Our Big Adventure

DENMARK-Copenhagen

We leave Munich, Germany in the late afternoon on the overnight train for Copenhagen, Denmark.

Travelling north past Hamburg and Kolding and then through the 24km long undersea tunnel to arrive in Copenhagen’s Central Station early the following morning.

As you walk out from the station the first sight you see are the famous Tivoli Gardens, opened in 1843 it’s one of the worlds oldest amusement parks. However, there are not only rides here, but also beautiful flower gardens, Michelin-starred restaurants and a pantomime theatre built in 1874.

The 1000 year old city centre has wonderful copper spired churches and old cobble-stoned pedestrian plaza’s lined with funky shops and cafés. Also a canal that winds through the city and around the Danish Parliament and Christiansborg Palace, where the oldest monarchy in the world, and our own Crown Princess Mary lives with her husband the Crown Prince Frederick, and children Prince Christian and Princess Isabella live. We had thoughts of paying them a visit and maybe a cup of tea, but just ran out of time.

We did our own self-guided walking tour around Copenhagen, then when we got a little tired, hopped aboard the City Circle bus. The locals are friendly and helpful, one older gentleman on an outing with his young grandson, did a bit of a sightseeing commentary for us as we drove around, then suggested a great place for a traditional Danish lunch.

After Guinness in Dublin, a couple of Scottish whiskey distilleries and of course the wineries in France, the Carlsberg Brewery Museum was a must see for us.

There is a great self guided tour that explains the beer making process, as well as a display of beer bottles from around the world, that has been awarded a certificate from the Guinness people as the “Worlds Largest Collection of Beer Bottles” the count as of 10th Nov 2009 is 18,803. We could also visit the stables and see some of the ‘famous Carlsberg horses’ and the wagons they still pull in parades etc., The admission to the Museum comes with 2 coupons to be used in the brewhouse Bar to sample the beer. As most know, I don’t like beer so Brian not liking to be wasteful, kindly volunteered to take my 2 drink coupons. He managed to sample 3 different kinds from the Carlsberg range, quite a feat to complete before lunch, but he said none was as good as his old favourite, VB

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Nyhavn on the canal is our favourite spot in Copenhagen, it’s an idyllic spot even in the Autumn. It’s colourful houses, many at least 300 years old line the canal sides and it’s also where the famous children’s fairy tale author, Hans Christian Andersen once lived. Today the cities Christmas Market was well underway there, and we strolled the stalls picking up a few traditional crafts, and lunched on hot seafood soup with crusty bread, delicious!

Our two days here flew by, and soon we were heading to the port to catch our ferry to Oslo.

posted by Brian and Julie @ 12:09:00 AM