The flight today is a short flight, only about one hour. It only took about 20 minutes from the hotel to the airport . Berlin Tegel Airport is fairly chaotic, and pretty run down, but very busy. Our flight is delayed for around 20 minutes with no explanation, resulting is us arriving in Copenhagen at 10.30 am, around 30 mins behind schedule.
Copenhagen Airport is also extremely busy, but everything works smoothly and we have our baggage and are out of there in reasonable time, opting to take a taxi to our hotel. From that point on we realised that nothing is cheap in Copenhagen. One issue we did have is that American Express seem to have a monopoly on ATM machines at the airport and they would not accept our card (VISA through ING).
We arrived at the hotel well ahead of checkin time, so stored our luggage until our room was ready and went exploring. First priority was to find an ATM, not as easy as it sounds. We walked for about 40 mins before finding one.
Quite close to our hotel is the Nyhaven area, part of a canal with boats old and new tied up on either side, and restaurants everywhere.
The skies are looking a bit worrying and we suspect rain is on the way, but wander on. Once we found an ATM we just kept walking in the basic direction of the hotel, and somehow ended up at Amalienborg Palace. The Palace consists of four facades in an octagonal square.
It was now raining quite heavily, but nevertheless people were gathering in the square. It was about 11.50 am, and we suspected that we may just be lucky enough to see the changing of the guard (which we later found out only happens if the Queen is in residence). Anyway, despite the rain, we decided to sit it out, and sure enough at 12 noon, the ceremony began.
We didn't hang around to see the complete ceremony as were were getting seriously wet. We walked back towards the water, and eventually ended up back at Nyhavn, where we sat down for lunch. Keen to try a bit of the local fare, we went for open sandwiches of gravadlax and shrimp. Both were delicious.
Not a bad location for a restaurant
I forgot to take the photo before we started eating. It was really good !
No longer hungry, but still suspicious of the weather, we decided to go back to our hotel to get our spray jackets before venturing out further.
Our Hotel, The Admiral Hotel, was apparently a granary (built in 1787) in its previous life
The weather is fine, for the moment, so we decide to take advantage of the break in the weather and do a canal boat cruise (apparently one of the best ways to see Copenhagen). There is a one hour Grand Tour of Copenhagen, which we can combine with a ticket to Tivoli Gardens at a worthwhile discount, so we signed up.
The canal tour was well supported, and departs Nyhavn at regular intervals (about every 15minutes), with reasonably full boats. The boats are very low profile, which we soon realised was a necessity, as we passed under some of the lowest bridges I have ever seen a boat try to get under.
Leaving Nyhavn
We saw a Hanse 415 tied up in Nyhavn on the way out
Highlights of our water tour included;
Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre
The Opera House
Some upmarket residential property
And some not too luxurious residences nearby
The Azamara Quest was in port. The buoys in the foreground depicts a Naval area that cannot be entered.
An old fortress
The Little Mermaid
Where the Royal Yacht departs from when the Royal Family go sailing
Mysterious yacht near the Royal Palace flying what looks like the Austraian Flag
The Admiral Hotel
The Library, known as The Black Diamond
Hanse in Christianshavn (interesting name)
Our Saviours Church - Christianshavn
Drinks by the water
Another low bridge
and it is, we bumped our way through this one
The old Stock Exchange
Back to Nyhavn
The canal cruise was very good. There was so much to see it is difficult to remember it all, but above is a good sample. The weather is still being kind to us, although it looks pretty nasty in the distance. Whilst it is still fine, we headed off on foot for Tivoli Gardens, one of Copenhagen's most famous landmarks and attractions. It is about a 1.7 km walk.
Most of the way, we walk along a long pedestrian mall which is packed with people.
The Town Hall
Eventually we arrived, and then had to find the entrance, it is a huge complex.
The entrance was about 300m around the corner and with our prepaid tickets, we did not have to line up to get in. Once inside, all you initially see is restaurants, some interesting buildings and auditoriums.
We stopped at this little place for refreshments and a chance to sit down
Whilst we were enjoying our drink, it started to rain, and everyone ran for cover, which was not that easy to find. It didn't last long, so we continued to look around, after we finished our drinks. Everything is recycled at Tivoli, so the plastic cups we had could be fed into a machine that gave a 5 Krone refund.
Plastic cup disposal machines are located throughout the park
As you get deeper into the park, you can see it is really a theme park with all of the traditional rides and side shows, aimed at entertaining the kids. It is nicely old fashioned, and there is a huge variety of rides, restaurants, games etc. A great place to take the family in summer.
After an hour and a half we had had enough, so headed back. The crowds had reduced a bit (it was now a bit after 6pm) and of course it started to rain again. We were very pleased we bought our spray jackets.
Eventually we found ourselves back ay Nyhavn, and it was dinner time. We had to find a restaurant that had indoor seating, as it was still raining. Most of the food offering by the various establishments is pretty much the same, so we picked one out and sat down.
Food here is very expensive for what you get.
This exotic dish of Danish meatballs cost $40 !
We board the ship tomorrow, so look forward to a relaxing time from here on.
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