Rosenborg Castle and Tivoli Garden Christmas lights, Copenhagen

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This morning we had an early start to travel to Berlin's Tegal Airport for our flight to Copenhagen. Having got the hang of the trains over the last few days we felt OK about taking the train out to the airport rather than ordering a taxi. Angelika had made us 'breakfasts to go' so we collected those from the fridge and ate them in our room before heading out to the train station just around the corner from Pension Galerie. Even though it is a smaller station there was a lift so we didn't have to haul our luggage down the stairs. Bonus!

The train doesn't run all the way to the airport so Melbourne is not the only city in the world without a rail link to the airport! We disembarked at Kurt Schumaker Station to catch the 128 Bus to Tegal. Although this is the station with the direct bus link to the airport there was no lift and not even an escalator to assist travellers to take their luggage to street level. Seems like a lack of planning there. Anyhow, we walked straight out of the station and straight onto a bus and we were at the airport before 8.00am for our 9.40am flight. We only needed to be at the airport 40 minutes before our flight so, as usual, we had allowed plenty of time for contingencies and then had a dream run. Better to be at the airport early than late!!

We found the (small) international section of the airport and went through security screening with Bernie just ahead of me going through the metal detector. I turned my attention to my tub of stuff coming out of the X-ray machine and picked up the Kindle, the iPad, my mobile phone and my coat and then couldn't find Bernie; it was like he had been abducted by aliens. I found a seat and decided if worst came to worst I would meet up with him again at the departure gate unless he had absconded with my passport and boarding pass.

Fortunately it wasn't long before Bernie turned up. Guess what? he was selected for the bomb screening test!! He had been taken to a room where he had to unpack his carry-on bag so they could run the collection pad around the inside and then put it through the machine that detects chemical residues. When he was given the all clear he had to put his stuff back through the X-ray machine and walk through the metal detector again. So that explained why I couldn't see him anywhere!

We left the terminal on time but had to queue for ages waiting to be cleared for take off. As we accelerated down the runway I counted six more planes banked up behind us waiting for their turn. Once we were in the air we had a smooth flight to Copenhagen. At Copenhagen Airport we headed to the information kiosk to purchase our Copenhagen cards that would grant us entry to most of the sights we wanted to see and access to public transport for 48 hours. As we readied ourselves to head back out into the cold I realised that I had lost my scarf. The last thing I could remember was taking it off and putting it in the tub to go through the X-ray machine at Tegal. Damn, I Ioved that scarf.

We caught the train into Copenhagen without any trouble, disembarking at Copenhagen Central Station which was just a short walk from the Andersen Hotel. We surprised the staff at the hotel with our early arrival. Originally we were going to take the train from Berlin to Copenhagen so had given an ETA of 6.00pm. When Bernie was going to book the train tickets he rechecked the cost of flying and found airfares that were less than the rail fares so booked flights instead. Perhaps we should've emailed the hotel with our revised ETA? No problem, our room was ready for us to check in at lunchtime instead.

It was a long time since our early breakfast so we had a quick lunch at the Danish restaurant next to the hotel. Refuelled we headed to Rosenborg Castle. Unfortunately the castle closed at 2.00pm, but the Treasury in the basement of the castle was still open so we were able to view the Crown Jewels and other royal treasures. The basement included a cellar filled with bottles of 1641 vintage wine. The wine is still used by the Royal Family to drink a toast each year to the New Year. It has been calculated that there is enough wine in the cellar to continue this tradition for another 300 years!!

From the castle we walked to the Rundetaarn or Round Tower. This tower is also accessed via a ramp rather than stairs so an easy climb to the viewing platform via the whitewashed, helical corridor. From the viewing platform we could just see the Øresund Bridge. With full zoom we even managed a photograph. The Round Tower houses Europe's oldest, functioning observatory, but we decided that we wouldn't return between 7.00pm and 11.00pm to visit it. On the way back down we did call in at the exhibition in the Library. The current exhibition was dedicated to Danish architecture and featured some really interesting commentary and models of educational, domestic and industrial projects planned and executed from the mid-20th century to the present.

It's getting to be a case of another day, another country, another Christmas market ... or two!! There really are Christmas markets everywhere. We strolled through the market and started spending the Danish Krone that Bernie withdrew from the auto teller at the airport. The conversion is a bit alarming with one Australian Dollar equalling five Danish Krone. I found a new scarf to replace the one that I lost earlier in the day. What a good excuse to spend money! The scarf was 70 Danish Krone which sounds alarmingly expensive, but it was actually only about 14 AUS$ which sounds much more reasonable. And we found a new warm alcoholic drink to try - mulled cider. It was English cider warmed and combined with cinnamon, ginger and lemon. Really, really nice, but more expensive than the glühwein in Germany.

We dropped our bags back to the hotel and ventured back out with only our cameras to see the Christmas lights at the Tivoli Gardens. The entrance fee to the gardens was 99 Danish Kroner but was included on our Copenhagen card so that helped defray the 449 Danish Kroner that we had spent on each card. The weather is expected to be even worse on Thursday so we decided that we should go to see the Christmas lights tonight while it is cold, but not wet. The lights were really beautiful, but the stalls seemed much more expensive than the ones down near Nyhaven (pron new-harven, New Harbour).

The girl on the desk at the hotel recommended a restaurant in the nearby meat packing precinct called Pate Pate. It was still cold, but dry so we walked around to the old meat packing district that has now been converted into lots of trendy restaurants. The food at Pate Pate was delicious, but fairly pricey. At 99 Danish Kroner (20 AUS$!) for a glass of wine I limited myself to one glass.

15.15 km walked

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Comments

[Wade]

Happy travels
Hi guys, really enjoying your blog, sounds like mmm, cold, you are both really good at this now. What happened to Bernie's lens did you get it fixed? Great photos. Cheers,Wade and Val.

[Janet M]

love the lights
I am continuing to enjoy reading your travelogue and admiring all of the photos. Excellent! I love the Tivoli lights and also the dome photos and zoomstar of the previous entry, great work! Is your spelling of carousel designed to check if we are reading your entries? I initially wondered if it was the Danish spelling for Carousel! Stay warm. Janet