Katie and I landed in Copenhagen on Thursday morning to a clear day.  After checking into the hotel and grabbing coffee to fight the jetlag, we met the rest of our party (Lyle, Matt, and Chris) and headed to our first destination: Tivoli Gardens.

Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world and one of the busiest in Europe.  Since the 1800s, this park has been providing seasonal entertainment to the locals and it was definitely a highlight for Chris because he works in the theme park industry.

After a busy morning on some rides at Tivoli, we walked through the Copenhagen shopping district to Rundetarn (or Round Tower).  This tower is famous for it’s helical staircase and expansive views of the city.

After our sightseeing at Rundetarn, we kept walking north toward Rosenborg castle.  This castle was constructed in 1606 and houses a collection of Danish royal artifacts.  While there we saw the Throne Chair and crown jewels.

After the castle, we continued our city tour by a short walk to Amalienborg.  This courtyard and palace compound is the winter residence of the royal family and is famous for its equestrian statue in its center and the watchful Royal Guard nearby.

We ended our first day with a quick walk through Freetown Christiania.  This unique neighborhood is governed by the state instead of municipality so it has a unique heritage in Copenhagen as well as a lively populace.  We found it to be a little dirty and didn’t stay long.  No pictures were allowed – so here’s a photo of Lyle instead.

On the way back to our hotel from Christiania, we saw an interesting spire on the Church of Our Savior and decided to get one last look of Copenhagen from above.

As busy as we were on the first day, we only saw a fraction of Copenhagen (and Denmark).  Sadly, this was our only day here.