Hello Copenhagen!

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Ladies and Gentlemen and other well wishers, we have arrived in the wonderful CPH.

We had a smooth ride getting here with no hiccups. In fact, we actually got an extra bottle of wine free of charge on the plane. Yay!

After about 15 hours en route, we arrived in Copenhagen airport, caught the train into the city with no problems, and managed to get to our hostel almost two hours before we had to be there. We were exhausted, but excited to see the city, so we headed out to the Stroget, a pedestrian street lined with shops and cafes that stretches from the train station out to the canal Nyhavn. After strolling the busy streets we settled on a boat cruise to view the sites from the water. For a couple of Lauriers we got to see Christianborg Palace, the lovely Little Mermaid statue, and the permanent woodstock that is the Christianshavn region. Seriously, there were random hippies camped out on the beaches under colourful tarps. Following the tour, we wandered a few blocks north of Nyhavn canal and saw Amelionborg Palace, the residence of the royal family. It is HUGE, and there is a large courtyard in the middle of four old stone buildings. Each building is guarded by a guard in full uniform, including those black fur hats the brits have for their guards! After all the walking we were ready to fall on our faces, so we headed back to the hostel and fell asleep at 6pm. hahaha! (after 26 straight hours of being awake).

So having some what adjusted to the jet lag we went in search of the holy grail, for Carlsberg brewery. Fricking amazing. We walked about half an hour from our hostel to the brewery, and were greeted by the Carlsberg highrise building (the only highrise we saw in all of Copenhagen) and an epic archway complete with stone carved elephants (yes we took pics!). After trouncing around the grounds we (well mostly TJ) indulged in the free beers and some squash juice (citrus flavoured to be exact).

We proceeded to get temporarily lost on our way back to the inner city, and ended up walking about an hour and 15 minuts... our feet were killing but we went to the National Museum (free!!) and saw Christianbog Palace up close. Being the swashbuckling pirates we are, we commandeered a couple of City Bikes. These are locked up around the city for people to borrow. You put in 20 kroner (about 4 dollars CAD) and the bike is yours. Only our bikes werent locked so when we returned them we actually MADE money! With our new found transportation we scoured the city looking at sites and stumbled upon the Rosenborg Slot. Not entirely sure what it looks like from the inside as armed guards with machine guns informed us it was closed so we ran like Mr. Bolt to avoid using our travel insurance.

On our way back to the hostel, we tallied it up and realized we have seen 5 bikes sunk in the bottom of canals among gross plants... quite hilarious! We also saw brown swans and HERONS!!

So Copenhagen, capital of Denmark and here's a fun fact......(a shameless rip-off of Pete and Kiffs blog)

-The Carlsberg brewery gives TJ an asa moccolli
-We are a couple of regular Jack Sparrows
-the canals are full of pond scum (and bikes, shells and refuse)
-The cemetery housing HC Anderson's remains is like Kew Gardens
-everyone here cycles, and it is all incredibly organized... but everyone walks like an idiot! (yes this annoys Teija... there is no pattern to how they walk!!)

Well were off to the land of the Ikea.

As they say in Copenhagen, Adios.

We miss you all lots! (okay TJ says he doesnøt, but Teija does!!)

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Photos

Nyhavn
First day of sightseeing!

Canal cruise
We are trying not to fall asleep

Shark boat
The terror of the canals

Comments

[Peter Wright]

Carlsberg Heaven
I hear gift-shop girl wasn't there. How sad!

[Andrea]

good luck
Seeing herons so early in your trip must be very good luck for you! Make sure your bikes don't end up in the canal while they are still in your possession. I am imagining drunk-on-squash-juice locals careening into the water.

[Marion]

Great start!
Teija and TJ, Great entry. Your descriptions make me feel like I have seen it too! Sounds like your trip is off to a wonderful start - good work on the bikes. Your castle viewing is impressive - are you going to keep track? Take care, luv u, M

[duda]

elephant beer
I've been to the Carlsberg brewery (and Tuborg on the same day - they used to be competing companies). I'll try and dig out the picture from afterward and show you sometime. Do they still sell (high test) 'elephant beer'? Nice work on the bikes. Grampa Beck would be proud of you!