Latitude not longitude

After lunch today (I’ll comeback to that later) we went vertical by walking up to the viewing platform on The Round TowerThe tower which dates from 1642 gives a panoramic view of the city’s roofs and sights and confirms that for as far as one can see the earth is indeed flat, at least in this part of the world.

Rather than climb steps you rise by walking 7.3 turns around a spiral ramp until you reach the platform 34.8m above street level - the view is superb and looking south east (I think) you see The Bridge (Oresund Bridge) which links Denmark with Sweden.

The Bridge is also a Scandinavian-noir crime television series & was the first tv series from this part of the world that we watched and is recommended. It is available on Netflix.

On the way into the city we deviated into a cemetery to view the resting place of Hans Christian Andersen - the cemetery seems not to be concerned with use of space as there are large areas between the graves and the locals appear to treat it as another city park.

The open sandwich is uniquely Danish just like the Danish pastry and that is what we enjoyed for lunch today - each smorrebrod typically consists of a piece buttered rye bread topped with either a piece of meat or fish with cheese or spreads and garnishes - another recommendation.


The other day we undertook our own research as we walked passed a McDonald’s store and found that the price of a Big Mac converted to NZD was $14.45.

Another enjoyable day in Denmark.

Off topic...

...The only English Channel available to us in the apartment is France 24 which is a BBC news type channel.

This morning as we watched the news there was an interesting story which captured my attention I guess because it seemed incredible and that was in France a new church is being built every 10 days!

A pleasant sight around Copenhagen are the Hollyhocks which appear to be in full bloom - there are various colours all of which are a delight to look at. 

Another oddity, if that is what it is, is that a lot of street side shops are at least a half a floor below street level.
Today we headed for Langelinie a group of outlet shops down by the cruise boat terminal - it’s a pity we didn’t read about it before we went to see The Little Mermaid yesterday as it was close by, in fact it’s a pity we read about it at all as it wasn’t worth the hike!

There were advantages however as along the way we walked the shoreline of the Soerne and of Sortedams So two of four enclosed areas of water in the city and through Kastellet said to be one of North Europe’s finest and best preserved fortifications.

Having had a cursory look through the shops we started the walk back into the city via the harbour sidewalk stopping at a restaurant for a late lunch and an energy reviver . 

We stopped off in Nyhaven to see the house Hans Christian Andersen lived in for part of his life in Copenhagen - the apartment with the window open in the photo below

After which we returned to the apartment before venturing out later for a meal.

By the time the day was over we had walked 79 kms since we landed here last Sunday morning - I think we are entitled to feel weary come lights out.

A novelty seen here in Norrebo are groups of outside seats made from pallets - anyone willing to take the idea up in Auckland?

EVs

Copenhagen has numerous EVs running around the streets, be they e-bikes, e-scooters (of which we have seen at least 6 different suppliers including Lime) or e-vehicles.

Of the e-vehicles the one that stands out is the Tesla - saw 3 at one charging station this morning and another in use as a Taxi.

The traffic density is very low compared to Auckland no doubt due to the widespread use of bikes - in the walk into the city this morning there was barely any vehicles on the road and while I haven’t Googled I suspect the road fatality numbers in Denmark is low, unless there are a lot of vehicle v cyclist collisions

Yesterday at Roskilde we were intrigued by a dual mobility type scooter with licence plates firmly affixed

We saw Søren but Susanne must have still been at home.

Today our sightseeing took us down to the waterfront and along the “harbour” to see The Little Mermaid, a statue inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a mermaid who gives up everything to be united with a young handsome Prince on land.

The statue was donated by Carl Jacobsen a wealthy brewer to the City in 1913. Given the number of tourists flocking to see it, it is certainly on everyone’s must do list when visiting Copenhagen.

We stopped off at a restaurant adjacent to Nyhaven on the way back for lunch and ordered “the lunch plate” which consisted of 3 triangles of bread, a small bowl of pickled herrings topped with a ring or three of red onion, a slice of smoked salmon and a piece of cheese with about half a dozen juniper? berries and a few sprigs of dill.

For drinks we asked for 2 glasses of water, one of which was served approximately half full but nevertheless did not stop the restaurant charging 25DKK per glass which equates to $5.75 per glass! Makes the meal seem cheap at $17.25 per plate!

Such is the fun of travelling 

The afternoon was spent ambling back along a crowded Stroget, popping in and out of various shops, that of Royal Copenhagen being the highlight, while following the demise of the Australian cricket team - what a great way to spend an afternoon Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Oi Oi Oi!

On the terrace roof of the Illum department store we were able to get a view of that part of Stroget below - which was relatively devoid of shoppers in comparison to what we “enjoyed” when we got back to street level.

P.S. Have googled now and Denmark has 4 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year while NZ has 7.8 both based on 2016 figures

The Vikings

Today we took a train (2 in fact) to Roskilde one of Denmark’s oldest cities and which was the hub of the Viking land and sea trade routes over 1000 years ago. It was also the capital of Denmark from the 11th century until 1443.

The train station disgorges the tourists out and onto the main shopping strip, which in comparison to Copenhagen is relatively uncrowded, and immediately in front of the station are three large urns representing life and death - why three and not two is a mystery!

The buildings are well maintained and very pleasant to look at.

As we ventured further along the Roskilde Cathedral towered over the town square - it is a very imposing building.

Passing behind the Cathedral on the walk down to the harbour there were some very nice & nicely maintained residential homes.

The harbour area housed the Viking museum as well numerous shipbuilders who were keeping the ancient traditions alive by building Viking style boats..

...and for a cost you could go sailing in one out in the fjord 

After the bustle of the past few days in the city it was terrific to spend a day out in a more relaxed environment with the return train bringing us back home by 5.00pm.

During the course of the day I was being kept up to date with the cricket score and the fact that we pulled off the win over India put the icing on the cake - you can’t keep an underdog down all the time!

Blistering...

...not the heat though the day was a very nice 20 odd degree summers day, but Sherry’s feet after our walking around today.

The apartment is approximately 3km from the central area so that’s at least 6kms per day (I know we could get the bus but why waste the opportunity for exercise) before we do the sightseeing things.

This morning our first stop was at Kongens Have which houses the Rosenborg Slot. The Kings Gardens (Kongens Have) is the oldest Palace garden in Denmark and was laid out in 1606. 

We then moved onto Centrum for lunch following which we went via Nyhaven across the main “waterway” to find two areas renowned for their street food - while we found the closest one, Broens Gadekokken despite walking for around another 45 minutes, the other, Reffen remained elusive even though those we asked said we were heading in the right direction.

When we finally arrived at the site it appeared to be undergoing significant road reconstruction, so much so that we didn’t bother having a look around and made our way to catch the water bus back to Nyhaven a 15-20 min journey.

This dome is iconic for us as we have seen it numerous times in Danish TV programs we have seen over the years.

Alighting at Nyhaven I left Sherry to have a look around Magasin du Nord, Copenhagen’s version of Smith & Caughey, while I sought out some free WiFi to find the cricket score - to say I was disappointed with what I found is an understatement (157-3 after 40) however I now see that the game has been stopped for rain so Mr Duckworth Lewis may have to get the calculator out.

After meeting up again we stopped for a coffee before calling at a supermarket to get something we could cook for dinner and then started the 3km trudge back home.

As well as being known for cycling Copenhagen also has a name for itself for the old style wrought iron bench seat and they are very well used - crossing the bridge on the way home there are many of these seats and it’s strange to see them all in use with the occupants facing the traffic on the bridge  - not a very relaxing view!

More of a test

Having run into tech problems last night I have tried to find a solution and this blog is really to see whether the solution works

The World Clock designed by Jens Olsen - one of the gears in the clock rotates once every 25,753 years and therefore has hardly moved since the clock was started in 1955.

The clock is situated in City Hall.

One of the canals in downtown Copenhagen - a 60 minute sightseeing trip costs 50 KR.

The Royal Palace or at least half of it

The tallest man in the world standing outside a shop in Stroget!

An interesting aspect of Danish currency is that it appears that apart from a coin worth half a krone there are only coins that equate to whole Krone and prices in nearly 95% of the times are in whole Krone - none of the $2.99, $19.99 pricing we are familiar with.

Here’s hoping it works & good luck to the Black Caps today

Equally Impressive.....

There is a poster at Copenhagen airport alleging that every day in this city cyclists ride a combined total of in excess of 1.3 million kilometres  on over 350 kilometres of cycle ways which seems an incredible number. However you only need to see the number of bikes parked around the city and the endless stream of cyclists of all ages moving sedately along the cycle lanes to realise that it certainly is no exaggeration, and they move along in a very orderly way obeying the traffic signals and giving their own hand signals.

We retired last night rather early having been awake, other than for approximately 5 hours napping on the plane, for just over 48 hours - to say we were shattered rather understates how we felt, but hey there are no complaints.

Sleep came rather easily and lasted well into the morning and after a relaxing breakfast we hit the streets.

First impressions of Copenhagen apart from the cycling is a city that has been around for sometime and the owners of the buildings that front every road have skimped on maintenance, at least in the areas we walked on our first day. However today we ventured further into and around the central city and the environment was rather more impressive, nice in fact. Another impression is that the cost of living might well be high - 2 cups of coffee cost approximately $16 being double what we would pay in NZ. Also the price of meat at a high street butcher was rather mouth watering, enough I would suggest to ensure you became vegetarian! 

 

Pork chops 25kr/100gms which equates to approximately $60/kg Eye fillet was around $150/kg and the humble sausage $34/kg!       

   Centrum was a real buzz of people doing much like we were, looking at the sights, a lot of window shopping and watching other people. 

  And at this point in writing the blog for reasons I can’t fathom the technology has let me down and won’t allow me to load any photos - whether I can solve it going forward is problematical. 

 We walked up Stroget, a long pedestrian mall of various class of shops, however it is the premier street for shopping in this city, coming out into Radhuspladsen which is dominated by the City Hall & across Hans Christian Andersen’s Boulevard is Tivoli, an amusement park. 

 On the floor of Radhuspladsen is a aerial view of the city and we were able to pick out some of the landmarks.

 I did have a thought - I wonder how far you have to go from the centre of Copenhagen until you strike a hill as the place is as flat as. 

 Back down Stroget and following the canals we passed Christiansborg Palace and continuing along with the water on our right we arrived at Nyhaven, a very touristy area but one which because of the coloured buildings has become the public relation photo for Copenhagen.   

  As we were in the vicinity we continued along to Amalienborg the home of the Danish Royal family. The palace is in fact four buildings set around a square but they don’t give off a Buckingham Palace vibe, in fact for royalty they are very understated.

 After stopping for a coffee, or perhaps to rest legs that were by now lacking somewhat in energy we started the amble up through Centrum and along Nørrebrogade to our accommodation which is around 3kms from Centrum.

 A rest, if one calls sitting down for 10 or so minutes, and then we were back out to a restaurant for dinner. 

 After dinner I gingerly joined the throngs and went for a 20 minute bike ride - I never passed anyone but was swamped time and time again by the masses, even by a child riding along with dad. I have excuses however as the bike, which comes with apartment, is poorly maintained, the gears won’t change and the brakes were almost nonexistent. And so finished our day. 

 As I write this it is 9.00 pm however it is still daylight outside and will be so for around another hour - "white night" we have heard it referred to as - and then daylight is around 4.30am at this time of the year so if one likes daylight then this is one of the places to be.

 

Impressive..

... Auckland Airport

... SingaporeAir service

... Changi Airport

Not so impressive 5 hours sleep in the past 45 hours

14 degree day here in Copenhagen with a chilly breeze

Eyes held open with matchsticks

Hence a very short blog today

Travel Envy....

....kicked in this morning as we left home at 5am to drop Sam and his family at the airport as they commence their 1 month holiday in Japan.

As well as being excited for them it was great to see their excitement however our own departure in 8 weeks seems a life time away!

Sam & Maya waiting for NZ99 to depart 

A New Year....

....a new adventure.

Today is the first day we can say we are going on holiday this year - up until now it has been “next year”

Yes we are on the road again in July for 11 weeks

We have always had a hankering to visit somewhere in Scandinavia, having watched numerous TV programs from that part of the world, so we are going to Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden before flying to Geneva and then driving for the rest of our travels.

We have booked stays in Aix-En Provence, Avignon, St Etienne, Dijon, Reims & Paris before returning home via our usual stopover city, Singapore.

Everything is booked (but not paid for😊😊) and we now wait for the days to pass (slowly I suspect) until departure day.