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Published: August 9th 2008
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We were still super tired and reluctantly got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. The hotel was small but clean and had a restaurant adjoining downstairs where a small breakfast was served. We spent some time eating and preparing ourselves for the long day, left our bags at the front desk, and took the bus into town - more specifically: Copenhagen Central Train Station. Although we each had a Eurail Pass, we needed to reserve our seats on the overnight train.
On such short notice, we were only able to reserve seats and not beds. We weren’t too worried and we wandered into the town to look around. We saw City all, the Royal Palace (with its
very informal guards), and the harbor. We ate lunch on the most picturesque street - a row of old but brightly painted houses each with a café in front. In keeping with our routine, we ordered local beers (even though German beer has proven time and time again to be “The Best!”)
We were amazed at the number of bicycles in the city! They have their own lane - not part of the sidewalk, but still slightly elevated from the road.
They ride single file and obey all of the traffic laws just as a car would. It was pretty impressive!! The bicyles are not locked up and each one was distinctly unique from another: Baskets were decorated, different paint jobs, it was really interesting!
When we walked through the courtyard created by the Royal Palace, we stopped to take a picture with one of the guards. Unlike the American honor guard, British Bobbis outside Buckingham Palace, or the Greek guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, who all stand stoic, staring straight ahead seemingly unblinking, these Danish guards were relaxed, interacting with people, smiling, laughing - not exactly what we had expected!
After lunch we topped at an ice cream shop and had what might have been the freshest and most delicious waffle cones EVER! They were still warm! There was a waffle cone assembly line of sorts behind the counter and they were constantly making waffles. We had a really great treat! Romas learned a lesson though - Licorice ice cream is not exactly worth eating again! We’ve noticed a black licorice obsession around here - mainly gum and rope licorice but now ice cream
as well!
We walked back towards the train station to Tivoli - the most visited attraction in Copenhagen and coincidently, an amusement park. Although it in no way competes in size or technology with Disney, it is an old place - dating back to the 1860’s. They have rides, concessions (including Cold Stone and Hard Rock), games, shops (including Build-a-Bear), outdoor concerts, beautifully manicured gardens with fountains and cafes, restaurants - the list goes on and on. We had tea and coffee at a café after walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. After a few hours, we walked back to one of the main squares near the center of town for dinner.
We ate dinner in a café while we ‘people-watched.’ It’s a ton of fun, especially in a foreign city. We had delicious food too which kept us occupied (and quiet) for a little. Olivia and Romas both had steak and I had a ‘hamburger’ - it’s actually everything you would think of for a hamburger, except without the burger. Instead it had a few slices of yummy meat, almost like London broil. It was great!
After a relaxing dinner we headed back to the hotel
to reclaim our bags and then back to the train station to catch a short connecting train to Malmo and then await our overnight to Stockholm, Sweden. We entertained ourselves by playing cards - something we would continue to do whenever we were waiting for a connection or unexpectedly riding a ferry! Although we only had two games to play and only a rough memory of the rules for either, we had fun and passed a lot of time competing for title of Best Card Player - Scandinavia 2008.
We boarded the overnight and realized we had no idea where our assigned seats were. We sat in three available seats that were together and struck up a conversation with the man across from us. He told us he was from Stockholm and was returning from a day of working in Denmark. We asked for suggestions of things to do and see while in his hometown and he was kind enough to tell us some very good ideas! He also had no idea which seats were actually ours but as long as no one was claiming the ones we were in, we were determined to stay.
So our
rest was short-lived, because only an hour into the nine hour train ride a man with two kids claimed our seats. No we had no idea where we were supposed to be (and had paid to sit!!) so Romas started looking for a conductor. He showed us our seats, a small room within the same car with only five seats total. Of course, there were people sitting in those seats and the conductor asked them to move. Well, about five minutes later they had made no progress. The woman was mad that she and her family were being asked to move. Apparently she felt entitled to her seat (the adult form of ‘finders-keepers,’ I guess) but after some gentle prodding…and then some gentle prodding…and then moving all of her stuff out and moving our stuff into the room, she finally relented and left us to find another seat. It was great to have our own little car, except for one thing: the room stuck like BO. No joke, we opened the window as far as it would go to get fresh air in and circulate the smelly, stale air out! After a few minutes though we were each too tired
to care and we all fell asleep.
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