Copenhagen

Sunday 21st August 2016

We awoke to the sound of fog horns and looking out side it was dead still and very soupy. Hopefully we are in for a good day when it all clears. It was still quite heavy at 8 am, and passengers leaving this voyage were being disembarked since around 7 am.

There was no rush, so we had a leisurely breakfast and then headed off the ship to get a shuttle bus into Copenhagen to see a few sights we missed when we were here before the voyage.

When we were dropped off the bus at Tivoli Gardens, it was clear that there must have been a hell of a party in Copenhagen last night. The streets were strewn with rubbish and broken glass and portable toilets were being loaded up onto trucks in the square in front of town hall.

Much of the ground around Tivoli we covered a few weeks ago, so we headed off in the direction of Rosenborg Castle and the Kings Gardens, a little over a km from where we were.

Along the way we walked past the odd Danish Pastry, and through a large square and past an odd looking church, The Church of Our Lady, which had a large square tower and an entrance dominated by large columns.

The Kings Gardens were very nice, with some welcome shade in what has become a hot day.

The Castle is at one end of the gardens and is surrounded by a moat. The castle is heavily guarded and is the where the Crown jewels are kept.

On our way back towards Tivoli we came across another strange structure, which was a large round tower that appeared to be attached to a church.

It was time for our morning cup of coffee, so we found a small café with free wifi and settled in there for a rest.

Revitalised, and up to date, we walked down toward the water to Christianborg Castle, now the home of the Parliament, Supreme Court and Prime Ministers Office.

The rest of the morning was spent waking around the main shopping area.

At least it is clear here where the Public Toilets are

Having been burnt before buying lunch at a flash café in Copenhagen, we went for something a bit more basic, a hamburger, from a café that sold Lebanese style dishes. It was quite good, and reasonably priced (by Danish standards).

Back on board by around 2.30pm, new passengers were still boarding. We had our lifeboat drill at 3.20 pm, and were underway a bit after 4pm. We are heading for Bergen in Norway, but tomorrow is an at sea day, which suits us fine, we welcome a rest day.

We leave Copenhagen with a classic Copenhagen scene behind us.

As we left the Baltic to enter the North Sea, we could see Kronberg Castle,( called Hamlets Castle in the tourist literature) on the Danish side of the entrance (opposite Helsingborg)