go exploring.
We started our morning at our hotel’s great little coffee shop, called Rug. Jenn had a hot chocolate (a rare non-Starbucks one) and I had a cappuccino with a cinnamon roll. We ate it in our hotel lobby before heading out for the day. Our first stop on the itinerary was to go to Christiansborg Palace. We had bought tickets online and after accidentally going into Parliament, we found our way into the palace. For the next hour or so we walked through the beautiful rooms of the palace including the library, dining rooms, and various living areas. It was ornate, beautiful, but a bit stale, nothing really that kept our interest for long. Our tickets gave us access to the kitchen and the ruins of the palace and we spent a few minutes in both but neither was anything to write home about.
After an hour we left the palace and made the 15-minute walk to Nyhavn harbor. We visited here yesterday but it was on the tail end of our walk so we wanted to go back. I’m so glad we did because it is one of the most picturesque areas of Copenhagen. We walked up and down the harbor snapping at least 100 photos before walking towards Rosenborg castle.
After walking every inch of the harbor we decided against going into the Rosenborg castle, instead walking around the exterior of the building and spending more time in the picture-perfect park and gardens. It was such a beautiful day that one of the best things we did all day was taking a seat on a park bench in the stunning gardens. It felt like something from a fairy tale. I don’t think either of us ever wanted to leave.
Eventually, we did leave and made the 30-minute walk back to our hotel. Once there we took a brief hiatus from the touring to rest and grab a quick bite to eat downstairs. Jenn had a glass of white wine, I had a pilsner, and split a tuna and sourdough starter that was great but not Jenn’s cup of tea so she had a pea soup as well. It was the perfect light meal after such a heavy intense dinner last night.
From there we walked to the National Museum of Denmark. It was on our itinerary for the day and I’m glad we did. It had a big Viking presence throughout that was far and away the highlight of the visit. It was a very cool museum that we enjoyed quite a bit but it was also quite random. For being the Denmark museum after the main floor it was small exhibits from around the world, specifically a lot from Asia and Africa which was interesting. All in all, it was a great museum and we had a fantastic time there.
We walked the short walk back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. Tonight we were going to another one-Michelin star restaurant called Allouette. This one we knew ahead of time was off the beaten path so a little before our reservation we called a taxi and were off. When we arrived at what looked like an old school or warehouse a chef at the restaurant was there to greet us and walk us through a graffiti-ridden hallway up a freight elevator to an absolutely stunning restaurant. You would have no idea this restaurant was here if you hadn’t booked a reservation and known about it ahead of time.
Once we were seated we began a five-course adventure through incredible Danish local cuisine. Each course at Allouette featured locally harvested produce and proteins. In fact, each person who served us a course for dinner would make sure we knew where everything was sourced and why they went there. The second dish which featured one of the best tomatoes I’ve had in my life was specifically from a local farm not too far from the restaurant that only grows tomatoes. It’s not something we’ve seen often in our travels but we really enjoyed that touch. The meal itself was great, but not nearly the same highs as yesterday. We started with three snacks followed by three main courses and a berry dessert. We both started dinner with a glass of champagne and later followed it up with a glass of wine.
Allouette tended to skew more towards cool and interesting techniques than it did just trying to highlight great food. At the end of the day though everyone there was so passionate about their cooking and their process that it was just a delight to be able to watch it all in action. We left Allouette a few hours after arriving and made the thirty-minute walk back to our hotel. It was a perfect evening for a walk and the best way to close out our first full day in Copenhagen.
