Day 29. Rosenborg again.

I keep coming back to the Rosenborg Castle grounds. Yes, the castle itself is beautiful, the lawns are perfect, and the gardens are striking. What stands out, though, is how consistently peaceful it is despite the fact that it's always filled with people.

Day 20. Gardens.

Then, they turned southward, and the air became fragrant with the perfume of spices and flowers... Here they both descended to the earth, and stretched themselves on the soft grass, while the flowers bowed to the breath of the wind as if to welcome it. “Are we now in the garden of paradise?” asked the prince. “No, indeed,” replied the East Wind; “but we shall be there very soon."

"The Garden of Paradise," Hans Christian Andersen 

  

Day 12. Rosenborg Slot.

Danish society seems perfectly engineered for a spontaneous picnic. Danes take entire months off in the summer, and when they do work it's generally a half day. They bike everywhere. There's no open alcohol container ban. The summer air is relaxed, with temperatures hovering around 70 degrees. 

The key ingredient, though, is the Danish aptitude for constructing incredible parks. Sprinkled throughout busy Copenhagen are dozens of them, completely fenced off from streets, traffic and commercialism. Ørstedsparken, for example, feels a world apart from the rest of the city. When visiting, one only catches a glance of the tidy rainbow of row houses peeking through the thick treetops.

The Danes outdid themselves with Rosenborg Slot (slot = castle) and its surrounding grounds. Only yesterday after work did I finally make it to this beautiful park, with a 17th century castle tucked behind acres of manicured lawns and trees. Families, friends, couples and tourists scattered across the grounds were enjoying the sun, the breeze, their wine and their smørrebrød. I popped into a minimart, grabbed an iced tea and spent a few hours reading a book and wishing the sunset would be delayed even longer than it already is.

(As with all the other photos on this site, click the picture to view a larger version)