The Divas of Desire: Off topic: My Visit to #Copenhagen! #Denmark #Amalienborg #Rosenborg #travel

Hello, friends! Today I'm back to sharing about my trip to Europe last month. I've shared a bit about Iceland, and now I'd like to move on to Copenhagen!

Our hotel--a lovely place.

Our flight from Reykjavic took about three hours. Through the train from the airport left us only a short distance from our hotel, we got a bit lost and walked in circles for a while. That's what happens when you're in a city where you don't speak the language and Google maps is only confusing you. :-) (A hint for future travelers: everyone in Copenhagen seems to speak English and the names of streets are on the sides of buildings.) A kind taxi driver gave us directions and we finally found our destination: the Copenhagen Strand Hotel, only a few blocks from the scenic Nyhavn area. The entire area is lined with restaurants and bars and crowded with sightseers and tourists.

View of the canal and houses.

Seeing the canal and the colorful houses in the area, I couldn't help but be reminded of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale The Steadfast Tin Soldier. Perhaps this canal was where the soldier had his grand adventure, sailing in his paper boat, encountering a water rat and finally ending up in the belly of a fish.

This anchor is a monument to the Danish sailors who died in World War II.

The monument's plaque, in Danish and English.

So many delicious things to eat and drink! We really enjoyed ourselves. Fish of course is a common dish, as well as pork. And let's talk dessert! Here are two important Danish words: is (pronounced like "ice" in English) and kugle (plural: kugler). How many scoops of ice cream would you like? Three kugler of is, please! We fell in love with Danish ice cream. There are all the familiar flavors you'd find in the states, plus more unusual ones, including (wait for it) licorice! Yes, if you love licorice, you'll love Denmark. Licorice in all its forms is very popular (including in chocolate bars--see the picture right). And don't forget the waffle cone! If you really want to gussy up your ice cream cone, you can add some jam and cream topping, and top it all off with a flødebolle (a big chocolate-covered marshmallow). Enjoy!

Okay, back to some of the sights. There are several palaces to visit within not-too-far walking distance (and of course we had to walk off some of those kugler, lol). We visited Amalienborg, which is the winter residence of the Royal Family of Denmark. It consists of four palaces in a square. We toured the museum in Christian VIII's palace and took pictures of the guards in their uniforms and tall bearskin caps.

Then we visited Rosenborg Castle, which was built back in the 1600s. The museum contained many artifacts as well as the Crown jewels. We also enjoyed the beautiful flowers in the Castle Garden, which is the oldest royal garden in Denmark.