With all the major Copenhagen attractions out of the way Cailin and myself (ok mainly Cailin) decided to visit the Copenhagen Zoo. Top of the list was to see the Polar Bears as Cailin apparently had never seen them before, even if her mother disagreed with her.
Before the Zoo however we stopped into the Hans Christian Andersen Museum and learn’t a little bit about the man and the stories he created. To me the place comes off as a little cheesy and while it was nice to visit I wouldn’t waste your money if your on a tight budget.
With Hans out of the way we boarded a bus heading in the direction of the Copenhagen Zoo. Some might see visiting a Zoo abroad as a waste of money or time, given you can go and see the same type of animals in the local Zoo at home. While this is true I was still keen to get a glimpse at what creatures called this place home and hey who doesn’t love animals anyway??
Starting with the Lions we strolled around the Zoo finding Monkey’s, Penguins, Butterflies and and all sorts of other amazing creatures until eventually making our way to the Polar Bears which made Cailin’s day. I swear she must have taken a bazillion photos of them.
One animal that I’ve never seen before however was the Okapi. It almost looks as if someone has decided OK I can’t think of any other ways for animals to look lets just mix a few together and see what we can come up with.
Calling it a day at the Zoo we made our way back into town to check out Christiania. The self proclaimed community that sprung up in an abandoned military base back in 1971. Walking in we came across a great little street performance before being greeted with a rough looking character yelling at us saying no photo’s no photos!!!
Once we rounded the corner and spotted the guys with the bongs and drugs its clear why they say no photos in this part of town. This was also the first time since I started my trip that I was genuinely worried about my safety.
Even with the awesome graffiti and the tourist information centre saying we had to visit here, I couldn’t wait to leave. Some things just aren’t for me and while I can say I visited I am sure I won’t be back anytime soon.
With the day fast ending we made for a great little street of restaurants in Nyhavn that we saw on the way to see The Little Mermaid the day before.
After walking back and forth several times to find a place that remotely fit my budget we sat down for some pizza and beers. Soon discovering the blankets they set out to keep people warm weren’t doing the job, we finished out meal inside while having a laugh with the staff.
Knowing this was the last night I had to hang out with Cailin we departed the restaurant and attempted to find a place to have a couple of drinks and relax. After skipping the local aussie bar due to the haze of smoke inside we sneakily grabbed some ice cream from Tivoli and and ended the night at a bar inside the train station.
Walking back to Cailin’s hostel it was sad to have her leaving me after just a couple of days. While I know we’ll be seeing each other again you just can’t help but miss the friends you make on the road, especially one’s you’ve been waiting to meet.
Still there was one more day of exploring for me to have in Copenhagen before making my way to Stockholm so I turned for home and my nice warm bed.
Whaa Cailin is Canadian so she should have definitely seen a polar bear at a zoo at some point in her life.
Hey Ayngelina, I know right but she swears its true 🙂
I have this unexplainable desire to go to zoos/aquariums while abroad. Its nice to see I’m not the only one!
haha Erica. It’s something different yet still the same. No Zoo is the same anyway so its a nice way to chill out all while still being a tourist.
Zoos! I love!
haha who doesn’t love a Zoo outing.
First I have to say “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :)”
Second I have to say “I’ve grown up my whole life in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the only zoo we have here isn’t much…. http://oaklawnfarmzoo.ca/ you can see from that link – the only exciting thing they have there is the “Zonkey” (yes a zebra and a donkey mated…) no Polar Bears! (my mother does say I saw one as a wee lass at the Toronto Zoo, but I don’t remember) and there are no wild Polar Bears in Nova Scotia! haha
I am obsessed with Zoos and Aquariums when traveling – Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia and L’Oceanografic (Aquarium) in Valencia are both must sees!
After that guy yelled at us in Christiania I was a bit spooked as well, but apparently there was much more to see there that we missed because we didn’t know about it. But it was very cool to see.
Hopefully we will see each other again soon! You still owe me a beer or two! 😉
I have had a few people tell me we missed some good stuff at Christiania as well. Oh well perhaps we need to make a second visit to Copenhagen and make sure we see it all. Oh and not to forget we never made it to the Carlsberg Brewery 🙂
We loved Christiania when we were there. Once you get by the front gate and the sketchy neighborhood it’s actually pretty amazing. An example of a commune actually working. Hanging out in the outdoor pub area drinking our beer and enjoying the scene was a highlight. Plus the fact they’ve managed to hook themselves up to the water, provide electricity and do a complete recycling program is pretty impressive.
Hey Scott, yeah I think we just got a little bit put off by the sketchy characters and left too early. I’ll have to go back at some stage and hang out longer for sure.