Tivoli Gardens
Walt Disney visited Denmark to get inspired for his famous parks. No surprises here. We got to Tivoli as it opened, and left as the rides shut down. It is quaint in a way only a Danish amusement park could pull off. Everything feels old, but well kept. The rides are spread out between food stands, and small shops.
It's bustling at every hour.
In the morning, tourists with kids rush the space. But as the day progresses, the afterwork crowd make their ways to the beerhall-like garden restaurants, where they drink (heavily), sing (loudly) and eat platters of spreads, fish and meats. The evening brings in the teens, who are equally interested in the show for the night as they are flirting awkwardly in a way only teenagers could stomach.
Tivoli is really a central space in Copenhagen.
Some of our highlights:
We rode The Flying Trunk six times. In this adorable attraction, you ride an open trunk through Hans Christian Andersen’s world-renowned fairytales. As the narrarator walks you through the stories, you pass animatronic wooden characters acting out the tales. The girls marvelled at the experience, shouting loudly when we passed The Little Mermaid and posing tough questions on the truely bizarre Top & Ball story.
The girl's first solo ride (together). All day we were up to funny business around Maeve's height. We told the front gate she was three. We gave her a boost at key height checks. She might be 2, but she may as well be 5 with her sense of adventure. So it was a cool experience watching the two of them go on a ride together.
Lunch at Grøften. In the heart of the amusment park is a series of beautiful glass enclosed garden restaurants. Jo had heard about it as it's Sandy Toksvig's (from Qi) favourite restaurant. It did not disappoint. Our summer theatre platter included: herring, fried fillet of plaice with remoulade, chicken salad with bacon, Danish roast pork with pickled red cabbage and Danish meatballs with pickled cucumber salad. It was easily the three best bites of all already good-eating trip.
