Copenhagen in the wind and rain

I managed to arrive at the Louisiana Museum on Saturday morning just before they opened the doors. It was raining and I was drenched by the time I arrived. It was about a 15min walk from the train station. The museum is busy on a Saturday. I'd hate to see it on a beautiful sunny day as I would have imagined it would have been twice as busy. Out of all the museums I have seen over the course of my travels - this one was by far the best. The building blends in seamlessly with the landscape, framing views of the Oresund and surrounding forest. I was in heaven. The exhibitions are of high quality and engaging. I could have spent the whole day there but there was just too many people and I was happy to leave after a few hours. Got back on the train and headed to Copenhagen. A relatively short trip - it only took about 30min.

I had booked a private room and decided to treat myself before catching up with Marja, a friend and ex-colleague. She was away the weekend I arrived and we had arranged to meet up on Monday. The private room was on the 6th floor of the Danhostel (City) with views of the canal and one of Plot Architects early projects - the Harbour Bath on Islands Brygge. It was comfortable except for the annoying magnetic card keys that were difficult to use and the fact that I wasn't able to leave my luggage at the hotel on Monday morning because they were expecting 800 school children that day and I was told that the luggage room would be full. Would I stay there again?...probably not.

I was a tourist for the first couple of days in Copenhagen. I didn't have a couchsurfer host and only had my Lonely Planet guide. I did all the touristy sites including the Little Mermaid. I found it quite strange that this statue was such an attraction. It reminded me of the statue of the Greyfriar's Bobby in Edinburgh. Monday afternoon came quickly and I was looking forward to seeing Marja. I ended up having to leave my luggage at the train station storage lockers and we ended up meeting there before going back to her place in trendy Vesterbro to drop of my bags at her flat. Headed out for drinks at a local pub and then some Thai food, followed by more drinking and hanging out back at her place...It was nice to see a familiar face and someone whom I could just relax and enjoy my last few days of my travels.

Marja and her flatmate share a two room flat with kitchen and toilet - the shower room was downstairs on the ground floor - her flat located on the 5th floor. One shower is shared by all the tenants in the building... I was still trying to get over this concept as we headed to the pub. I was left to my own devices that night as Marja was kind enough to let me have her room whilst she stayed at her boyfriends place.

Next morning Marja showed up with Danish for breakfast and we had a leisurely morning with coffee and delicious pastry. She had taken the day off from work to show me around the city and the sun was out. I was starting to warm up. First stop was the Arne Jacobsen's SAS Radisson Hotel. Marja tried to use her Swedish charm on the concierge at the front desk to let us go up to the restaurant/bar to have a drink in Jacobsen designed lounge chairs and soak up the view. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful and were told that you needed to make a reservation for a table and perhaps we should try coming back around 6pm at which time they "may" allow us to go up and have a look.

We left and headed to the shopping district to pick up some souvenirs. As Copenhagen is my last destination before heading back to Glasgow I decided it was time to pick up some gifts without having to worry about carrying it around with me whilst I travelled. Shopping was followed by lunch at a strange American western styled pub which served traditional Danish lunch. We had a bit of pickled herring with capers and onions on rye bread. Fried fish with mustard sauce and more rye bread followed by a fillet of beef with another small salad. Washed down with a Tuborg lager. It was lovely even though the atmosphere was questionable.

After lunch we decided to hit a museum and chose the Danish Museum of Decorative Art. The one museum I didn't get to during the first couple of days on my own in Copenhagen. Beautiful building with a lovely courtyard in the middle. We zipped around the exhibitions which were quite good. Highlight for me was the Arne Jacobsen chairs and the poster exhibition - they had everything from Communist Propaganda posters from the mid 1900's to Toulouse Lautrec posters of Paris theatre. We then ended up sitting in the courtyard garden having a Carlsberg and soaking up the last of the days sun.

Headed back to the flat to pick up my things. On the way we passed by an interesting housing development. Marja thought it would be easier if I stayed at Jacob's place as it was easier for me to get to the airport the next day. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back. We decided to go shopping for food to make a big feast for dinner. Food, wine and friends on my last night in Copenhagen - the perfect end to an amazing trip!