Sep 27, 2018 - Design the joint!

A much more pleasant day is ahead of us, with only the wind to contend with. So we decided to try out the Donkey Republic bike rental scheme. This is a similar one to the O-Bike scheme that Melbourne just banned. But unlike O-Bikes, which allow riders to drop their rented bikes off anywhere they wish, thereby resulting in their bikes being dumped all over the place, Donkey Republic has found the perfect compromise. There are specified pick-up/drop-off areas all over the city (with one conveniently near our apartment), always where other...

Sep 26, 2018 - Louisiana on my mind

Today we’re heading out to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Despite the name, this gallery has nothing to do with the state of Louisiana; rather it was named after the three wives of the first owner of the property, all of whom were called Louise! It is one of the 1000 Places to See Before You Die and is the 85th most visited art museum in the world. So although it is located quite a long way out of the city, it certainly sounded like it would be worth a visit. The museum is located at Humlebaek, by the northern shores of the Øresund...

Sep 25, 2018 - Happy birthday Jane!

Once again, we find ourselves OS on Jane’s birthday! She was inundated with birthday wishes from friends and family, much to her delight. We had a light breakfast in the apartment (we managed to find porridge that we could make in a cup with just boiled water!) before heading out to the famous Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek on our wonky rental bikes. As mentioned yesterday, we had a couple of pretty basic bikes - one of them had to be replaced before we even started because it had a flat tire. Jane’s bike also had a very wobbly front wheel and...

Sep 24, 2018 - Wonderful, wonderful (rainy) Copenhagen

We had to head out for breakfast this morning as the fridge in our apartment was broken and so it was difficult to buy groceries for breakfast. At first we thought we’d never be able to find a decently priced breakfast, but then we came across a lovely little café, Zaggi’s Coffee, whose claim to fame is that it sells coffee, tea and snacks for just 15 DKK (about A$3) each, which is an absolute steal for Copenhagen! Most places here charge A$5-8 for a cuppa, which is a bit eye-watering. Our stomachs thus appeased, we continued down...

Sep 23, 2018 - Copenhagen Hygge

We woke early to get to Gatwick for our flight to Copenhagen. The old airport is twice as far away from the city as Heathrow, so involves a bit more travel time. Fortunately the Gatwick Express goes regularly and gets you there quickly. The airport was extremely busy - it’s the main hub for cheap European airlines - but is fortunately quite small and quite navigable. We were flying Norwegian, which has won best budget airline in Europe several times. And indeed the flight was very comfortable, with roomy seats, free wifi and good...

Aug 31, 2018 - Day 6 of the trip; traveled from Copenhagen to Oslo

Friday Up at 0700 and to breakfast in the hotel restraurant. Today I had skyr with various nuts, a small piece of herring, cheese, dark/seed bread and a pickle (dill). Also went back for bread with raspberry jam. Yummmmmm Then we packed up and checked out of room. Per the guide, the tall building across the square with the girl on a bike and a girl standing…used to be a barometer. Guess it does not work anymore! We drove to the Little Mermaid. This is from a HC Anderson story (Disney made a story with a happier ending!). The sculpture was...

Aug 30, 2018 - Day 5 Copenhagen

Today was our last full day in Copenhagen. Breakfast at the hotel and then a lecture about hans Christian Anderson and 2 other well known authors/people. The best part was the HC Anderson. Thursday “the golden age, 1800-1850” The teacher reminded me of Judy Dench Here are my notes: Hans Christian Anderson 1805-1875 The golden period; many writers, literists, scientists, etc were in Copenhagen. There had been many defeats in war, 1801, 1807, 1864. There were no wars for about 100 years 𯘊 HCA was born in 1805; had a rough childhood. At age...

Aug 29, 2018 - Day 4 Copenhagen

yes, we had another great day in Copenhagen. Started with a trip to the train station to find answers to a cache located on a miniature train track. The breakfast and a lecture about Denmark (it was very interesting). The lecture was by the same lady that talked to us yesterday. This topic was "the Danish Society". In 1953, the father of the current queen (Frederick?) became king (?year). He died in 1972 and Margaret became the queen. She was able to become queen due to a change in the laws in 1985. She had 2 sisters and if the law had...

Aug 28, 2018 - Day 3 Copenhagen

Had breakfast at 0730.....open face sandwiches, chocolate, numerous types of cereal and nuts, breads, yogurt, etc. Not much in the way of fruit. The bread was great. Left the hotel at 0830 and went to a nearby school where we had a room and a local for a lecture of "Copenhagen past and present". it was interesting and the speaker was very good. During the lecture I learned: Denmark originally included a little piece of Sweden and Norway. Also Greenland and the Feror (Spelling) Islands. In the year 965 King Bluetooth (that was really his...

Aug 28, 2018 - DAY 12 - Copenhagen

Day 12 - Copenhagen During the night we had sailed east on the Kattegat towards Sweden, then south into the Oresund Strait between Denmark and Sweden, docking in Copenhagen at about 8.30am. For our final shore-stop we had originally booked a half-day excursion visiting Rosenburg Castle and then giving us a quick tour of Copenhagen's other main attractions, but we were notified a couple of days ago that it had been cancelled because there weren't enough other takers to make it worth running the extra bus that we were due to go on. We did...

Aug 27, 2018 - Day 2 in Copenhagen

Slept great last night! We had not slept on the plane since we left Seattle (just was not tired).....but I slept great at the hotel. We were at the hotel cabinn metro. It was a small room with a very small bathroom and bunk beds. I woke up at 1000 this morning (joy had been awake for a few hours!); we got ready and left the hotel by about 1030ish. Took a taxi to the hotel we are staying at with Road Scholar....the Scandia Palace hotel in down town Copenhagen. We did not stay here last night as it would have been $400 for that night. Put...

Aug 26, 2018 - Day 1 Copenhagen

We arrived in Copenhagen and got through the airport pretty easily. Since Joy is using a wheelchair (she hurt her back in June) we get the use of the wheelchair support and can quickly move through the airport! There was no customs for the visitors arriving from the US or Iceland. We got our bags and a taxi and were off to hotel Cabinn Metro. We had not slept on the flight, but did not want to take a nap so after checking into the room (about 3 PM), so we went to get a few caches in the area around the hotel. We found 4 (I believe) and had...