Holiday in Denmark – Day 8 (Even More Sightseeing)

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Up until yesterday, the weather throughout our holiday had been almost tropical. Today however, it felt more like temperatures that we’re used to – damp with a just a hint of sunshine! Still, it’s early morning, so there’s plenty of time for it to perk up.

As a quick aside, I see that my conspiracy theory that Curry’s are colluding with all the other countries in the World Cup to ensure they don’t end up paying me much for their ‘cash-for-goals’ promotion seems to be coming true, with just ONE (more) goal scored by England against Uruguay last night. That gives me a grand total of just £20 – and with every sign that we’ll exit the competition at the next game, I can’t see me making a fortune this time around.

Still, I digress, so back to the holiday plans. With the forecast looking progressively duller as the day wears on, we decided to make the most of the morning and head to Roskilde, partially on foot (first, the shortish walk to Copenhagen Station), followed by a short train journey to Roskilde itself. The significance of this location is that it has a famous 12th century Cathedral, where most of the Danish monarchs are buried – so, definitely worth the trip!

The Station at Copenhagen

The Station at Roskilde

Just as we got off the train, the weather fulfilled its crappy potential. First, light rain, followed by the persistent heavier stuff. We trekked over to the tourist-magnet Cathedral to find that today was one of the few days when it didn’t open until 12.30 – and it now only 9.45. Bummer!

A perfect excuse to take refuge in a local coffee-shop – Druedahls – and sample a few of their local pastries!

Sampling local wares!

Then to kill some more time, it was off to the nearby Archbishop’s Palace – but that was closed too, due a national schools’ event encouraging youngsters of Denmark to take more of an interest in the Bible. It was all being taken very seriously, with the adults dressed in period clothing looking (and sounding) the part.

The Archbishop’s Palace

Finally, we got to the Cathedral – it was a very popular place (maybe because it was still raining), but as a World Heritage Site, we felt it was worth battling the weather. The layout inside was quite unique in many ways – we were able to climb the stairs onto a second tier and look down onto the main area – I don’t think we’ve ever seen a Cathedral’s overall design quite like this, with red brick on the outside and a gorgeous variety of designs on the inside. And, as we’ve said, they’d made good use of all the available space inside too. The whole place felt much bigger than it actually was. 

Scenes inside Roskilde Cathedral

Then it was back on the train back to Copenhagen, for a quick lunch, before heading off into town to look at the Town Hall. It looked massive from the outside – and once we got inside, like this morning’s Cathedral, felt even bigger!

Copenhagen Town Hall

Our final stop for the day was the National Museum of Denmark. Unfortunately, a combination of no air conditioning/ventilation and a confusing layout made the visit quite hard work, and we were in-and-out within an hour – without really doing it justice!

National Museum of Denmark

By now, we were flagging, so we took a brisk walk back towards the hotel, passing Tivoli Gardens on the way, slightly distracted by the screams from the terrified visitors ‘enjoying themselves’ on the rides! Twenty minutes later, we were back in our room, putting our feet-up for a while, before catching-up with our reading in the now comfortable surroundings of the Bar!

Again, we’re undecided about what to do tomorrow – we’ll see what the weather forecast is like tomorrow morning.