Copenhagen Continued

 

Dad resting by a windmill

 Dad & I spent the last two days making good use of our Copenhagen Cards. We walked through countless museums, including the Design Museum, Rosenborg Castle, the Amber Museum, and the Theatre Museum. We also got a lot of exercise!

The stairwell to the dome

   My dad humored me and agreed to climb the 250+ spiral stairs that lead up to the top of Fredrik's Church. The stair were no more than 4" wider than our shoulders. I was questioning my judgement about halfway up when it dawned on me that we would have to take the same tiny staircase back down. I am by no means claustrophobic, but part of me wasn't all too pleased at my choice to cram myself into this tiny stone stairway that climbed 60 meters into the sky. Once we climbed through the hatch at the top it was evident that I had made the right decision, although I think my dad was still wondering why he listened to me! The view from the top is impressive and there are a few wooden benches to sit and catch your breath. After walking around the dome and taking a few photos dad & I were ready to make our descent.

A view from the top of Frederik's Church

  We walked through the city at night and had a few drinks at La Fontaine, a little jazz club that hosts live music on the weekend. Well most weekends, just not this one. Oh well, the atmosphere was dive bar-chic and the canned music they were playing was good. After we got back to the hotel we watched the Tivoli Garden firework show from the comfort of our hotel room stairwell. My dad started reminiscing about the fireworks at Expo '86, and told me a charming little story of how my parents managed to lose me for about 15 minutes, and had to go to lost & found to claim me. I no longer feel bad about forgetting my computer on the train and making him go back to the station with me to get it.
 Today is dad's birthday, and to celebrate, we took another canal cruise because it was included in the Copenhagen Card and who doesn't love a free boat ride?
 I got to watch my dad's sprinting prowess a few times as the wind blew his Carlsberg hat of his head and down the street, and once into the train station.
 There is so much to see and do in Copenhagen, 3 and 1/2 days is a good start, but not nearly enough to see it all.  We're on the train now back to Gothenburg, and I will not forget my computer when we get off!

A Balmain gown at the Design Museum

Crown from Rosenborg Castle

The King's Private Box at the Court Theatre

Jurassic Park in the making at the Amber Museum

The Canals of Copenhagen and Carlsberg Brewery

My dad & me

 Today Dad & I hopped on the Open Top Tours double decker bus and took it over to the first stop on their canal tour route. After a bit of a wait we climbed aboard the open topped boat which took us through the canal system around Copenhagen and under the numerous low bridges that cross over them. We cruised past the Little Mermaid statue, the old stock exchange building and Eclipse - the second largest personal yacht in the world, wowza!

Cruising through the canals

The Marble Bridge

The Eclipse

The Queen's library in the castle

   After we cruised around for an hour Dad & I got off the boat so we could explore Christianborg Castle. Entrance was free thanks to our Copenhagen Card. We walked around the castle and down underneath it to see the ruins of the past 2 castles that sat there before the current castle. After walking around for an hour or so, we rode a city bus back to the central train station and grabbed a Polser hotdog from a street cart on the sage advice of a friend of mine. Great suggestion David!





 Then it was back on the Open Top bus over to Carlsberg Brewery's visitor centre. Admission was free with our Copenhagen Cards again, and we were each given 2 free drink tickets. We walked through the old brewery and Dad, who used to work at Labatt's, explained the brewing process, and shared some found memories. Then we enjoyed our free drinks in the open courtyard that featured a pretty good DJ. We left the brewery and got caught in a flash rain storm on the way to the metro, but it was nothing a few seasoned Vancouverites couldn't handle. The Copenhagen metro trains are impressive! Clean, big, and very easy to navigate.

 Back to the hotel for a quick break, then next door to Astor Pizza. Great pizza for a good price! It's still pretty early here, so we might head over to a jazz club.

Hejdå Stockholm, Hej Copenhagen!

My dad and I bid the beautiful city of Stockholm farewell today, and boarded the high speed train to Copenhagen. The trip took 5 hours and went by fairly quickly thanks to the free wi-fi on board. The only bummer was our seats faced the back of the train. If you ride the train through Sweden you will enjoy the sights of farms, small towns, forests and lakes, unless you are riding backwards, in which case you see the sights whirling past you in a blur, as you are being flung backwards at 120 mph. Do you remember those old Volvos that had the rear facing seats? I remember one of my friend's mom's having one. We all used to fight about who got to sit in the coveted back seat, until the the car started moving and whoever had the honour of sitting in the back was now green in the face & clutching a plastic bag.
 After 5 hours of looking at anything except the windows we got off the train and out of the station. We looked at google maps on dad's phone, then we looked past the bike racks and saw our hotel. We checked in and made our way down the street to the modern & very helpful visitor information center. We purchased a 72 hr Copenhagen Card, which grants us access to 74 museums and attractions, unlimited access to the bus and metro systems, and discounts at numerous stores and restaurants. We decided to go back to the hotel to plan our stay. My dad sat down at his laptop, and I went to pull mine out of my suitcase; CRAP!!!! The front pocket of my suitcase was empty, I had left my laptop on the train! My heart dropped to my stomach as I realized my husband was going to be pissed. How could I have forgotten it? Oh well, back to the train station to see what we could do. The woman at lost & found was very helpful, and told us what train she hoped it would be on, which was set to depart in 8 minutes. Dad & I raced off through the station and on to the platform & into the train; no laptop. Bugger! We ask the train attendant and she calls the train we were on. It had just left the station and my laptop was still on board, and as luck would have it the attendant was coming back to Copenhagen in 4 hours. I breathed a sigh of relief as we walked back to the hotel, impressed by how fast my dad could still run. I texted the hubby to let him know of my mental lapse, and subsequent good fortune.

The train station from our hotel

A few hours later it was back to the train station again, and the very friendly & helpful Carl handed me my laptop, oh I could've kissed him! But I decided to just get dad to shake his hand while I beamed like a kid on Christmas. Back to the hotel to text hubby a photo of me and the laptop, just to set his mind at ease, and let him laugh at me, then out for dinner.
 We walked over to a little Thai restaurant down the street. It had good reviews on Yelp, and was packed with locals. The food was really good! Then we decided to pull out our Copenhagen Cards and use them to enter Tivoli Garden, an amusement park that first opened in 1843. Next we walked along a few of the streets that lined Tivoli and past by City Hall. Then it was back to the room for the night, I have had enough excitement for one day!

Tivoli Main Gate

The Pantomime Theatre at Tivoli

A view from Tivoli Garden

Copenhagen City Hall