We left Flensburg and drove
North and then East towards Copenhagen
This small island is in the middle of the 18 Km long Storebælt (the Great Belt) bridge which links Western (Odense) and Eastern (Sjælland or Zealand) Denmark. Denmark does marvellous bridges
We stopped for lunch at this
roadside hotel. Mostly truckers having their lunch. The roads are littered with
huge trucks during the week
We decided we couldn’t manage
the Smorgasbord buffet, too much food and it didn’t look that exciting, so we settled
for the special which was three open sandwiches (smørrebrød). Four hours later Lynne was rather badly
affected but it was over quickly. Mayo is always dangerous in places like
these
The Carlsberg Nordic is the first alcohol free beer which John has found to be drinkable
The bill: 1 Danish Krøne
to 1.93 Rand so approx R130 for 2 small beers (one of which was acohol free)! Essential in Scandinavia with zero tolerance of drinking and driving. The experience was to get worse. When we got
to the car in the car park we had been ticketed. No signs in English, no
warnings and we assumed that if you park in a hotel parking area they won’t
charge you. John went back to the hotel and the manager said he would “take
care of it”. The fine was 750 DKK. We live in hope. Be warned!
Before we arrived at our
nights’ accommodation, we did a small trip to Ishøj, a nearby local seaside resort.
It’s a small harbour with lovely yachts. And in the background what looks like
a nuclear power station
We watched the gulls soaring.
These are known as Little gulls
They are incredibly graceful
and quick
There were also swans in the
yacht harbour
We checked into our AirBnB in
Brøndby, a suburb of Copenhagen late in
the afternoon. Such a nice if small room, well furnished in a modern 4th floor flat
owned by a Polish couple with their young daughter. John didn’t take any photos
but it is on the AirBnB site. We left our luggage and found a place to buy a 24
hour Copenhagen card which covers all the tourist sites, galleries, museums
etc, and all transport including boat trips. We are not sure it is worth it for
such a short stay and it is very expensive at DKK389 a person, no reductions
for pensioners in Denmark, sadly. The S-train (the local commuter train) took
us swiftly into the centre. This is the main station concourse
And just across the road was
our planned destination for the evening, the famous Tivoli Gardens. They were
rather a letdown in some ways. Built in the mid 1800’s as a pleasure garden,
they now have a theme park with many rides, lots of restaurants and bars and
beautiful gardens. Entrance is DKK 110 pp but this was covered by our
Copenhagen card. But nothing else inside is covered, you have to pay extra for
everything. Lynne is a fan of Disneyland and has been to three. There all the
rides are included in the albeit huge price of entry
People sunning themselves on
the lawns
The Indian style Promenade Pavilion.
It is filled with restaurants
A show of huge allium flowers
The Chinese pavilion is a
theatre
Among the flowers is a statue
of Georg Carstensen who founded Tivoli in 1843
Some silly mirrors
Exhausted teenagers?!
An unusual lavender guinea fowl
was at home in the gardens
More restaurants and behind
outside the garden is the tower of the Rådhus (Town Hall)
This is the administration
building of Tivoli
These playful 'Little' gulls
with their chocolate brown heads were being well fed by visitors
The Galleon restaurant
A crazy ride, the Golden tower.
Lots of shrieks. Takes you up high on the lift then drops like a stone, bounces
a couple of times and then its thankfully over. NO, we didn’t do it. Or any
others, of which there were many. For the young and sound of limb
A sample menu when we thought
we might need some supper and a beer. The prices everywhere were astronomical
and much of the food looked very unappetising. This at least looked good. We
agreed we would rather spend this sort of money at George Jardine's restaurant on our
return. Possible choices 1 Wiener schnitzel, 1 fish and two beers came to DKK549
plus 10% tip = R 1160! We were on a long trip and had to count the pennies. But
not eating did come back to bite us
Behind the bridge a Chinese
pagoda and some of the other rides like the roller coaster
Lovely to see children happy on
a carousel
The flower beds and displays were truly awesome, they really impressed us
Crazy fun on the Golden Tower
The boating lake. At 11.30 they
have a light show, but we were too tired and hungry to stay and we head
The main station is very
confusing; the platforms are very badly marked and there is little indication
of which train to take. It took us ages to find what we thought was our train,
it certainly was our line. But the train was a fast Metro not a red T train and
it rushed right past our station and way down the line. We got off as soon as
we could and ended up on this empty platform in a deserted town. We had no idea how we were going
to get back to Brøndby. There
was only a drunk and he knew nothing. Eventually two young lads passing told us
to take the next train to one stop further where we could pick up the T train. It
worked, but it took ages. We ended up having cheese and crackers quietly in our
room for supper at midnight. Another 'adventure' travelling
Next morning it was into
central Copenhagen to see the sights. The roads are very busy
The Rådhus – Town Hall
Rather than take the crowded
tourist routes, we took back streets that look more interesting
Walking along this one we
suddenly spotted this blackboard and the words Cap Classique Colmant Brut
Reserve. One of our favourite Cape bubblies. We were intrigued and had to go
into the shop
And there we met the owner of
Vin Kunsten, Thomas Winther. He is Danish, has lived in South Africa and he
only sells South African wines, which he knows. Mainly those of 13 farms
that he has selected and who work together exporting: Anthonij Rupert Wines, B
Vintners, Cape Chamonix, Colmant Cap Classique, Dalla Cia Wine & Spirit, David
& Nadia Sadie, Eagles' Nest, Raats Family Wines, Richard Kershaw Wines, Spioenkop
Wines, Strydom Family Wines, The Foundry, Waterford Estate. He asked if we knew
any of them and we were able to say, "yes and some quite well"; we meet the
winemakers often at media functions and wine events and on the farms. We were
also able to give him some recommendations of wines and wineries that he had not
heard of and needed to know about. If you are in the industry and go to
Copenhagen, do go and visit him
He poured us a glass of
Spioenkop Pinot Noir and told us to tell the SA Wine industry to please get
together and work as one – it will so help the overseas retailers who want to
sell the best SA wines. It was so nice to meet someone as committed and
passionate about selling our wines. And completely by happenstance
Copenhagen is a rather
beautiful city, and it is easy to get around it. But don’t take your car anywhere
near the centre. We left ours at a railway station in the suburbs
A Canal tour was included in
the Copenhagen card so we took it. It is a very good way to see lots of city
and get a feel for it if you are short of time
Thirst overtook us as it was
hot, so we bought two beers DDk90 for two (R180) to take on the boat. This was
the last time John used his credit card....
Off we go under some low
bridges
Three dragons twirl around this
tower on the Børsen - Danish stock exchange
Innovative use of shipping
containers on the side of the canal. An experiment in low cost housing for students
More old wharf warehouses or
Go-downs being used as exhibition places
Different style of buildings, but it did remind us of Amsterdam
A fabulous floating
cantilevered roof on the Opera house. See all the Copenhagen people enjoying
the sunshine on the side of the canal, it was lunchtime
Luxury apartments with their
own slipway
Not so luxury apartment on a
float on the canal!
Boats old and new
Many seem to be permanent
features, with some used as living accommodation
Solid old building, part of the Royal National Gallery, Den
Kongelige Afstøbningssamling, a collection of thousands of plaster casts of European classical sculptures dating from 600 B.C. On the wharf, a replica statue of Michelangelo's David
The Danish Navy Museum.
Submarine "Saelen" (The Seal). The submarine was brand new in 1985. It had a very simple valve system that just needed turning to stop one of the hatches from dripping. If this valve is not shut, things go wrong. In 1990 the Saelen submarine sank off the small Danish island of Hesseloe because of this ‘small’ oversight.The Saelen submarine was purchased as part of Denmark’s Cold War defence. But by the time the Saelen had been repaired in 1993, the Cold War was over
They call it Distortion
Camping. Not sure it will feature on AirBnB
You do get very near the
harbour and there were three huge cruise ships at quayside
This one is Regal Princess which can carry 3560 passengers. We counted 11 floors above the main deck - a floating skyscraper?
and you do pass the Little
Mermaid but, sadly, it is swamped by tourists and you only see the her back from the canal boat
The Amalienborg Palace
The Marble Church in
Copenhagen, flanked by two of the mansions of Amalienborg Palace;
echoes of St Paul's.
The Skuespilhuset (Royal Danish
Playhouse)
Another city that lives on the
water
Chic houseboat
Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen, with its spiral tower
Don't know how the engineering
works but it is a pretty impressive bridge.
Boarding our local train to our
car on our way out of Copenhagen., Arriving at the station we discovered that
John's wallet had been taken by a very professional pick pocket on the bus we took -
very professional, and very crowded, so lots of jostling. He didn't feel a thing
and it was deep in his front trouser pocket.. We had spent a long time in the
Police station at the Central station reporting it. They told us there are lots of thieves in the city in the summer. The pick pocket must have watched John take out his
Copenhagen card from his wallet for use in the bus and targeted him. They generously
allowed Lynne to phone Barclays in London to block John's card. ID and driving
licence gone as well. Thank heavens Lynne had cards and John an international
driving permit in the car, plus his passport was safe. But do be vigilant in
Europe
Our lovely AirBnB hostess in
Helsingør (Elsinore). Fit and happy and in her 80's. It was on a farm in the
middle of a beautiful forest but quite close to Helsingør. We had a large and
comfortable room in the house that we shared with one other couple, a mother
and son. Large living room, dining area, well equipped kitchen, bathroom with a
shower and good outdoor space to sit. The owners live next door in two other
houses
Communicating like old friends
A local house bedecked with
clematis
Horse Chestnut trees ...
... and wonderful woodland
surroundings
The ferry to Sweden from Helsingør (Elsinore), which we
took that afternoon
First came our visit to
Kronenborg castle, Hamlet's Elsinore. That is Sweden across the strait
The ferry crossing to Sweden, which we took later
On the way to the castle we
found the Danish version of the Old Biscuit Mill. Pulled pork is popular
there too
Two samosas for R80 Rand
Not quite the crowds on a
Saturday morning
Food trucks move in to
the space
And in the next warehouse, a
wine festival. We decided we had to investigate
There were two entry prices. The
minimum tasting cost DK 200 pp and the full tasting DK 400. We decided to pass. We
had already tasted the Monkey 47 at Wade Bales' Whisky and Gin tasting recently.
Contrasting shipping, old and new
Walking towards the castle, you
can explore the battlements
This entrance reminded us of
our own castle in Cape Town, and one we saw in France a couple of years ago
on the Ile d'Oleron
The Brohus (bridge house) is where they stationed the guard
We approached and found out
that entrance to the actual castle building was going to cost us more than a very
good meal at George Jardine's restaurant on Jordan, with wine. We hummed and we
ha'd for just a few seconds and walked the grounds and the battlements instead.
"Another day, another palace"
As one of our amusing (?!)
readers commented: "Is this the best AirBnB has to offer?" No, they
are much more commodious. This is a prisoner's cell in the castle. Until the mid 19th Century, serious offenders were sentenced to a lifetime of slavery in the Castle
We thought you would like to
see the lunch menu at a cafe in the complex. Nah, we didn't fancy anything and
besides, it was a bit early
The moat
One of the courtyards
A model of the castle, also
built in the star fortification style
Getting out of our car on the
ferry. The trip takes about 20 minutes
We had a traditional Danish pølse (hot dog) with
crisp fried onions for lunch. It's a frankfurter on a roll and you can add
mustard or tomato sauce and lots of the crisp onion. It came with a beer and
was a snip at DK 10 pp. The ferry (one way) with the car and 2 passengers costs
about €165 and you don't have to book, just queue, pay and drive on the next
ferry. They leave at half hourly intervals
You pass the castle
as the ship
leaves port
