Today, my primary goal was to walk the least amount as possible so that I can have fresh legs for the race tomorrow.
Did I succeed? No.
Did I have a great time? Of course!
Here’s how my day went:
I slept in as late as I could, which was 8:30 am. Surprisingly, everyone in my room was already gone for the day.
I made my way to Copenhagen Central Station and took the metro over to Kongens Nytorv, which is a huge city square. From there, I walked a short distance to Buka Bakery for a pastry. It was already busy, so I took it to go and sat on a bench in the square.
The pastry (babka) was perfectly fluffy and moist. The inside was lined with a little bit chocolate, but it wasn’t overwhelming. There had been several other pastry options, many of which included thick cream on the inside. I appreciated the simplicity of the babka. It was sweet but not too sweet, just how I like it.
I didn’t really have a plan for the day, so I decided to walk a little bit around the area. Juuuust a little bit.
It didn’t take me long to realize that I was in the shopping hub of the city. There were stores like Louis Vuitton, Cartier, etc., and there were also stores like Mango and Zara. I popped into a couple of stores to see what kind of styles were trending. I saw quite a few shirts with built-in neck scarves, which I thought was unique. I have actually seen so many people —both men and women— wearing fashionable neck scarves here, both for warmth and style.
There were also quite a few furniture / home decor stores. I didn’t bother to go in those, but I did take a look through the windows. Danish design is so elegant. The colors are warm, and the shapes are aesthetically pleasing.
Somehow, the time flew by. It was almost noon!
Although there are many museums to see in Copenhagen, I limited myself to just one for today. I decided on Glyptotek, which is an art museum in the area around my hostel.
“This will save me so much walking!”, I thought.
When I pulled out my Google Maps to see how to get there from wherever I had ended up, it said it would take almost the same amount of walking time if I took the metro. At that point, why even bother?
It was only supposed to be a 25 minute walk…
Until I walked for 20 minutes in the wrong direction. Oops!
I somehow ended up back in Christiania and didn’t even realize it. That part of the city feels much different during the middle of the day than it did the other evening!
Once I started actually following Google Maps again, it took me across bridges, through the woods, down random alleys in residential areas… you get the idea. I was seeing parts of Copenhagen I never imagined I would see! In many other cities, I would probably be a bit more cautious and avoid certain areas. However, Copenhagen feels very safe no matter where you are. As far as I know, they don’t have any dangerous areas.
After unintentionally adding several miles to my step count, I arrived back near my hostel. By this time, it was already 1pm. I wanted to get to Glyptotek, but I knew that I would regret not eating lunch if I did so.
I decided to try out the 7-Eleven for lunch. I got a pasta salad and ate on a bench once again. Not bad!
From there, I went to the museum. I didn’t know what to expect from Glyptotek, other than the fact that it has sculptures.
Little did I know that I would want to spend the entire afternoon there!
There is an elegant and peaceful Winter Garden in the center of the museum, with staircases leading up to different exhibits. There are statues hidden among the towering plants, and there’s even a little fountain with koi fish!
There were several people sitting quietly on the benches in the garden, reading and drawing. It was eye-opening to see people relaxing and being creative in a public space! I am used to people (including myself) rushing from one thing to the next and relying on phones to fill spare time. This is something that I have noticed about Copenhagen, though. Almost nobody is on their phones ever!!! Even on the metro, people are either sitting quietly and looking out the window or talking with people near them. Since noticing that for the first time the other day, I have felt a little bit of pressure to not go on my phone so much. It feels great! Hopefully someday I can be as disconnected as they all are.
The first exhibit I went to was the French exhibit. I’m gonna be so honest… I didn’t love it. I’m not really sure why. Maybe I just needed to get warmed up for a museum? That could be the case. One of the exhibits was about two artists and the different ways in which they portray Tahiti. I sensed that there was supposed to be some deep reflection happening, but I just couldn’t get into it.
Next, I went to the terrace for some nice views of the city. I could see Tivoli Gardens, which is an old amusement park (still functioning).
I wandered a bit more and ended up in the Middle East exhibit. There were a lot of artifacts from Syria, which was interesting to see. How did Denmark end up with so many artifacts from Syria?
There was a plaque explaining how it had been challenging for Syria to keep the artifacts safe during the civil war. Some Danish universities helped keep the artifacts safe, which is why they’re in Denmark now.
Next, I explored the Egyptian rooms. This is where things really started to get interesting to me. The statues were from the 1400s BC. It’s always crazy to see things that are that old because I can’t even comprehend that amount of time relative to now.
As I exited the first room, my eye caught on a door that said “mummies”. No way!
I went down a dark corridor and sure enough, there was a room with two mummies inside of a glass case. I didn’t take photos of them because that felt a bit weird to me, but trust me… it was cool to see. There was even a mummified cat! That I did take a picture of.
Next, I visited the Greek/Roman rooms. There was a concert hall lined with statues of Roman emperors and sarcophagi, and apparently they do events there regularly. Can you imagine listening to live music while surrounded by ancient artifacts?! So epic.
One of the statues caught my eye. It looked like a familiar face, but something about it seemed off.
I looked closely at the plaque and saw that it was a modern adaptation: Marcus Aurelius’ head attached to an unknown commander’s body! In case you’re wondering why Marcus Aurelius’ face would feel familiar to me, it’s because I spent a month in Greece and Turkey during college looking at statues every day.
Last, but not least, I visited the Danish exhibits. If I had to choose one word to describe the artwork, it would be “loving”. Many of the statues were of people hugging or leaning on each other, resting their heads on each other, etc. There were also paintings of nature which gave me a sense of peace just by looking at them.
Something that was definitely present throughout my entire Glyptotek experience but that I noticed more in the Danish section was the building itself. There was a lot of natural light from windows facing the Winter Garden (which has a huge skylight). Each room is a different color, and those colors are the same that you see throughout the city on buildings and in stores. They are colorful but warm, and the contrast makes the artwork come to life even more. Some examples:
I left the museum very satisfied with my choice.
After climbing up several staircases and walking around nonstop, I was ready to sit down. So, I decided to keep walking 😀
It was that weird time of day where it’s too early for dinner but too late to go sit in the room (I would have fallen asleep), so I decided to check out a place that the WRRC Instagram page recommended. An Adidas shop in Frederiksberg was selling vintage race shirts. So, I walked 25 min there. For some reason, that part of the city isn’t as well connected by metro. I’m sure there was a bus I could take, but this just sounded easier for whatever reason.
Turns out, most of the race shirts were from races in the US such as NYC marathon and Boston marathon. The designs were super cool, but I was hoping to find either Copenhagen or Prague half marathon shirts. What I did find was a 3rd annual TWIN CITIES MARATHON shirt!!!!
I’m screaming TCM because I will be running that race in 2 weeks!
Sadly, the shirt was 40€ so I didn’t even think about buying it. But I did take a photo!
I left and, once again, had no real plan. I thought I wanted to go to Bæst and was planning to metro there, until I read a Reddit post saying that there is a pizza place in Frederiksberg that is much better and more affordable (in case you haven’t caught on yet… Copenhagen is quite expensive). I looked at the menus. Made in Italy had a whole pizza for about $12, while one at Bæst is $36. Decision made!
I only had to walk 20 more minutes down the road to get there.
Since it was only 5pm, the place was practically empty. Good thing because there were only a few tables! I ordered a margarita pizza and ate the whole thing.
I may regret that tomorrow… but it was so good!!!
After dinner, I walked to the metro station and went back to the hostel. It killed me to end my day when it wasn’t even 7pm yet, but I had to face the truth: I am tired. 😂
When I got back to my room, a couple of my roommates were talking to each other in a different language. I didn’t want to be obnoxious and start showering (it’s a tiny room), so I just sat in my bed and did nothing. Well, actually, I listened to them and tried for SO LONG to figure out what language they were speaking. I kept hearing words that sounded like Spanish, but I knew that if it was Spanish I would know what they’re talking about. I figured it was either Portuguese or Italian. Turns out, it was Italian!
When they left, I took my shower and started getting ready for bed. I was standing by the door in my towel (I was trying to get stuff out of my locker) when someone walked in: Sophie! I had to laugh because literally the exact same thing happened yesterday. I hope she doesn’t think that I’m always just standing around in my towel hahahah.
We started talking about the race and how excited we are. She’s gonna be in the same-ish wave as me tomorrow, so that’s fun! As always, I’m torn between trying to PR and just running it for fun. We will see what tomorrow brings.
Anyway, halfway through our conversation, the other girl came back. I asked if she was running the race too and she said “Absolutely not. I can’t even run 1k!”
They both couldn’t believe that I came all the way from the US for a race. I have to admit, it is pretty crazy…
But I sure am making lots of great memories!
Until next time,
Clara