Copenhagen. The land of the Vikings.

When I landed there, it seemed anything but historical. A city of Renaissance castles, it is synonymous today for color, rhythm and its uber cool attitude. Thanks to its new breed of architects, the city is abuzz with daring architecture and full of creative energy.

Its not just all about sleek cobbled streets, a driver-less automated metro system, and an ubiquitous Nordic sense of style. Theres much more to it.

I reached there by train on a cold morning at the Copenhagen Central Station. Outside the station, all I could see were snow-swept streets covered with slush. I trudged through the snow-swept streets away from the city centre, across Tivoli Gardens, for about four kms. At the end of it, I came across the Dan Youth Hostel, located next to the Bella Centre and Field's- the biggest shopping mall in Scandinavia located at Ørestad. The Hostel is a renovated army barrack, and provides cheap
accomodation.

Travelling by the city metro bus, I made my way back to the city in the late afternoon. At the centre of the city lies the majestic Tivoli Gardens, with its amusements for the children. Unfortunately, its closed during winter.

Just within walking distance from the central station and Tivoli is the Museum of Erotica. Opened in 1994, this museum provides glimpses into the sex lives of famous people such as Freud and Nietzsche, and includes exhibits from around the world depicting sex. Alongside me, I saw that the visitors comprised primarily of women, and a few men.

Behind the Tivoli gardens is the Glyptotek. It is one of the most important art museums in Scandinavia comprising of French and Danish art from the 19th century. Van Gogh and other artists find their place of pride in this museum. The Greek and Roman collection is astounding.

The Amalienborg Palace, comprising of four 18th-century French-style rococo mansions, opens into the most attractive square in Western Europe. Its home to the Danish royal family. The changing guard is one of the key attractions at the Palace.
Amalienborg Museum rooms compose one of two divisions of the Royal Danish Collections; the other is at Rosenborg Palace in Copenhagen.

Across the channel is the futuristic Opera House, with its flat roof and the huge glass sphere.

For die-hard shoppers, theres the Stroget, the longest pedestrian-only street in Europe. It threads its way through centuries-old town houses and majestic squares in central Copenhagen, just a few mintutes away from the station. It comprises of a variety of boutique shops for the high-end consumers, as well as bargain-stuff for the backpackers.

The central attraction in Copenhagen is, without doubt, the life-size bronze of Den Lille Havfrue, inspired from Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairy tale, The Little Mermaid. The only hitch is that the statue is pretty small, and there are no signages leading to it. It took me a better part of 20 minutes searching along the harbour for the statue. Its also amusing that there are no hawkers around, or none of the bustle that one sees next to such a prime attraction. That compounded the problem. Finally, a helpful Dane told me to look out for the toilet. And a few minutes later, I came across the toilets. Next to it, lay the Little Mermaid. And in front of it, three gleaming Japanese tourists posing for their souvenir pics.

And the Vikings? Well, I looked at the vikings tour at the Tourist office, but they were closed in January!