Choosing Our Adventure

The penultimate day of the trip was always going to be pressurized. “Make sure you do EVERYTHING you haven’t yet done.” I kept trying to keep that out of my head all week, especially in light of the rained out day on Monday, and the fact that Thursday was looking increasingly rained out as well.

Waking up slightly earlier than usual, I could feel the self imposed pressure, and it didn’t help that Eli was taking his sweet time waking himself up. All that know me, know that I stress about time, so the day was off to a banger!

Eventually we made our way out of the flat and down the street to a second Grød location, looking forward to some amazing porridge. Unfortunately, they have different menus. And while the porridge was excellent, it wasn’t the bowl Eli had been immortalizing from days previous.

We then made our way over to Superkilen, an amazing contemporary art instillation – slash – city park. While much of it was under construction, the part I’d hoped to see was open and pretty cool. Its definitely worth reading up on this park. In the heart of Copenhagen’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood, Nørrebro, this park seeks to connect residents and visitors around art and objects from around the world.

The Black Square – Superkilen

From Superkilen, we headed to grab some bikes and make our way down into the city center, Indre By. We docked the bikes near Nyhavn, or New Harbor (even though its still hundreds of years old). We both agreed this was the most touristy place we had been so far. While the colorful buildings set against the harbor water was cool, it didn’t really float our boats (see what I did there – Dad joke!)

Nyhavn, or “New Harbor”

Having visited Rundetaarn in the rain on Monday, we decided it was worth the $4 admission to check it out again. So up the round staircase we went to enjoy some more sublime views of the city.

With views coalesced in our minds, it was time for our ritualistic afternoon coffee, and Sonny did not disappoint. Easily our favorite coffee shop. Charming space, delightful staff, flavorful drinks, and best of all, excellent design and packaging.

Sonny

After a couple of changes of heart on sneaker choices, Eli needed to revisit a couple of the shops from days previous. And with decisions intact, we made our way across one of the many bridges in town to the Islands Brygge neighborhood, and one of the highlights of the trip … GoBoat. Here we were able to rent a boat to cruise the canals of the city. This was amazing! Such an awesome and unique way to see much of the city. The waterfront is home to some of Copenhagen’s most modern buildings, and squeezing through the tiny canals allowed us close access to some of the old buildings of the city.

cruising the canals

With time now on our side, we had a chance to plot our next move. We decided to bike out to the point and to Reffen, the city’s newest food hall. Reffen is a wonderful mix of food trucks and artist workshops, each constructed from old shipping containers, set right on the water’s edge. We would both highly recommend this place! We enjoyed some amazing satay from Thrilla in Manilla, tasty tacos from TacoPop, and sweet ice cream from Tit Is.

Thrilla in Manilla

As the sun started to set we casually biked across and around the islands, stopping to enjoy the views and the people. We encountered lots of football trainings, wandered through the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and through shear luck ended up in front of Vor Frelsers Kirke, or Church of Our Saviour. Normally I’m a wimp when it comes to heights, but somehow Eli convinced me it was worth the $8 to be scared shitless. Thankfully, the staircase was enclosed, so the height was masked. As we scaled the tower, the staircase became increasingly narrower, until it was almost non-existent. Arriving at the top, I reluctantly stepped outside, where fear immediately gripped me. Eli wasn’t done yet, and he made his way up the outside spiral staircase that winds up another 30-40 feet.

While he ascended, I took the opportunity to acclimate in peace. Finally brave enough to step away from the wall, I gripped the railing and was greeted with the most glorious sunset views of the city. Truly magical!

Magic – pt 2

Upon descending the tower, we decided we were hungry again, so we biked back to the meat packing district to hit up the brick and mortar version of Hija de Sanchez and MORE TACOS! A few tasty tacos and a paloma later, we ended the night at Desserthuset for an absolutely mammoth milkshake.

what the!?!

As we biked to the flat through the hastily darkening dusk light, we reminisced on the day that was, both arriving at the simple fact that today was definitively the best day of the trip. So much awesomeness packed into a single day is hard to comprehend, but we managed to do it, all while not being stressed for time, or even thinking about time all day.

This was the day I had in hoped for when we booked this trip. A day of perfectly bonded father/son adventure, a day that will live in our memories forever as definitively the best!