„Thugs“ and „Pandas“ – Live from Copenhagen, Last Day

To make sure that the last day would not „only“ be a travelling day, we went to Christiansborg Slot straight after checking out of the hostel. Christiansborg nowadays is no longer used as a royal residence but contains the Folketing (Parliament) in one wing and the Royal Reception Rooms in another. We went to the latter because whereas the Folketing is in session during the week and it is possible to visit and watch the proceedings from a gallery, I figured our Danish was not up to it.

The Royal Receptions rooms are normally used on state visits and such, which is why they are still splendidly furnished with tapestries, velvet-cushioned chairs, wooden cabinets, portraits of generations of royals and chandeliers of impressive sizes. Some of the latter were actually bought from the Norwegian royals when they had electricity installed. A while later, they reconsidered, though, and had copies made to be taken back to Norway and hung up again.

Apart from the receptions rooms, we also caught a glimpse of the royal carriage horses, which was a special treat for our birthday girl and the few other people of our group (i.e.: me) who like horses.

After the visit, everyone still had plenty of time to say goodbye to Copenhagen by doing some last minute shopping or visit another museum. It is said, though, that upon returning to the hostel before the official leaving time, lots of students could already be found on the premises, lying in various positions scattered throughout the hostel, hoods drawn tightly over their heads. Which shows that Copenhagen really takes it out of you.

The city was so friendly as to accompany our departure with a generous drizzle as if to make sure we would not miss it too much. The bus, in contrast, was punctual and – this time – nobody got lost on the ferry, either. We arrived back in Hamburg fifteen minutes prior to the estimated time, which gave everyone plenty of time before scattering.