We began the day at Rosenborg, once the ‘pleasure palace’ of the Danish monarchy. By that I think that they mean summer go-to rather than anything more sordid!

Built in 1606 by King Christian IV in the style of the Dutch Renaissance. Like much of Copenhagen it is on a smaller scale than other European cities but still quaint nevertheless.

Today Rosenborg houses many of the treasures of the royal family along with the Crown Jewels in sumptuous rooms filled with ornate ceilings and multiple oil paintings.

For an early 17th century castle it was ahead of the times in having a downstairs WC complete with wall to wall tiling.

If you ever wondered what the nobility in Denmark got up to the the 17th Century for fun then look no further. The answer is here- the trouser wetting chair.

The unsuspecting victim would be asked to sit in the chair which would then release two prongs (seen in the circles) and at the same time make a farting sound. Water would squirt out of the prongs and into the lap of the poor gentleman making it look as through he had wet his pants. Simultaneously if a button on the back was pressed then a puddle of water appeared beneath the chair. Such japes! It makes me wonder if life was really really boring in the winter here…

The Crown Jewels were smaller than ours and less heavily protected but beautiful all the same.

Then on to the Round Tower which was once part of the university. It contains an observatory and planetarium at the top, a library (once upon a time) and a church for the student at the bottom (because education and religion were intertwined)..

The tower is unique in that access to the top is via an internal ramp rather than stairs

Peter the Great once rode up here on his horse!

No visit to Copenhagen is complete without seeing the Tivoli Gardens. Essentially one of the world’s oldest and most expensive fun fairs nestled in between beautiful gardens and fountains.

There are several stages for concerts and other performances. It was Jazz Week when we were there so music surrounded us at every turn which was rather nice.

We resisted the urge to spend vast amounts of money on either the rides or the numerous wine bars and high end eateries. Instead we wandered around just soaking up the carnival atmosphere (and a little bit of rain).

Finally a visit to Christiana, a strange hippie commune in the heart of the city full of graffiti, wall art and hash ( which we were offered but didn’t buy!)

I was delighted to find on the Tomas Danbo’s trolls here. I had seen his work on Facebook They are so full of character.