Copenhagen: a morning stroll
May 1st, 2018
After a long transatlantic flight with a transfer in London we woke up rather early, around half past five in the morning. Radisson Royal hotel in the heart of Copenhagen offered one of the best possible locations for wandering around the city, so we decided to take a lazy morning stroll while looking for a suitable breakfast spot that would be open around 7 am.
We intended to check out Rist, a small coffee shop not far from the central train station that was highly recommended in several travel guides. The place was indeed cozy and hip. Unfortunately, the breakfast at Rist starts at 9 am. Until then, guests can enjoy just yogurt and granola with their coffee. After a quick moment of hesitation, we decided to visit Rist another time and continued our walk through the slowly waking up city.
We wandered back Indre By, the Old Town, and soon enough found ourselves next to cafe Sonny. We liked the atmosphere of this place and the aroma of dried apples that filled the air. The croissants looked perfect, too, so we stayed.
We opted for a light breakfast, not willing to spend too much time indoors. Soon we found out that we were lucky to get a table, as the space filled up very quickly.
We left the cafe and kept walking through the old town. While we enjoyed our breakfast, the sky got covered with grey clouds and the air became chilly. The buildings looked surly and grim, but the city started to wake up.
We passed through Kongens Nytorv, the cobbled square with several prominent buildings, including Royal Danish Theatre. Alas, the extensive construction works blocked most of the square.
Our next destination was a place that offered the best croissants in town; at least, to our taste. A few hundred steps past Kongens Nytorv, on Store Kongensgade street, there is a small bakery with a couple of tables outside. It’s the downtown location of Meyers Bageri, a world-famous bakery which inspired and guided some of my home baking techniques.
The irresistible croissants and tebirkes — traditional Danish poppy seed rolls — were a welcomed addition to the breakfast at Sonny. Refreshed, we continued walk, wandering into the northern part of the inner city that we didn’t have a chance to explore in our previous visits.