Today, after breakfast we hit the tourist trail. Being a full time tourist is very hard on the body, hit the road around 10 am and walk, view, walk for the next 7 hours. Todays started with a visit to Christiansborg ( The palace). Denmark currently has a Queen. We viewed the rooms of the palace but didn't run into the Aussie crown princess.
From there we headed Nyhavn. What the tourist brochures show isn't like it really is - wall to wall tourists and in the wings cafes etc waiting to help you spend your money. Lunch (for three) came to over NZ$100.00. The high prices remind me of one or two famous plaza's in Rome, where you pay for the location.
After lunch we hit another palace -Amalienborg with guards in big furry hats.
Next stop was a big church (sorry don't know its name), then onto the Kastellet ( an active fort laid out as it was in the 18th Century. Very similar to the fort in Quebec City. By now the cold wind was getting to us, so we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way back we stopped of at the Rosenborg Palace ( where the Crown Jewels are on display).
We then stumbled on Stroget (the shopping mall or street that goes for KM's. It was very busy, full of people shopping their little hearts out.
Finally arrived back at the hotel around 4:30 pm absolutely stuffed (very sore feet). Tonight we went back down the Stroget to eat. Less crowded this time.
The weather today started with a promise, but got very cold and windy. Wind seems to be a constant given the number of wind generators we saw in the harbour today.
Tomorrow's weather calls for rain and cold temperatures, so we will hit a museum or two. Unfortunately the musuem to the Danish resistance (WW2) is closed due to fire (arson). So tomorrow will try see the Danish museum (Vikings, the Little mermaid and Christiania.
Travelling with my sons is interesting, both a very different but get on just fine. I am enjoying their company.
Day two was as the weather forcasters said it would be, wet, wet wet.
Today we had a better idea off where we had to go, not like yesterday which was a meander to say the least.
The picture below will hopefully give you an idea of todays weather
First stop, the National Museum, where we visited prehistoric Denmark exhibits including The Vikings. The museum had a special Viking exhibit, we unfortunately due to time did not join the rather long que to visit the exhibit (they only admit a few at a time). After 2 hours we moved on.
In the afternoon we walked over to see the little mermaid (we were only about 100 metres from the statue yesterday).
From the statue we crossed over the harbour to another island which houses Christiania.
Christianai was established in the 1970's by hippies. They set up an alternative life style (including openly selling and using weed and oil. The Danish authorities have turned a blind eye to this alternative to urban living. As we walked through the green district (no photo's allowed) there were a number of traders selling their wares. I suggested we stop and have coffee, but the boys declined as they were worried something might be in either the coffee or the cookies. Evan siad he could smell pot and Regan just felt uncomfortable, it didn't appear to be the safest of places to be.
We retraced our steps back to the hotel, arriving back around 4:30 pm, with very sore feet. The last hour had us walking in pretty solid rain.
It is currently 9:30 pm, the boys have gone down to the Tivoli Gardens. The Tivoli is a 19th Century amusement park. The current theme is Halloween. It has been described as "Disneyland with culture". So I hope they enjoy themselves.
Bikes and Biking. Biking is full on over here. Almost everybody bikes. You see parents with kids in carts (like a delivery bike used in yesterday, woman doubling one another all dressed up etc. The concept looks great. they have dual lanes seperated from the motor traffic. As a pedestrian you have to be always aware of them (they appear to reach high speeds). While the bikes look like something from the 1950's, thet infact are 12 or 18 speed. All have lights on etc (according to Evan, who has such a bike at Uppsala, if you don't have lights or a bell you are fined. Apparently you also get a ticket for being drunk in charge of a bike).
One last thought: It appears you can't get a danish in Denmark. I come to this conclusion as I have been trying to get one for the last two days, but to no avail.
One further thought, you do get tourist fatigue. All three of us have it. Sore feet, legs hips etc. Playing tourist can be demanding. This infliction has be enhanced by all three of us suffering from colds, coughs and sore throats. I brought in over from NZ and have now shared it with Evan and Regan. We actually blame it on my sister who brought it over from Australia (about 4 days before I left NZ).
Tomorrow we leave Copenhagen and return to Sweden. We have a 4 hour train ride up to Gothenburg. Looking forward to it. One further observation both Sweden and Denmark are very expensive to travel in. Food wise you don't by NZ standards get value for money. Until tomorrow.
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