by After a 4 hour layover in Bangkok, our flight from Singapore arrived in Copenhagen at about 7:30 PM. Pat and I took a cab to our AirBnB. The driver was not one of the better ones we’ve had: seemed to have trouble using his GPS and had to reload it several times – each time I had to look up the address again. He had to pull over three times to reset his GPS, promising that he was not charging for these delays.
When we finally got to our AirBnB we met the owner who showed us her apartment and explained about the creaky floors and the neighbor below. We would be here until July 5. Our host is a painter so we got to enjoy some of her work. Pat especially liked the piece hung over the bed.
Observations on Copenhagen:
- Definitely cooler than Singapore
- Very flat
- Lots of bicycles being ridden all the time, even in the rain
- Lots of rain
- Bike lanes on all the main roads
- Bike lanes were referred to, by one of our walking-tour guides, as “kill zones” – cars will often stop for you, but not bikes!
- The neighborhood we stayed in was rather generic, almost industrial looking, but safe with convenient stores and a bus stop
- Bus transportation was good – fares base on the ride, not the distance; therefore, it cost the same to ride one stop or 10 stops.
- Parks had lots of things for children
We did a very good walking tour of Copenhagen. They are provided free, meeting outside the city hall, and consequently are busy. When we assembled, the crowd had to be broken into 4-5 groups of 15-20. Our guide was from Peru, but had studied and lived in Copenhagen for many years, He was funny and kept the boys well entertained (and us too). The tour lasted a little over 3 hours, lots of walking, and sporadic rain.
Kylie and Bryan arrived from Charlotte a couple of days after us – our “mob” was now grew to 8 strong.
One of the days included a Netto-Bådene cruise on the canals and waterways of Copenhagen. Halfway through the 1 hour tour, the rain came down heavily. As I was the only one with an umbrella, we all crowded under it. I sure wish we had a photo of that, but everyone kept their phones and cameras dry, not necessarily our heads.
One of our most memorable meals was at Restaurant Under Uret for smørrebrød. We each ordered a different meal and then passed the plates so everyone could have a sample, if they were so inclined.
The day before we left Copenhagen was spent at Tivoli Gardens, the second oldest amusement park in the world, opened in 1843. Jenny’s coworkers had given her tickets for all of us – what a nice gift. I rode Dæmonen (The Demon), a roller coaster with 3 separated instances where you are up-side-down, with Drew, Kylie and Bryan.
The following morning, July 5, we all went to the station to catch trains to Hamburg, Germany. The interesting thing about this train was when it reached the coast, it was loaded onto a ferry for the trip to Germany. While on the ferry, we all had to leave the train and go into the dining facilities and souvenir store area. Once docked in Germany, we re-boarded the train.
