Out and about with the Copenhagen Card

8 May 2022.

Since we want to see as much of the city as possible using public transport we opted for one of the city passes. Specifically, we went with a 48-hour Copenhagen Card which gets us free transportation on trains, busses and metro for all zones as well as entry to the major attractions we hope to see. 

Oh, and a neat thing about this card is you do it all digitally right on your phone. Once activated you don't even need to connect to wifi, and the interface is very user-friendly as well. So, as we go about exploring the city over the next three days we'll be using the card pretty much non-stop.

strolling near our apartment

one of the many canals in the city

We made our way on foot to our first objective, the National Gallery of Art. Our route took us through the King's Gardens and people were out everywhere taking in the sun and putting the pandemic behind them, at least for the moment. (It should be noted that Denmark has removed all Covid restrictions.)

Directly opposite one corner of the gardens was the art museum, an imposing structure but looks can be deceiving, particularly in Copenhagen.

the fountain in front of the museum is open to the public, literally

The museum is noted for its collection of Danish and Nordic artists and that was our focus this morning:

"In a Roman osteria" 1866 by Carl Bloch

"An Egyptian jar-seller at Gizeh" 1876-1878 by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann

Scarlett Johansson's ancestor?

"The author Emma Kraft (1844-1925)" 1860-1870? by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann

"Evicted Tenants" 1892 by Erik Henningsen

"Breton girl looking after plants in a hothouse" 1884 by Anna Petersen

"A wounded Danish soldier" 1865 by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann

Leaving the museum we walked across the street (the other side from the King's Gardens) and strolled through the Royal Botanical Gardens. Ostensibly part of the Museum of Natural History located in one corner of the gardens, there is no cost to get in. There were few flowers (mostly the occasional tulip) but lots of green and lots of folk out soaking up the sun.

 

With our passes now activated we left the gardens and headed for the metro. The Copenhagen metro is clean, fast, and user-friendly. Virtually no stairs, you get up and down via escalators and/or elevators.

We got off the metro at the Gammel Strand stop across from our next objective: a canal boat tour. After a 20-minute wait for the next boat we were on board and cruising the canals and for a short time in the open water of the harbor.

the royal yacht

the opera house

the "Black Diamond", royal national library

After returning to the dock we walked a few meters to a nearby cafe, sat outside and enjoyed a pint of Kronenbourg 1664.

Making our way back to the apartment we talked about supper and since we had the fixings for a nice salad we decided to eat at home.  

Tomorrow Susie is off to her baking class and I'm going to track down some notable burials in the Assistens Cemetery.

Stay tuned!