“Feel free to touch”
We were exploring Kronbrog Castle when I met this sign with an English Chess beside it. It was free for all to touch but it looked like it just came out of a box.
Then we walked further and spotted another sign with a sewing kit and a cloth propped up on a wooden frame. You could sew your name on it. It was neat and every name kept its space.
Later, we entered a room with a whole river of LEGOs and a shelf prompting us to display our LEGO creations. The shelf was neat and tidy like the ones we have at home.
I’ve visited multiple castles in Europe and this is the only castle I’ve been that encourages people to touch their exhibit. Or rather, that deliberately included displays for engagement.
The others had staff in every room ready to pounce on you if you took a photo or touched anything.
To be fair, this castle wasn’t as glamorous as the rest, it was burned down and rebuilt at some point. The leftovers don’t look shiny. But still.
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Coffee and pastries
We paid for our fresh pastries, wondering where we can eat them.
The tables at the pastry shop were outdoors and they’re all wet from the rain. It was too cold to enjoy the pastries on the streets.
Then, we had an idea – why not we buy coffee at the other cafe and eat our pastries inconspicuously?
We went to Prolog Coffee just across the road. It was a tiny cafe and there was no way we could eat without being noticed.
But we went ahead with our plan. We ordered coffee and went back to our table with our pastry bags on top.
“Here’s your coffee.”
“Do you need plates for that?” – she pointed to our pastries.
There was a moment of silence before a wave of gratitude swept over us.
We were surprised. In Singapore, unless you order a full meal and celebrate a birthday, we’d be sentenced to death stares and subjected to disciplinary action if we had the audacity to bring in outside food.
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Boarding the bus without tickets
Cash only. The bus driver said.
Our pockets had cash but they’re all Euros because we forgot that Copenhagen is a land of Danish Krones.
It was our first time on board a bus in the city and we thought we could pay by credit card. So we asked the bus driver how we could get bus tickets, ready to get kicked out of the bus, gently.
It’s okay, it’s only 4 stops.
Just sit here at the front in case anyone checks.
At a traffic light stop, he took out his phone and showed us the app to purchase tickets.
When we arrived at our stop, he turned to us again and signalled.
Oh, our hearts.
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We didn’t leave our belongings behind
We stood up and left our table. Our bellies filled with pistachio croissant, egg mayo sandwich and Spandauer (a traditional Danish pastry). And iced latte.
As we walked away, we turned back to check if we left anything behind.
We didn’t see any belongings, only a lady customer clearing the plates.
At every cafe, it was always the staff doing that, we didn’t know we needed to clear our tables after our meal.
Embarrassed, we ran over to stop her. We’ll do it ourselves!
But the lady smiled at us and told us it’s okay, and continued. With teamwork, the table became sparkling clean.
Who’s this angel?!
