July 11 Day 28 Copenhagen, Tivoli garden

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Dick has been in Copenhagen four times previous to this visit. In all those times, he had never been able to go inside Tivoli Gardens. So that was our agenda for today. Tivoli is the world’s oldest amusement park built in the 1843. It is a wonderful mix of botanical garden, amusement park rides, carnival games and food and entertainment of all sorts. They say that Walt Disney got some of his inspiration from Tivoli.

Patti ‘s cousin, Lars, had a special connection with Tivoli, because he was part of the Tivoli Boys Guard marching band from age 7-17 years old. There he, with his colleagues, basically grew up in the garden. They got free annual passes for themselves and their parents. They had regular rehearsals at Tivoli, as well as two or three times a week during the spring, summer and fall season they would have multiple parades and concert through the park or concerts. So, we loved having the special “insider tour” of Tivoli.

There were so many beautiful areas to look at, and we took a lot of getting pictures. It was perfect weather day to be in the garden. There were a number of thrill rides expected in an amusement park but we just looked at them without any temptation to ride them.  There were some fun opportunities to make music and take fun photos.

We had a traditional lunch overlooking the lake. The food was delicious, while the service was little spotty. A great blue heron kept a good watch over us from nearby where we ate. We soaked in the sun and the delicious food. Tivoli was terrific!

Before we left, we thought we would catch a dance show. However, when the curtains came open it was a jazz band. Tivoli gave its nod to the Jazz Festival. We sure heard a lot of great jazz music this week. We listened to more wonderful music before leaving the gardens. We made an attempt to go hear another American jazz band at a local restaurant, but all the tables were reserved and there were no additional places to sit, so it was not to be.

On our way to catch the bus home, we passed the famous Copenhagen City Hall (Radhus) which has been a local landmark for well over 100 years. However, we had a great walk back to the apartment cutting through another beautiful green park.

And, we had the chance to stop off and visit the Carlsberg Brewery. This was the place where Carlsberg made its start. They are in the midst of a huge construction project so we couldn’t go on a tour, but did have a chance to walk around and enjoy the old mixing with really well-done new buildings. A highlight was the Famous Carlsberg elephants. This was within a few blocks of Lars and Julie’s home and so it was on our bucket list to get over to visit and we had the chance.

When we were back, Dick took a nap, while the three of us sat out on the deck enjoying the sunshine a glass of wine and chatting with some of their neighbors. While we were there Lars shared some of the birthday customs that they celebrate in Denmark. If you are 30 years old and an unmarried woman your friends might take a couple of oil drums and decorate them like a pepper grinder for you. They shared a very long convoluted story about why this might happen. Which led to some very interesting discussion about birthday customs in Denmark and in the states.

The day got cut a bit shorter than we thought but another wonderful, wonderful day in Denmark.