When the going gets tough, the tough… Book flights. After losing my Grandma last year, my Mum is now the main carer for my Granddad who has Alzheimers. On top of grieving her Mum and looking after her Dad, (whose needs are ever changing), she’s holding down a demanding teaching job. It’s safe to say, she needed a break. Mum has always wanted to go to Copenhagen, so when she got a BA Amex companion voucher, (meaning our return flights were literally £1 each!), we decided to make it happen.

We arrived late on the Friday night so headed straight to bed as soon as we checked into our hotel. In the morning, we woke up to the sun shining bright over the harbour. We dressed in our 725 layers and made our way to our first stop on the itinerary: Rosenborg Castle. Built by Christian IV, the castle was completed in 1633 and was used as a royal residence until 1710. At that point, Christian IV’s great-grandson Fredrick decided he wanted somewhere more modern to live. It then became the home of the royal collection which is why so many original features are very much still intact in the castle. The castle sits in 30 acres of garden which you are free to roam around. Even in February, the gardens are still lush and I can imagine absolutely stunning in summer. I bought our tickets online in advance for approx. £16, but it seemed like people were able to purchase them on the day without any issues. Whilst most people were taken by the artefacts, furniture and paintings found in the rooms themselves, I was in awe of the ceilings. It’s weird that you often forget to look up, but once you do, you’ll notice that all the rooms have so much craftsmanship going on above your head. It always baffles me to see what people were able to do all those years ago, before technology as we know it today was even a concept in anyones mind. Aside from that, some of the pieces in the castle are still used today, such as the font which is used to baptise royal children and the crown jewels.

In the bottom of the castle, in the basement, you will find the most insane jewellery collection. There is a game set that was used by King Frederik V as a child – every single figurine has a ruby in its helmet! The crown itself has a level of detail my brain couldn’t comprehend. If you zoom in on the pic, you’ll see little cherubs and dragons carved into it. The tiara, necklace and earrings set in emeralds and gold had me audibly gasping when I laid eyes on them. I tried to push back my thoughts of, ‘where were all these jewels pillaged from?’, and just let the magpie in me appreciate their beauty.

I eventually teared myself away from the jewels and we headed across the street to the Botanical garden. You can walk around the gardens surrounding the Palm House for free which, again, in the summer would be such a great place for a walk. My Mum and I love a botanical garden so we decided to venture into the Palm House itself. For the both of us it was approx. £15, (more on this later). As you would expect, walking into the Palm House is like being transported to a tropical jungle – you forget you’re actually in the middle of Denmark. If I’m remembering correctly, there are 4 rooms in the main Palm House. In the middle room, there’s a spiral staircase, which takes you up to a viewing platform of everything below and at eye level. Some of these plants grow even higher than the viewing platform. The giant bamboo, (which can grow up to 40cm per day!), once grew so high, it broke through the ceiling. When you head out of the main Palm House, the path naturally brings you into another greenhouse, this time full of cacti, succulents and butterflies. If, like me, you’re not a huge fan of butterflies, don’t panic, I only noticed about 2 or 3 who were drinking their nectar and minding their business.

With my Mum being the history buff she is, the Neanderthal exhibition at the National History Museum was calling. It’s on the same grounds as the botanical garden, so we headed over. We bought tickets for the Neanderthal Exhibition which gave us access to other parts of the museum including the botanical garden. So, if you know you’re going to want to go to the botanical garden as well as the Natural History Museum, go there first to avoid paying twice. It cost £25 for both of us and we toured around the Neanderthal Exhibition, (which was really interesting and pretty immersive), and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year showcase.

By this time, we were well over due for lunch, but I’ll tell you about that and the rest of our trip on Wednesday!