Alway in Search of Our Local: The Scandinavian Edition
Jun 27th, 2024, 03:13 AM
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Alway in Search of Our Local: The Scandinavian Edition
We just returned from thirteen wonderful days in Copenhagen, Bergen, Oslo and Sweden. I was thrilled to visit cities of some of my favorite Nordic Noir crime fiction characters, and my husband was equally thrilled to experience the three economies and cultures that have always fascinated him during his financial career.
During our travels, we delighted in food truck markets and food halls, folk festivals, and fjords. We met amazing people of all ages with equally amazing stories to share. Friendly bartenders enthusiastically discussed local pale ales, IPAs and bitters with us (nope, we did not venture into sour beers), and we managed to swig an amazingly, rather frighteningly, high number of different beers. Well, someone on this forum has to be up to the job.
And we even danced around a maypole on Midsummer's Eve.
During our travels, we delighted in food truck markets and food halls, folk festivals, and fjords. We met amazing people of all ages with equally amazing stories to share. Friendly bartenders enthusiastically discussed local pale ales, IPAs and bitters with us (nope, we did not venture into sour beers), and we managed to swig an amazingly, rather frighteningly, high number of different beers. Well, someone on this forum has to be up to the job.
And we even danced around a maypole on Midsummer's Eve.
Jun 27th, 2024, 03:25 AM
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General Outline of This Report
For those of you planning a similar trip, I decided to outline my proposed trip report so that you can skip to information you might actually need. I'm going to try to present the information in this order:
and then will post about...
and then
Next: Our General Itinerary
- Our General Itinerary
- Planning Flights, Inter-City Transport and Accommodations
- Practicalities--Phone Plans, Apps, Credit Cards, Currency
- Weather and Packing
and then will post about...
- Copenhagen
- Bergen (including the DIY Norway-in-a-Nutshell excursion)
- Oslo
- Stockholm
and then
- Conclusions and Special Thank Yous
Next: Our General Itinerary
Jun 27th, 2024, 03:46 AM
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Our General Itinerary
Our trip route flowed as follows:
Copenhagen, Denmark (3 nights),
fly to
Bergen, Norway (3 nights that included our DIY "Norway-in-a-Nutshell" excursion),
fly to
Oslo, Norway (3 nights),
fly to
Stockholm, Sweden (4 nights)
I must make it clear--This trip length was not of my making. Heck, I would have been willing to spend a month roaming around Scandinavia, but my husband was firm from the get-go of planning: We could only do 14 days "from the hour we leave the house to the house we step back in through the door." No more 21-day trips.
I sort of obeyed. My plans extended, with flight time, close to 1/2 day beyond his stricture, and of course, airline delays on the way home would more or less put us at the 15-day mark.
I also want to make it clear that I never ever expected our city-to-city transport to be via air flights. There are so many excellent train and other transport options in Scandinavia that would have worked very well. It was only happenstance that I have now racked up frequent flyer miles on SAS. But as I write, I admit that doing it that way and the length of our trip did work out. I just won't ever admit it to my husband. We had to face the facts of aging before, during and after this trip. Our brain cells are quite functional, our personalities are still open to adventure, but our body parts no longer measure up. Our overall trip planning and style of travel were both considerably impacted by an ever-growing list of physical limitations. And while I loved Scandinavia, my body was ready to come home when we did.
I am happy to report, though, that we find ourselves missing all three countries. We felt at home in each of them. Spending the winter in any of them might not be as appealing, but I'm willing to try one out just to see.
Next: Planning Flights, Inter-City Transport and Accommodations
Copenhagen, Denmark (3 nights),
fly to
Bergen, Norway (3 nights that included our DIY "Norway-in-a-Nutshell" excursion),
fly to
Oslo, Norway (3 nights),
fly to
Stockholm, Sweden (4 nights)
I must make it clear--This trip length was not of my making. Heck, I would have been willing to spend a month roaming around Scandinavia, but my husband was firm from the get-go of planning: We could only do 14 days "from the hour we leave the house to the house we step back in through the door." No more 21-day trips.
I sort of obeyed. My plans extended, with flight time, close to 1/2 day beyond his stricture, and of course, airline delays on the way home would more or less put us at the 15-day mark.
I also want to make it clear that I never ever expected our city-to-city transport to be via air flights. There are so many excellent train and other transport options in Scandinavia that would have worked very well. It was only happenstance that I have now racked up frequent flyer miles on SAS. But as I write, I admit that doing it that way and the length of our trip did work out. I just won't ever admit it to my husband. We had to face the facts of aging before, during and after this trip. Our brain cells are quite functional, our personalities are still open to adventure, but our body parts no longer measure up. Our overall trip planning and style of travel were both considerably impacted by an ever-growing list of physical limitations. And while I loved Scandinavia, my body was ready to come home when we did.
I am happy to report, though, that we find ourselves missing all three countries. We felt at home in each of them. Spending the winter in any of them might not be as appealing, but I'm willing to try one out just to see.
Next: Planning Flights, Inter-City Transport and Accommodations
Jun 27th, 2024, 04:56 AM
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Planning Flights, City-to-City Transport and Accommodations
As I've related on a few other posts, I was initially overwhelmed by the sheer number of permutations possible for this trip. I had briefly even considered a cruise just to have the planning done for me, an idea subtlety shot down by my husband with a "If you REALLY want to do it, I will, but..." statement. And I've never wanted a cruise, so thank goodness that put an "X" on the consideration.
I said to myself, "OK--get your head straight. Just get an Open Jaw flight booking and then work inwards." Much to my surprise, even though we live near a major airport, we could not book a direct flight to any of the three big cities. Connections it would have to be. By the end of August 2023, after a week of researching air fares with frequent flyer mile permutations, I managed to snag Business Class on AA Philadelphia-Copenhagen and for the return, Business Class Stockholm-JFK NYC for darn good prices.
Deciding on when to go and how to go to which city after Copenhagen was harder. September and October were spent reading every possible trip report here on Fodors, on Trip Advisor, and on Rick Steves forums. I Googled "Scandinavian Itineraries", I checked out professional tour itineraries, and so on. Watching YouTube travel videos became my morning coffee ritual. The end result was that my original three-city trip plan was stretched to four. We would visit Copenhagen, then Bergen, then Oslo and finally Stockholm.
To my surprise and my relief, the order worked out quite well.
Eventually I got to the point where I could make accommodation reservations. By November, I had managed to reserve a well-located hotel in each city AND a back-up Airbnb in Bergen and Stockholm. By the end of 2023, now more educated about our possible clothes washing opportunities in each city, I was able to cancel the Bergen hotel while keeping the Bergen Airbnb and keep the Stockholm hotel while cancelling the Stockholm Airbnb with quite some confidence.
I think I should explain how I choose hotels or other stays. Our priorities are:
I don't need luxury. I do need utility! Everything I would choose on the trip did work out well to some degree.
Planning our city-to-city transport did become a chronic planning issue. Wouldn't you know it, my husband's back had started going into spasms after sitting upright for long periods. The long train routes I had planned could be a problem. The guy can walk miles and miles per day but sitting, not so good. While I hoped his issue would disappear before the trip, I wisely made refundable SAS reservations between all cities, choosing the BioFare because Greta Thunberg is in my head every day anyway.
It wasn't a bad idea to have the air seats because I could not make rail reservations anyway yet. I knew both the Norwegian website VY and the Swedish website SJ would not load their June fares until spring. I would just book those trips whenever the time slots appeared and then would cancel the air. A "Belt and Suspenders" philosophy as always been a part my coal-mining family's life because my grandfather always would say, "You can't dig coal when your pants fall down." I assumed I could finish those reservations when it was time to book my DIY "Norway-in-a-Nutshell" excursion.
Or so I thought.
Both rail websites had not posted their June fares until a month-and-a-half before our departure, and one of the routes I wanted had entirely been wiped off the system for scheduled repairs. By the time I was moving forward in my planning, I gave up. I kept the SAS flights. The only thing I would eventually book on the Vy site would be my DIY "Norway-in-a-Nutshell" excursion, which I'll write about later.
Next: Practicalities--Phone Plans, Apps, Credit Cards, Currency
I said to myself, "OK--get your head straight. Just get an Open Jaw flight booking and then work inwards." Much to my surprise, even though we live near a major airport, we could not book a direct flight to any of the three big cities. Connections it would have to be. By the end of August 2023, after a week of researching air fares with frequent flyer mile permutations, I managed to snag Business Class on AA Philadelphia-Copenhagen and for the return, Business Class Stockholm-JFK NYC for darn good prices.
Deciding on when to go and how to go to which city after Copenhagen was harder. September and October were spent reading every possible trip report here on Fodors, on Trip Advisor, and on Rick Steves forums. I Googled "Scandinavian Itineraries", I checked out professional tour itineraries, and so on. Watching YouTube travel videos became my morning coffee ritual. The end result was that my original three-city trip plan was stretched to four. We would visit Copenhagen, then Bergen, then Oslo and finally Stockholm.
To my surprise and my relief, the order worked out quite well.
Eventually I got to the point where I could make accommodation reservations. By November, I had managed to reserve a well-located hotel in each city AND a back-up Airbnb in Bergen and Stockholm. By the end of 2023, now more educated about our possible clothes washing opportunities in each city, I was able to cancel the Bergen hotel while keeping the Bergen Airbnb and keep the Stockholm hotel while cancelling the Stockholm Airbnb with quite some confidence.
I think I should explain how I choose hotels or other stays. Our priorities are:
- Two beds (and this trip report will relate a funny story why)
- Location to public transport and what we want to see
- Bathroom--Does it look super clean and can I wash out clothes in it?
I don't need luxury. I do need utility! Everything I would choose on the trip did work out well to some degree.
Planning our city-to-city transport did become a chronic planning issue. Wouldn't you know it, my husband's back had started going into spasms after sitting upright for long periods. The long train routes I had planned could be a problem. The guy can walk miles and miles per day but sitting, not so good. While I hoped his issue would disappear before the trip, I wisely made refundable SAS reservations between all cities, choosing the BioFare because Greta Thunberg is in my head every day anyway.
It wasn't a bad idea to have the air seats because I could not make rail reservations anyway yet. I knew both the Norwegian website VY and the Swedish website SJ would not load their June fares until spring. I would just book those trips whenever the time slots appeared and then would cancel the air. A "Belt and Suspenders" philosophy as always been a part my coal-mining family's life because my grandfather always would say, "You can't dig coal when your pants fall down." I assumed I could finish those reservations when it was time to book my DIY "Norway-in-a-Nutshell" excursion.
Or so I thought.
Both rail websites had not posted their June fares until a month-and-a-half before our departure, and one of the routes I wanted had entirely been wiped off the system for scheduled repairs. By the time I was moving forward in my planning, I gave up. I kept the SAS flights. The only thing I would eventually book on the Vy site would be my DIY "Norway-in-a-Nutshell" excursion, which I'll write about later.
Next: Practicalities--Phone Plans, Apps, Credit Cards, Currency
Jun 27th, 2024, 05:33 AM
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Practicalities--Phone Plans, Apps, Credit Cards, Currency
Similar to what we did last year on our Liverpool, England and Ireland trip, we used Verizon's International plan. The only difference is that I, as owner of our phone plan, had 12 "banked" Travel Pass days I could use for this much shorter trip and thus only got charged for the few extra days of international travel. My husband got the $100 International Plan. No network snags on the trip, but there WAS a pre-trip snag that I'll write about in a separate post. It was nothing you should worry about. Our allowed data gigabytes worked beautifully and speedily.
I loaded these Apps on a "page" of my Android phone:
and where needed, attached at least one pre-approved credit card to each app so prevent international charging issues. And yes, I'm sure you won't be surprised that we still had one snag.
All of our credit cards were alerted to our trip destinations and dates if they required notification. I also made three other payment types updated on my phone: PayPal, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay. I never used them during the trip, even though I had occasions where I SHOULD have used them, but that's another story.
As far as cash, I can tell you right now you don't really need any. We only withdrew cash once during the entire trip because it was sometimes hard to leave even a minimal but well-deserved tip in Copenhagen.* In other cities, we were easily able to enter our sporadic 5% to 10% tips on the handheld credit card charging machines. One restroom in Voss, Norway and one museum locker in Copenhagen presented a difficulty, but we found workarounds.
*Our bartenders in Copenhagen said it's often just easier to tip them in Euros. They live close enough to other countries there to make use of them. I would not do that in Norway or Sweden.
We have Citi and Barclay MasterCards and both worked seamlessly. My husband had to sign slips in Sweden, but everywhere else, not even a blip. AMEX is not used in Scandinavian countries as a general rule, but I was able to pay for air and often accommodations with it by prior arrangement.
That brings us to currency. NO, Denmark, Norway and Sweden do not share the same currency and NO, they don't use Euros. To prepare my Mr. Math husband, who just loves doing conversions, I printed out an updated chart of country-to-USD two days prior to departure. I told him not to die of a heart attack when being presented with any bill. Scandinavia is super expensive, and he'd just have to deal. I joked, "Lie back and think of England." Google that not quite accurate phrase if you don't understand.
Next: June Weather and Packing
I loaded these Apps on a "page" of my Android phone:
- Airlines: AA, Delta, SAS
- Rail: Vy (Norway), SJ (Sweden)
- City Transport: Copenhagen Card, Skyss (Bergen bus and tram), Floyen (Bergen's funicular), Flytoget (Oslo's speedy airport train), SL (Stockholm transport system)
- Accommodation: Booking.com, Strawberry (Clarion), Airbnb
and where needed, attached at least one pre-approved credit card to each app so prevent international charging issues. And yes, I'm sure you won't be surprised that we still had one snag.
All of our credit cards were alerted to our trip destinations and dates if they required notification. I also made three other payment types updated on my phone: PayPal, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay. I never used them during the trip, even though I had occasions where I SHOULD have used them, but that's another story.
As far as cash, I can tell you right now you don't really need any. We only withdrew cash once during the entire trip because it was sometimes hard to leave even a minimal but well-deserved tip in Copenhagen.* In other cities, we were easily able to enter our sporadic 5% to 10% tips on the handheld credit card charging machines. One restroom in Voss, Norway and one museum locker in Copenhagen presented a difficulty, but we found workarounds.
*Our bartenders in Copenhagen said it's often just easier to tip them in Euros. They live close enough to other countries there to make use of them. I would not do that in Norway or Sweden.
We have Citi and Barclay MasterCards and both worked seamlessly. My husband had to sign slips in Sweden, but everywhere else, not even a blip. AMEX is not used in Scandinavian countries as a general rule, but I was able to pay for air and often accommodations with it by prior arrangement.
That brings us to currency. NO, Denmark, Norway and Sweden do not share the same currency and NO, they don't use Euros. To prepare my Mr. Math husband, who just loves doing conversions, I printed out an updated chart of country-to-USD two days prior to departure. I told him not to die of a heart attack when being presented with any bill. Scandinavia is super expensive, and he'd just have to deal. I joked, "Lie back and think of England." Google that not quite accurate phrase if you don't understand.
Next: June Weather and Packing
Jun 27th, 2024, 05:56 AM
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Melnq8--"Paralysis" is a great description. And I can't figure out why planning this one was so much harder than others I've planned, although I do remember 30 years ago trying to plan a Swiss hiking vacation for the family and having the same "deer in headlights" feeling. I solved that one by signing up with an adventure travel company (worked out great!), but I just did not want to tour with anyone on this trip. Usually planning problems get me energized. Planning this trip made me feel stupid for a long time until I got my footing.
You'll get a chuckle out of this. At the end of the trip, my husband said, "I don't see why you had so much trouble with this trip--our route was so obvious."
Yeah, for YOU who did not have to make one decision.
Good luck finding your "obvious itinerary", whatever that might be, Melnq8.
By the way, I've wrote another detailed post, but Fodors Moderators are keeping me in time-out until they review it. If it doesn't get through in a few hours, I might have to end this day's efforts. Had hoped to give everyone enough basics to start planning before I detailed our personal adventures and mishaps, but I'll live.
You'll get a chuckle out of this. At the end of the trip, my husband said, "I don't see why you had so much trouble with this trip--our route was so obvious."
Yeah, for YOU who did not have to make one decision.
Good luck finding your "obvious itinerary", whatever that might be, Melnq8.
By the way, I've wrote another detailed post, but Fodors Moderators are keeping me in time-out until they review it. If it doesn't get through in a few hours, I might have to end this day's efforts. Had hoped to give everyone enough basics to start planning before I detailed our personal adventures and mishaps, but I'll live.
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Jun 27th, 2024, 09:52 AM
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June Scandinavian Weather and Packing
We knew temperatures on this trip could range from 50 degrees to 80 degrees, and guess what? They did! It was also not unusual for us to experience a 20-degree difference in any one day between 8 am and 8 pm.
We were equally prepared to encounter days of rain in Bergen because it is the rainiest city in Europe. Well, we did have rain there, but not as much as we did in our first days in Copenhagen. It didn't really matter--we had GoreTex jackets and even rain pants, which, thank goodness, we did not have to wear (on one cold gusty day, I thought about sliding those puppies on, though). The great thing about having done so many cycle trips was that we automatically learned to load our cycle packs and bodies for temperature variations, wind gusts, and precipitation, all with gear we still have on hand. And I still pack cheapy gloves and a stocking cap for any trip that isn't a tropical beach vacation.
As far as general packing, we used our 3-3-3 summer packing method for tops: 3 thin short-sleeve tops that can layer under 3 thin long-sleeved tops that can layer under 3 various outer layers that usually have pockets. Any 2 of the 3 layers can roll up into a daypack; all drip-dry in hours.
Both my husband and I pretty much wear Kuhl pants here in the States anyway. They have four-way stretch, have pockets, and again, can drip dry. We each packed a back-up pair in a slightly different style and/or color.
For a nice restaurant, I brought along a pair of quick-dry black pants along with two featherweight dressy tops and a cardigan, plus two silk scarves. My husband's "dress-up" for this trip consisted of one collared shirt and one of his less ratty sweaters.
As I mentioned before, our outerwear consisted of GoreTex jackets, and we each independently decided to just bring our puffy vests as opposed to our puffy coat liners to add needed warmth. The vests are super easy to "punch down" into our daypacks whenever we need to get rid of them. In my recent post in the Travel Tips forum, I explained I purchased jacket straps for the trip, and I LOVE them. I was never dragging a coat tied around my waist, and I could slip my arms into the sleeves in seconds.
On the flight home, when we were assessing what went well and what did not, we agreed we would not have changed our general packing. The biggest comfort problem we had we could not solve by any means other than The Fountain of Youth: our feet always hurt by the end of the day. Getting old IS the pits. We had each packed two other pairs of sensible shoes in addition to the ones we were wearing so that we could benefit from variation. We brought along replacement insoles, ankle supports and knee braces. Buts thats all that can be done, and we knew it would be like that before we left. It boils down to this: we could choose to stay home and be comfy or suffer.
We were more than willing to suffer, and were happy we did.
Next: Getting to Copenhagen
We were equally prepared to encounter days of rain in Bergen because it is the rainiest city in Europe. Well, we did have rain there, but not as much as we did in our first days in Copenhagen. It didn't really matter--we had GoreTex jackets and even rain pants, which, thank goodness, we did not have to wear (on one cold gusty day, I thought about sliding those puppies on, though). The great thing about having done so many cycle trips was that we automatically learned to load our cycle packs and bodies for temperature variations, wind gusts, and precipitation, all with gear we still have on hand. And I still pack cheapy gloves and a stocking cap for any trip that isn't a tropical beach vacation.
As far as general packing, we used our 3-3-3 summer packing method for tops: 3 thin short-sleeve tops that can layer under 3 thin long-sleeved tops that can layer under 3 various outer layers that usually have pockets. Any 2 of the 3 layers can roll up into a daypack; all drip-dry in hours.
Both my husband and I pretty much wear Kuhl pants here in the States anyway. They have four-way stretch, have pockets, and again, can drip dry. We each packed a back-up pair in a slightly different style and/or color.
For a nice restaurant, I brought along a pair of quick-dry black pants along with two featherweight dressy tops and a cardigan, plus two silk scarves. My husband's "dress-up" for this trip consisted of one collared shirt and one of his less ratty sweaters.
As I mentioned before, our outerwear consisted of GoreTex jackets, and we each independently decided to just bring our puffy vests as opposed to our puffy coat liners to add needed warmth. The vests are super easy to "punch down" into our daypacks whenever we need to get rid of them. In my recent post in the Travel Tips forum, I explained I purchased jacket straps for the trip, and I LOVE them. I was never dragging a coat tied around my waist, and I could slip my arms into the sleeves in seconds.
On the flight home, when we were assessing what went well and what did not, we agreed we would not have changed our general packing. The biggest comfort problem we had we could not solve by any means other than The Fountain of Youth: our feet always hurt by the end of the day. Getting old IS the pits. We had each packed two other pairs of sensible shoes in addition to the ones we were wearing so that we could benefit from variation. We brought along replacement insoles, ankle supports and knee braces. Buts thats all that can be done, and we knew it would be like that before we left. It boils down to this: we could choose to stay home and be comfy or suffer.
We were more than willing to suffer, and were happy we did.
Next: Getting to Copenhagen
Jun 28th, 2024, 01:53 AM
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mk2049--Expect me on your doorstep soon.
coral22--Thank you. Your kind comment encourages me to keep going in detail.
coral22--Thank you. Your kind comment encourages me to keep going in detail.
Last edited by Moderator1; Jun 29th, 2024 at 11:14 AM. Reason: removed response to a deleted post
Jun 28th, 2024, 02:37 AM
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Getting to Copenhagen
On our day of departure, our connecting flight to PHL was delayed over an hour. And then it was delayed another hour. When the third delay was called, passengers around us were either fretting or trying to change flights.
Us? We were totally chill. I had purposely booked a 5-hour layover, plus we were not checking any luggage*. In all likelihood, we'd make it to PHL in time for our next flight, and if something fell through, we could be flexible to get on another routing. But I should note that in the months prior, American Airlines tried three times to push our first flight leg reservations closer to the second leg. As soon as I'd get the "Your flights have been changed" alert, I'd immediately call Reservations and say, "Please put me back on the earlier flight. We need that time."
I sure like being proven right.
*See how we pack for carry-on in this Travel Tips post.
For our PHL-CPH segment, all went smoothly. Not only did it board on time, it went out on time. AA started this direct flight to CPH this year, and you can read more about its launch and its Business Class seat in this Afar.com article. The seat has quite decent storage space, leg room and so on. As to the evening meal, I'm sure it was fine but I'll never know. We each alerted the flight attendants that we were off to sleep, and if we weren't awake in time for breakfast, just don't bother to wake us. We did wake in time and enjoyed a surprisingly decent omelet.
Next--the phone test. Would our international plans work? We turned our phones off and turned them on again. Yay!!!! One hurdle down.
All seemed to be going smoothly upon disembarking until we hit Passport Control. It was a complete disorganized mess, a situation that still mystifies us because Copenhagen is an extremely well-organized city. The hall where passport control was located was quite large, and instead of roping off several lanes initially, crowds were directed into two freeform queues that eventually became two random conga lines wrapped around and in and out of each other in the space. People started complaining about others cutting in line, but my goodness, how could any of them tell where the end of which line was?
Eventually we got through, took deep breaths, and headed off to buy Copenhagen Cards.
Next: The Copenhagen Discover Card
Us? We were totally chill. I had purposely booked a 5-hour layover, plus we were not checking any luggage*. In all likelihood, we'd make it to PHL in time for our next flight, and if something fell through, we could be flexible to get on another routing. But I should note that in the months prior, American Airlines tried three times to push our first flight leg reservations closer to the second leg. As soon as I'd get the "Your flights have been changed" alert, I'd immediately call Reservations and say, "Please put me back on the earlier flight. We need that time."
I sure like being proven right.
*See how we pack for carry-on in this Travel Tips post.
For our PHL-CPH segment, all went smoothly. Not only did it board on time, it went out on time. AA started this direct flight to CPH this year, and you can read more about its launch and its Business Class seat in this Afar.com article. The seat has quite decent storage space, leg room and so on. As to the evening meal, I'm sure it was fine but I'll never know. We each alerted the flight attendants that we were off to sleep, and if we weren't awake in time for breakfast, just don't bother to wake us. We did wake in time and enjoyed a surprisingly decent omelet.
Next--the phone test. Would our international plans work? We turned our phones off and turned them on again. Yay!!!! One hurdle down.
All seemed to be going smoothly upon disembarking until we hit Passport Control. It was a complete disorganized mess, a situation that still mystifies us because Copenhagen is an extremely well-organized city. The hall where passport control was located was quite large, and instead of roping off several lanes initially, crowds were directed into two freeform queues that eventually became two random conga lines wrapped around and in and out of each other in the space. People started complaining about others cutting in line, but my goodness, how could any of them tell where the end of which line was?
Eventually we got through, took deep breaths, and headed off to buy Copenhagen Cards.
Next: The Copenhagen Discover Card
Jun 28th, 2024, 03:10 AM
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The Copenhagen Discover Card
Before we descended to Baggage Claim, I sought out an Information Desk. Although I had the Copenhagen Card app loaded onto my phone, I had yet to purchase it. I would prefer to have two physical cards so that 1) I would not be relying on vagaries of phone service and 2) we each could go off independently if one wanted to stay back at the hotel room for a nap.
Well, no matter what you read, physical cards don't exist anymore.
No big problem. I showed my husband how to download the Copenhagen Card on his phone, and within minutes, we each had a Copenhagen Discover Card. We chose the 72-hour one, a time length that would cover just about on the nose our transport to and from the airport along with many other means of transport and attraction entries.
Cost for the 72-hr Discover card? At the time of this post, 879 DKK or 126.20 USD. There is no senior discount, but families could benefit greatly from its use--each adult carrying a Copenhagen Discover Card can, free of charge, bring up to two children between the ages of 3 -11, and there are discounted junior fares for older children. The card included all public transport within the capital region of Copenhagen for Zones 1-99. It included journeys to towns outside Copenhagen--i.e. Roskilde, Lejre, Hillerød, Helsingør (Elsinore), Ishøj, Humlebæk, Rungsted, Køge, and Frederikssund and many of the attractions within these towns. We would be able to use the Metro, buses, S-Trains, regional and local trains and unbeknownst to us at first, the harbor boat bus system. The pass even paid for a harbor/canal tour as long as one left from one of the less frequented starting points. Almost all of the attractions we would see over the next few days were included.
Did we save any money? I have no clue. I don't care. I knew from the onset I would buy this card just for the ease of moving around and enjoying the city when we still had jet lag. And I'd gladly buy it again.
__________________________________________________ __
With our passes loaded and visible on our phones, we headed to the Metro, looking for the M2 line which runs from outside Copenhagen Lufthavnen through the center of Copenhagen, eventually sharing its track with the M1 on its way to Christianhavn, our eventual stop. I knew we would not have to tap the card on any entry; instead, we just had to show it to any ticket agent or inspector. We were on our way!
Next: Our First Afternoon and Evening in Copenhagen
Well, no matter what you read, physical cards don't exist anymore.
No big problem. I showed my husband how to download the Copenhagen Card on his phone, and within minutes, we each had a Copenhagen Discover Card. We chose the 72-hour one, a time length that would cover just about on the nose our transport to and from the airport along with many other means of transport and attraction entries.
Cost for the 72-hr Discover card? At the time of this post, 879 DKK or 126.20 USD. There is no senior discount, but families could benefit greatly from its use--each adult carrying a Copenhagen Discover Card can, free of charge, bring up to two children between the ages of 3 -11, and there are discounted junior fares for older children. The card included all public transport within the capital region of Copenhagen for Zones 1-99. It included journeys to towns outside Copenhagen--i.e. Roskilde, Lejre, Hillerød, Helsingør (Elsinore), Ishøj, Humlebæk, Rungsted, Køge, and Frederikssund and many of the attractions within these towns. We would be able to use the Metro, buses, S-Trains, regional and local trains and unbeknownst to us at first, the harbor boat bus system. The pass even paid for a harbor/canal tour as long as one left from one of the less frequented starting points. Almost all of the attractions we would see over the next few days were included.
Did we save any money? I have no clue. I don't care. I knew from the onset I would buy this card just for the ease of moving around and enjoying the city when we still had jet lag. And I'd gladly buy it again.
__________________________________________________ __
With our passes loaded and visible on our phones, we headed to the Metro, looking for the M2 line which runs from outside Copenhagen Lufthavnen through the center of Copenhagen, eventually sharing its track with the M1 on its way to Christianhavn, our eventual stop. I knew we would not have to tap the card on any entry; instead, we just had to show it to any ticket agent or inspector. We were on our way!
Next: Our First Afternoon and Evening in Copenhagen
Jun 28th, 2024, 04:30 AM
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Enjoying your report and look forward to more! We did essentially your Copenhagen-Bergen-Oslo portion in the reverse order in 2010, complete with our own version of Norway in a Nutshell. We visited Stockholm on a separate short trip in 2015. Loved it all and hope to go back for more sometime.
Jun 28th, 2024, 04:34 AM
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Our First Afternoon and Evening in Copenhagen
Immediate impressions as we rode on our Metro...
Of course, my heart was pounding because I was entering the home country of many Nordic Noir authors. Sara Blædel, Søren Sveistrup, Katrine Engberg all occupy space in my Kindle library. However, the biggest thrill for me was being in the same city as the fictional character Carl Mørck. He and his fellow investigators in the "Department Q" novels of Jussi Adler-Olsen had greatly contributed to my love affair with Nordic Noir. I brushed away a tear on the train because I could not call my mother, now deceased, who had been just as much of a Jussi Adler-Olsen fan as I.
Our hotel, the NH Collection Copenhagen, resting harborside by the Knippelsbro Bridge, was just a block and half away from the Christianshavn Metro stop. We stepped to the street to see more occupied cycle lanes than road lanes. Impressive!
Our warm hotel receptionist from Ecudor, Emily (and if her name is actually "Emma", I apologize greatly), was delighted that my husband knew her hometown well from all his 70s South American travels. We had no expectations our room would be ready, but lo and behold it was.
Oh darn, the room was glorious. It had an entry hall with coat hooks over a bench that could store shoes underneath, a wall of closets, a corner sectional, and two window wall views of the harbor and city. "Bad thing," I said to my husband. "It's never good to have your best hotel room of the trip at your first stop." I was actually relieved to find that the bathroom was merely serviceable, not spa-like luxurious.
After we unpacked, we collected all the various maps we had snagged at the airport, our Copenhagen Card brochure map, my printed-out trip documentation (minimal because I had loaded most of my key docs onto my Kindle anyway, organizing them into folders by city) and headed to the hotel's rooftop bar for a "planning summit."
Unfortunately, the rooftop bar staff was not nearly as nice as our receptionist, squeezing us into confined seats even though the place was nearly empty. Who cared? We ordered our first Danish beer, a Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy IPA (4.8% ABV) and we were floored. It was a fantastic beer.
With our maps spread out, we started getting our bearings, very easy with our rooftop view of the harbor and city. We circled things we might like to see on the attractions map and discussed what would be our overall approach and attitude towards sightseeing that day and the next. After a few more Juicy IPAs and the bar's Wagyu beef "Nasty Slider" (darn good), we felt ready to take on the city until our jet lag would force us to stop.
The cloudy skies cleared as we headed across the Knippelbro and walked northwards towards Nyhavn, the colorful touristy section of town. From the descriptions of other posters, I had expected it to be wall-to-wall tourists, but it wasn't bad. Then again, our idea of "bad crowd" is formed by Venice at high noon. Either that day's Copenhagen cruise ship traffic was low or our mid-June timing was far from peak tourist season. At the same time, crowded or not crowded, we just weren't interested in sticking around the area. We meandered aimlessly around town, soaking up the general vibe, pretty impressed with how clean everything was. We finally decided, our jet lag kicking in, to take a nearby Metro's M2/M1 line back to Christianshavn. I said to my husband as we exited, "You know, we are just a bit south of Freetown Christiana, the hippie area. Let's stroll up there until we know we can't stay awake any longer.
For those that don't know, Freetown Christiana used to be a military base that was taken over by squatters in around 1971. It was where one went to buy drugs, especially hash, and its inhabitants had considered themselves not to be under any governmental control. Its great heyday is gone. It just looked like a Berkley CA leftover.
Our walk was not in vain, though. As we were returning to the hotel via the pretty, boat-lined, Christianshavn canal, I saw a side street that I liked. We crossed over the canal bridge to explore Sankt Annæ Gade. My husband said, "Well, I could sure live here." I agreed. We came to a corner cafe that we liked the looks of, and we thought we'd stop in for a beer.
Not so fast. The manager in the doorway told us they were fully booked inside and had a waiting list for outside tables. We meekly said, "We were just hoping you had a bar where we could get a beer." She suddenly defrosted and quite affably ushered us to their tiny 4-seat bar.
And thus, Cafe Wilder would instantly become our "local." The bartender's best friend had taken up a spot to my husband's left as we sat down, and when we were trying to decide on which beer, he recommended the Bombay IPA by Nørrebro Bryghus. We should have asked the ABV (6.5%) because we continued to swill during our two-hour stay. The bartender, who had just finished graduate school, and his equally educated buddy were more than willing to discuss economics, public policy, global policy, and education. My husband was in heaven. One trip goal made.
After making sure our new bar buddy had another beer to sustain him after we left, we headed back to the hotel. We feel asleep instantly, but I forgot to draw the black-out curtains. Oh well.
Next: Day Two in Copenhagen
- People were polite
- Metro station and car were ultra clean
- Signage was clear
- People, even in a rush, were gentle with kids and the elderly
Of course, my heart was pounding because I was entering the home country of many Nordic Noir authors. Sara Blædel, Søren Sveistrup, Katrine Engberg all occupy space in my Kindle library. However, the biggest thrill for me was being in the same city as the fictional character Carl Mørck. He and his fellow investigators in the "Department Q" novels of Jussi Adler-Olsen had greatly contributed to my love affair with Nordic Noir. I brushed away a tear on the train because I could not call my mother, now deceased, who had been just as much of a Jussi Adler-Olsen fan as I.
Our hotel, the NH Collection Copenhagen, resting harborside by the Knippelsbro Bridge, was just a block and half away from the Christianshavn Metro stop. We stepped to the street to see more occupied cycle lanes than road lanes. Impressive!
Our warm hotel receptionist from Ecudor, Emily (and if her name is actually "Emma", I apologize greatly), was delighted that my husband knew her hometown well from all his 70s South American travels. We had no expectations our room would be ready, but lo and behold it was.
Oh darn, the room was glorious. It had an entry hall with coat hooks over a bench that could store shoes underneath, a wall of closets, a corner sectional, and two window wall views of the harbor and city. "Bad thing," I said to my husband. "It's never good to have your best hotel room of the trip at your first stop." I was actually relieved to find that the bathroom was merely serviceable, not spa-like luxurious.
After we unpacked, we collected all the various maps we had snagged at the airport, our Copenhagen Card brochure map, my printed-out trip documentation (minimal because I had loaded most of my key docs onto my Kindle anyway, organizing them into folders by city) and headed to the hotel's rooftop bar for a "planning summit."
Unfortunately, the rooftop bar staff was not nearly as nice as our receptionist, squeezing us into confined seats even though the place was nearly empty. Who cared? We ordered our first Danish beer, a Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy IPA (4.8% ABV) and we were floored. It was a fantastic beer.
With our maps spread out, we started getting our bearings, very easy with our rooftop view of the harbor and city. We circled things we might like to see on the attractions map and discussed what would be our overall approach and attitude towards sightseeing that day and the next. After a few more Juicy IPAs and the bar's Wagyu beef "Nasty Slider" (darn good), we felt ready to take on the city until our jet lag would force us to stop.
The cloudy skies cleared as we headed across the Knippelbro and walked northwards towards Nyhavn, the colorful touristy section of town. From the descriptions of other posters, I had expected it to be wall-to-wall tourists, but it wasn't bad. Then again, our idea of "bad crowd" is formed by Venice at high noon. Either that day's Copenhagen cruise ship traffic was low or our mid-June timing was far from peak tourist season. At the same time, crowded or not crowded, we just weren't interested in sticking around the area. We meandered aimlessly around town, soaking up the general vibe, pretty impressed with how clean everything was. We finally decided, our jet lag kicking in, to take a nearby Metro's M2/M1 line back to Christianshavn. I said to my husband as we exited, "You know, we are just a bit south of Freetown Christiana, the hippie area. Let's stroll up there until we know we can't stay awake any longer.
For those that don't know, Freetown Christiana used to be a military base that was taken over by squatters in around 1971. It was where one went to buy drugs, especially hash, and its inhabitants had considered themselves not to be under any governmental control. Its great heyday is gone. It just looked like a Berkley CA leftover.
Our walk was not in vain, though. As we were returning to the hotel via the pretty, boat-lined, Christianshavn canal, I saw a side street that I liked. We crossed over the canal bridge to explore Sankt Annæ Gade. My husband said, "Well, I could sure live here." I agreed. We came to a corner cafe that we liked the looks of, and we thought we'd stop in for a beer.
Not so fast. The manager in the doorway told us they were fully booked inside and had a waiting list for outside tables. We meekly said, "We were just hoping you had a bar where we could get a beer." She suddenly defrosted and quite affably ushered us to their tiny 4-seat bar.
And thus, Cafe Wilder would instantly become our "local." The bartender's best friend had taken up a spot to my husband's left as we sat down, and when we were trying to decide on which beer, he recommended the Bombay IPA by Nørrebro Bryghus. We should have asked the ABV (6.5%) because we continued to swill during our two-hour stay. The bartender, who had just finished graduate school, and his equally educated buddy were more than willing to discuss economics, public policy, global policy, and education. My husband was in heaven. One trip goal made.
After making sure our new bar buddy had another beer to sustain him after we left, we headed back to the hotel. We feel asleep instantly, but I forgot to draw the black-out curtains. Oh well.
Next: Day Two in Copenhagen
Jun 28th, 2024, 09:17 AM
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Melnq8--Thanks for the encouragement. You gave me energy for one more post today, which I think shall have to be divided into two because of length.
ms_go--Thanks! I think I used your Stockholm trip as background reading because it was 2015. I did not look any trip reports before that because things change SO fast. I'm sure my report will be outdated by next year.
ms_go--Thanks! I think I used your Stockholm trip as background reading because it was 2015. I did not look any trip reports before that because things change SO fast. I'm sure my report will be outdated by next year.
Jun 28th, 2024, 10:18 AM
#18
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Copenhagen Day Two (Part One)
Because I was awakened by the already lightening skies around 3 am (plus my husband snores), I pulled out my Kindle, which is actually just the folded-out inside of my Samsung Galaxy Fold 4, and started reading. I had downloaded Amulya Malladi's "Copenhagen Affair" before we left because, what the heck, it was set in Copenhagen. It has a ridiculous plot, but it was a quick read offering an expat's perspective of Copenhagen. By the time my husband was awake and ready for breakfast, I had almost finished it.
The NH Copenhagen's breakfast buffet would be the best of the trip. Four or more coffee stations offering everything from expresso to cappuccinos. A cook-to-order station for any type of egg plus pancakes that also had covered dishes of roasted mushrooms, roasted mixed vegetables and broiled tomatoes. Local pastries that included Kanelsnurres (cinnamon buns), kpandauers (real Danish pastries, not the American type), tebirkes, and far more.
I studied what I'd call the "make-your-own-Smørrebrød-station" for a bit. Wow--there was everything from vegetarian pates to pickled herring to liver pate. My new inability to tolerate vinegar, citric acid and so on limited what I could taste, but I found the salmon and I got along just fine (no nitrates). I would spend the next few days trying various things, but that very day, I began a ritual I'd use throughout the trip--I'd make myself a breakfast sandwich or two of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, local cheese and salmon on whole grain bread or bun every darn day. I was a happy camper.
We had decided the day before that our very first official touring item of the day would be to take the Stromma Canal Tour included in our Copenhagen Card. The "Classic Tour" departs from Ved Stranden, not Nyhavn. We had no idea of the schedule and we did not care, quite frankly. We just Google-mapped our route to Ved Stranden and headed off.
I was ridiculously pleased to find that our bus stop was right across the street from our hotel. Talk about location. We jumped on the 2A bus and off we went.
The sales kiosk had just opened by the time we arrived, but the tour would start about 15 minutes later. Our wait went by quickly (so much great people watching!). The skies started clearing just as the first boat arrived, and our 1-hour tour in both English and Danish was just lovely.
We had planned to walk to the Round Tower next, but on the way, the wind whipped up, rain threatened, and the temperature plunged. What to do? Breakfast beer, of course! We Googled, "bars near me open now" and ta-duh, wouldn't you know and Irish bar showed up. The Dubliner, here we come.
As one would expect, the place was hardly populated upon our arrival. But those who were in there were doing what we intended: getting out of the cold, sipping a beer, and people-watching all the pedestrian traffic in the Amagertorv. We selected different IPAs this time. I chose the Økologisk Viking IPA by Bryghuset Braunstein and my husband chose the Yakima IPA (American West Coast style) by Jacobsen. They were both in the 6% ABV range, but when in Rome...
As our bartender managed to get each glass full to the ultimate drop, I giggled. She laughed and said, "Beer is so expensive in Denmark. I make customers happy." We of course had to ask where she was from, and when she said, "Croatia," my husband exclaimed, "Well, I'm your long-lost cousin from Slovakia." We chit-chatted for a bit, and we had to admit we had never been to Croatia OR Slovakia, for that matter, but my husband actually IS 50% Slovakian. We had come close to Croatia twice during our travels to Slovenia and Trieste. The barkeep said, "I forgive you." My husband promised he'd show up for Christmas Eve dinner next year.
We found an inside table with a cushioned banquette that had a perfect view of everything going on in the Amargetorv. It's a pedestrian square (although it sure never looked like a square to me) smack dab in the middle of commercial Copenhagen. It's the second oldest square in Copenhagen, one that dates back to the Middle Ages when it was a main farmer's market. Tourists and locals were busy trotting to the high-end stores, the local cafes and so on. We watched a daycare group of kids holding ropes going past, baby carriages, lots of cycles, walking tours, you name it. Our Croation barkeep asked if we wanted to do another round. My husband darted outside, checked the wind, and then said, "Another beer would work very well." She chuckled.
And just as we were finishing our second brew, miracle of miracles, the sun came out and the wind disappeared. The heck with the Round Tower; we'd head to Tivoli Gardens.
Next: Copenhagen Day Two (Part Two)
The NH Copenhagen's breakfast buffet would be the best of the trip. Four or more coffee stations offering everything from expresso to cappuccinos. A cook-to-order station for any type of egg plus pancakes that also had covered dishes of roasted mushrooms, roasted mixed vegetables and broiled tomatoes. Local pastries that included Kanelsnurres (cinnamon buns), kpandauers (real Danish pastries, not the American type), tebirkes, and far more.
I studied what I'd call the "make-your-own-Smørrebrød-station" for a bit. Wow--there was everything from vegetarian pates to pickled herring to liver pate. My new inability to tolerate vinegar, citric acid and so on limited what I could taste, but I found the salmon and I got along just fine (no nitrates). I would spend the next few days trying various things, but that very day, I began a ritual I'd use throughout the trip--I'd make myself a breakfast sandwich or two of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, local cheese and salmon on whole grain bread or bun every darn day. I was a happy camper.
We had decided the day before that our very first official touring item of the day would be to take the Stromma Canal Tour included in our Copenhagen Card. The "Classic Tour" departs from Ved Stranden, not Nyhavn. We had no idea of the schedule and we did not care, quite frankly. We just Google-mapped our route to Ved Stranden and headed off.
I was ridiculously pleased to find that our bus stop was right across the street from our hotel. Talk about location. We jumped on the 2A bus and off we went.
The sales kiosk had just opened by the time we arrived, but the tour would start about 15 minutes later. Our wait went by quickly (so much great people watching!). The skies started clearing just as the first boat arrived, and our 1-hour tour in both English and Danish was just lovely.
We had planned to walk to the Round Tower next, but on the way, the wind whipped up, rain threatened, and the temperature plunged. What to do? Breakfast beer, of course! We Googled, "bars near me open now" and ta-duh, wouldn't you know and Irish bar showed up. The Dubliner, here we come.
As one would expect, the place was hardly populated upon our arrival. But those who were in there were doing what we intended: getting out of the cold, sipping a beer, and people-watching all the pedestrian traffic in the Amagertorv. We selected different IPAs this time. I chose the Økologisk Viking IPA by Bryghuset Braunstein and my husband chose the Yakima IPA (American West Coast style) by Jacobsen. They were both in the 6% ABV range, but when in Rome...
As our bartender managed to get each glass full to the ultimate drop, I giggled. She laughed and said, "Beer is so expensive in Denmark. I make customers happy." We of course had to ask where she was from, and when she said, "Croatia," my husband exclaimed, "Well, I'm your long-lost cousin from Slovakia." We chit-chatted for a bit, and we had to admit we had never been to Croatia OR Slovakia, for that matter, but my husband actually IS 50% Slovakian. We had come close to Croatia twice during our travels to Slovenia and Trieste. The barkeep said, "I forgive you." My husband promised he'd show up for Christmas Eve dinner next year.
We found an inside table with a cushioned banquette that had a perfect view of everything going on in the Amargetorv. It's a pedestrian square (although it sure never looked like a square to me) smack dab in the middle of commercial Copenhagen. It's the second oldest square in Copenhagen, one that dates back to the Middle Ages when it was a main farmer's market. Tourists and locals were busy trotting to the high-end stores, the local cafes and so on. We watched a daycare group of kids holding ropes going past, baby carriages, lots of cycles, walking tours, you name it. Our Croation barkeep asked if we wanted to do another round. My husband darted outside, checked the wind, and then said, "Another beer would work very well." She chuckled.
And just as we were finishing our second brew, miracle of miracles, the sun came out and the wind disappeared. The heck with the Round Tower; we'd head to Tivoli Gardens.
Next: Copenhagen Day Two (Part Two)
Jun 28th, 2024, 10:48 AM
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Copenhagen Day Two (Part Two)
A quick walk to Gammel Strand, a hop on the 2A bus, and we were there at Tivoli Gardens.
Entry was covered by our Copenhagen Cards. And thank goodness, the park wasn't packed. Of course, it WAS a Wednesday, but still it could have been.
We fell in love with it.
The city where we had spent most of our lives had a darling amusement park, one with first-rate but old-school roller coasters. Our home park was nothing like Six Flags and other parks. Beautifully landscaped, it had as its centerpiece a historic carousel. Well, we may have loved our home park, but Tivoli's beauty put it to shame. "Gardens" was indeed the correct term. We ate a small lunch pondside at the park's Mikkeller Faergefroen restaurant drinking in all the beautiful flowers and birds and the sound of children laughing. Afterwards, we strolled around, amazed at how the park cleverly tucked so many attractions into such a small space to create a pleasurable affect. And all the food stalls seemed great, too.
We left the park and did a quick stroll through the outside Tivoli Food Hall, which did not impress us. We dashed across the street, too, to check out the City Hall. We liked it a lot, and we enjoyed seeing all the various wedding parties.
Where next? Northward to Nyhavn. We were going to walk across the pedestrian/cycle bridge, a bridge I had just read about in the expat romance book, back to our "hood" in Christianshavn. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a time finding in the nearby rail station the M3/M4 line we wanted to take, but we succeeded.
Soon we were striding across the Inner Harbour Bridge (also known as "The Kissing Bridge" because of the way it horizontally retracts and expands for ships passing through the harbor canal) that first leads to the Nordatlantens Brygge (aka "North Atlantic House). Nordatlantens Brygge was a former warehouse converted in 2016 to become an important cultural center, as far as I can understand, through a cooperative effort between Denmark, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. It contains the Icelandic Embassy as well as the offices for Greenland and Faroe Islands representatives. Something finally clicked--this was what our bar buddy of the night before had been talking about when he kept mentioning "reconciling colonization".
We did not reconcile anything because we did not go in. Instead, we headed towards the Christianshavn Canal to trek home. As we neared Cafe Wilder, we wondered, "What the heck, let's see if we can eat at the bar." This time the manager laughed when she saw us and asked, "Have you moved here?" I promptly replied, "I would like to." Just in case you are wondering, the modest house for sale across the street costs a mere $9 million. Our bartender from the night before was scheduled to work tables, but as he dipped in and out carrying drinks, he resumed much of our conversation the night before in snippets. His job interview that day had gone quite well, and he was so excited. As to his buddy? Well, he had a hot date. We roared with laughter. We wish our bartender well when we left, telling him we were quite sure he'd be successful.
We had had only one beer with our meal at Cafe Wilder--we had learned our Bombay IPA lesson from the night before--so we had a little bit of life left in us. We considered returning to our room, freshening up, and revisiting our luscious Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy at the rooftop bar. But before we left our room, I peered out the window and spotted a boat heading for a dock below us. Was that a harbor bus stop? It was indeed. Copenhagen Cards loaded, we zoomed down the elevator, out the door, onto the dock, and were off.
The boat buses 991 and 992 zigzag back and forth at stops on the harbor. On our trip, the sky and the temperature started out as gorgeous and stayed that way for most of our route, but soon, the temperature dropped and the wind came in. We scurried inside for shelter. Once we got off the harbor bus at our hotel, we stopped for a quick beer (a Juicy, of course) at the reception area bar, where both the bartender and a waiter pumped us for information about what we had seen and done that day. They seemed quite pleased and quite proud that we were so impressed by everything in Copenhagen.
We finally made it upstairs where this time, I DID draw the blackout drapes.
Next: Copenhagen Day Three
Entry was covered by our Copenhagen Cards. And thank goodness, the park wasn't packed. Of course, it WAS a Wednesday, but still it could have been.
We fell in love with it.
The city where we had spent most of our lives had a darling amusement park, one with first-rate but old-school roller coasters. Our home park was nothing like Six Flags and other parks. Beautifully landscaped, it had as its centerpiece a historic carousel. Well, we may have loved our home park, but Tivoli's beauty put it to shame. "Gardens" was indeed the correct term. We ate a small lunch pondside at the park's Mikkeller Faergefroen restaurant drinking in all the beautiful flowers and birds and the sound of children laughing. Afterwards, we strolled around, amazed at how the park cleverly tucked so many attractions into such a small space to create a pleasurable affect. And all the food stalls seemed great, too.
We left the park and did a quick stroll through the outside Tivoli Food Hall, which did not impress us. We dashed across the street, too, to check out the City Hall. We liked it a lot, and we enjoyed seeing all the various wedding parties.
Where next? Northward to Nyhavn. We were going to walk across the pedestrian/cycle bridge, a bridge I had just read about in the expat romance book, back to our "hood" in Christianshavn. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a time finding in the nearby rail station the M3/M4 line we wanted to take, but we succeeded.
Soon we were striding across the Inner Harbour Bridge (also known as "The Kissing Bridge" because of the way it horizontally retracts and expands for ships passing through the harbor canal) that first leads to the Nordatlantens Brygge (aka "North Atlantic House). Nordatlantens Brygge was a former warehouse converted in 2016 to become an important cultural center, as far as I can understand, through a cooperative effort between Denmark, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. It contains the Icelandic Embassy as well as the offices for Greenland and Faroe Islands representatives. Something finally clicked--this was what our bar buddy of the night before had been talking about when he kept mentioning "reconciling colonization".
We did not reconcile anything because we did not go in. Instead, we headed towards the Christianshavn Canal to trek home. As we neared Cafe Wilder, we wondered, "What the heck, let's see if we can eat at the bar." This time the manager laughed when she saw us and asked, "Have you moved here?" I promptly replied, "I would like to." Just in case you are wondering, the modest house for sale across the street costs a mere $9 million. Our bartender from the night before was scheduled to work tables, but as he dipped in and out carrying drinks, he resumed much of our conversation the night before in snippets. His job interview that day had gone quite well, and he was so excited. As to his buddy? Well, he had a hot date. We roared with laughter. We wish our bartender well when we left, telling him we were quite sure he'd be successful.
We had had only one beer with our meal at Cafe Wilder--we had learned our Bombay IPA lesson from the night before--so we had a little bit of life left in us. We considered returning to our room, freshening up, and revisiting our luscious Carlsberg Jacobsen Juicy at the rooftop bar. But before we left our room, I peered out the window and spotted a boat heading for a dock below us. Was that a harbor bus stop? It was indeed. Copenhagen Cards loaded, we zoomed down the elevator, out the door, onto the dock, and were off.
The boat buses 991 and 992 zigzag back and forth at stops on the harbor. On our trip, the sky and the temperature started out as gorgeous and stayed that way for most of our route, but soon, the temperature dropped and the wind came in. We scurried inside for shelter. Once we got off the harbor bus at our hotel, we stopped for a quick beer (a Juicy, of course) at the reception area bar, where both the bartender and a waiter pumped us for information about what we had seen and done that day. They seemed quite pleased and quite proud that we were so impressed by everything in Copenhagen.
We finally made it upstairs where this time, I DID draw the blackout drapes.
Next: Copenhagen Day Three
Jun 28th, 2024, 04:00 PM
#20
You two know how to have fun! I have started and stopped planning this trip for a few years. I am taking notes and appreciate all the details. If you had more time would you add another location or stay in someplace longer?
