Day 5 - Running, Round Tower & Scooting

Figuring I'd be more or less acclimated by our third day in the city, I'd booked myself a run tour of the city so I would force myself to get a needed long run in (I'm in training for a run in July). I was up by 5am thanks to drunken revelry outside the apartment, and out of the house by 7 to meet up with Frederik, my running guide. He couldn't have been more accommodating to my granny-pace and my need to acclimate to running on cobblestones. And the scenic route he'd carefully selected for our run gave me an improved orientation of the city. We started off toward and within Kastellat, the best running area of the city (gravel paths, no cars/bicycles), and then ran along the waterfront for awhile. A few pics of the architecture I found interesting:

They're just former granaries, I'm told. Nothing special! But it looked very Jetson-like to me!

The world's largest, most majestic lighthouse, seen from thousands miles away by troubled ship captains.

Turf houses never seem to fascinate me! This one was in Christiana, the eclectic, rebellious part of town...but where tiny homes like these can still fetch a half million dollars.

Fredrik and I were supposed to run about 20k/12 miles, but I had to abort mission 1-2 miles earlier due to what I'll politely call 'severe digestive pain.' I pretended I was shivering and cold and needed to get warmed up back home, as we had just gotten dumped on in Christiana (but really, I was going to spontaneously combust if we didn't get to restroom). I was bummed, as I'd really wanted to get another couple miles of city-sightseeing in, but I hadn't thought to wear an adult diaper, so we could not.

Later that morning, our family all walked over to the nearby Rundetaarn/Round Tower. It was built in the 17th century, and was once an astronomical observatory. It offers create views of the city, but moreover, it's known for its winding corridor (as it was built to accommodate horses, who would haul equipment up and down the tower). Quite honestly, it's a stunning must-do, in my opinion...yet my guidebook barely made mention of it (we only made the decision to go up after having passed it a few times and curiosity took over).

This was the winding corridor that went up to the top of the tower

It's simple beauty reminded me a lot of my good friend's the Kardashian-Wests home...and that's not a fair comparison. This tower was gorgeous, their house is creepy and mausoleum-like.

The views from the top were great, with the sun and blue skies juuuust starting to peak through the gray clouds for the first time since we'd landed. In the center of the tower, hidden in a tiny alcove, was a glass floor that you could see down to the bottom. It's always a bit scary stepping onto it for the first few seconds, as your brain tricks you into thinking "YOU WILL DIE!" But after 15-20 seconds, you adjust, and then you're hot-dogging on top of the class, dancing a jig.

There is also a massive gallery connected to the tower, which funnily enough, was displaying photos of brilliant sunsets. We were probably the only folks walking around, not easily impressed, as we see these vibrant colors in the evening skies quite regularly.

Because I'd just run the city earlier, and was *cough cough!* about a pound lighter post-run...I was hyped and eager to take the family back to a few areas of the city I'd run that morning that were visible from atop the Round Tower.

We walked over to, and wandered through Kongens Have (named King's Garden, as it surrounded the Rosenborg Castle). It was a manicured garden that must be quite beautiful in spring (mostly brown when we were there), with a large, famous statue of Hans Christian Anderson.

While Joey perused the Botanical Garden for hours, we took Ryan over to the same square so he could ride again.

A typical metro station in the city, surrounded by hundred of bicycles. Copenhagen is said to be the most bike-friendly city in the world.

And while Ry scooted, my mom shopped til she dropped. My dad's job is to hold her bags, and not utter a single word about how they won't have space in their suitcases, or he gets glared at by all of us.

That scooter was pretty fast. I thought I could chase him down. I could not.

It looked so fun, I had to try it too! And oh man, it was SO fun. I tried to buy one while we were there on Amazon so we'd have it when we came back home, but no such luck in the US! Electric scooters here are either cheap, weak and made for young kids, or...$5,000. I'm in the market for NEITHER one of those no matter how much Ry and I want one!

We ended the day kind of getting lost (since I was the chief navigator), but stumbled onto this cute square not once, but twice! ;-)