Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark: DT and I suggest if you have one day to spend in Copenhagen, make sure it isn't a Monday and make sure the sun is shining. We blew-it on both counts, still we feel we actually had a good look at the city on our walking tour. We did not take an organized tour of the city - mostly because the ship docks right in town. We had a map, so we set out after a light breakfast. The clouds were high in the sky and it did not feel like rain. I was actually wearing a light sweater and sandals.

Our first stop was just a few steps from the cruise pier - the famous statue of The Little Mermaid, known world-wide from the fairy tale of Hans Christian Anderson, one of Copenhagen's most famous citizens. She is a very delightful little creature, looking out to sea - where she always wanted to live.

The Little Mermaid

Our daughter ordered a hybrid car, a Honda Civic, and it was delivered to her last week. DT thinks the new fuel-saving autos are great, so he decided to trade-in his Tahoe. Finding a parking space will never again be an issue - this model fits in my handbag!

Where would he put his golf clubs?

By now, it had started to sprinkle. No problem, we thought and continued along with our route. Copenhagen is a very compact city. It is the center of government and commerce for the entire country of Denmark, yet you can walk nearly everywhere you need to go. The Queen and her family live "amongst the people" and drive their own cars, etc. Here is a photo of the Queen's Palace (closed on Monday) - four identical buildings facing a statue of Frederick V in the center. The large dome in the back ground is on a huge stone Evangelical Lutheran Church down the street.

Amalienborg Palace

It was raining a bit harder now, so we walked along Nyhavn Canal and stopped at a little cafe for a coffee. After we were seated and had ordered, we noticed that we were seated in front of a Chinese restaurant. Oh, we thought it was a Chinese restaurant, but it was in fact a place where Asian girls dance naked in "champagne foam". Seriously, we were seated next to a nice Danish family and other tourists, so I am assuming the scene changes at night! While we were having our coffee, the waitress asked if we could move over because she was going to have to poke the underside of the umbrella over our heads to release a huge puddle of water that was gathering. She pushed and the water came cascading down - most of it all over DT's pants. The waitress thought this was great fun and, apparently since she was so cute, DT did too. People-watching was very interesting today - we watched a mother holding her little boy while he peed into the canal.

Nyhavn Canal

Okay. Now it was pouring. We were getting soaked, so we ducked-into a huge department store and bought an umbrella. The best thing (to me) about foreign department stores is that they all have one thing is common - fabulous food emporiums in the basements! We spent quite a bit of (dry, warm) time discovering the delicacies of Denmark. You could not even imagine the assortment of pickled fish available! And fresh fish of every sort from all over the world. The bakery was so pretty with loaves of delicious-looking breads and trays of, well - danish! There was a pretty flower market, chocolate shop, produce area and a newsstand. We also saw bottles of American beer for sale at $5 per bottle!

Next on our list was Christiansborg Palace, the Danish Parliament (another day, another Parliament building). Christiansborg Palace was built on the site of the original fortress where Copenhagen was founded in 1167. We could see Tivoli Gardens nearby, but we did not visit because they are renovating and most of the park is closed on Monday and well, it was pouring!

Christiansborg Palace

Our walk-in-the-rain continued through the busy and trendy shopping street of Copenhagen. Here you can buy a postcard or a fur coat - eat at McDonald's or find a stylish smørrebrød. We did look at the Royal Copenhagen porcelain and Georg Jensen silver - but did not buy ourselves souvenirs - nor any gifts by the way! We found ourselves back at a restaurant we had passed earlier in the morning, Cafeen i Nikolaj. It is in the old Nikolaj Church which also houses an art center and some sort of Hans Christian Anderson museum (there are many Hans Christian Anderson museums in Copenhagen). We both had fantastic meals, served on white linen tablecloths under a huge window overlooking a very rainy, but very pretty, brick square filled with huge trees. I had salmon cakes. They were delicious, but I especially enjoyed the dark rye bread served with my fish, along with the perfect Danish butter. DT had roasted squab (pigeon to me) with potatoes. Our meals were well presented, but I am sorry to say, my photo was a bit blurry, so you cannot see our meal. Don't cry!

We walked back to the ship through the old Royal Danish Army barracks and found a huge snail on a bridge rail.

Royal Barracks


Royal Snail


The Oceania Regatta

We picked up a souvenir bottle opener at a small gift shop on the pier, boarded the ship and set sail at 6 pm. As I type this, we have just crossed over the sea-tunnel from Denmark to Sweden! The Oresund Crossing is half tunnel, so ships can pass over, and half bridge. Very interesting and probably an engineering marvel of some sort. Just as I was ready to post this journal, DT called to me from the balcony to say the pilot boat had arrived. (A local pilot guides the ship out of his port, then our Captain takes over - this is normal on all ships in all ports.) I was lucky enough to snap this photo of the pilot leaving the Regatta this evening as we entered the open ocean.

Pilot leaving the Regatta