Vanlose Stairway(van Morrison) - Asa,Sweden to Vanlose,Copenhagen,Denmark - 15th July 2016

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There is a song that starts off with ‘What a difference a day makes’ but this morning we could be singing ‘What a difference a night makes’.

We think we might have caught up now on what we lost last night in Oppedal in the ‘double ‘bed.

We were both feeling refreshed from the previous day and ready for the drive to Copenhagen which will include a short ferry crossing. We had thought about taking the bridge from the southern tip of Sweden at the city of Malmo which would have bought us directly into Copenhagen. However the cost was quite a bit more than the ferry from further up the Swedish coast and closer to Asa which would then give us a drive down a scenic road on the Danish east coast to the city of Copenhagen.

Our host, Roger, had been very chatty when we arrived yesterday and again this morning. Between us we had covered a myriad of subjects and put the world to right several times. He was a decent sort of guy with an opinion on just about everything.

The drive south on the E6 was pretty much the same as yesterday with not a lot of scenery to inspire us. The further south we were travelling though the more the land seemed to be fertile with more varied crops in the field such as peas which we had not seen before.

There weren’t any major towns ahead of us and so when we arrived in the port of Helsingborg it seemed like we had arrived back on the planet such was the sameness of the E6 highway. Now we had to listen to the GPS as Gina told us the directions down to the ferry terminal.

We arrived through the gates and immediately after buying our ticket we were into a queue ready to board a ferry that had just arrived.

It was a larger ferry than we had experienced in Norway with upper and lower decks to be directed onto.

The ferry service had probably been busier before the Olesund Bridge and subsea tunnel between Malmo and Copenhagen opened in 2000.

That connection is approx 30km wide whereas the short stretch of sea we were crossing was just a few kilometres as the crossing only took 15 minutes. Hardly time to buy a coffee or be attracted by the duty free on board the ferry.

We were soon on our way again heading down the D152 which runs along the coast and has many very expensive homes with wide sea views of the strait between Denmark and Sweden. The Dkr has a bit more value than the Nkr, not much more but enough to get the brain working to work out the value of our purchases to ensure that is what we would want to pay for something.

We found a spot off the road right alongside a beach and sat and had lunch. We had time to fill in as the place we are going to in Copenhagen was only available from 4pm and it was just 2pm with an hour’s drive to Copenhagen ahead of us.

We both read our kindles after lunch and then took a walk down the road to admire and get up closer to the thatched roof houses that lined the road. Most had colourful gardens resplendent in Hollyhocks and Roses which gave contrast to the white painted walls of the houses and the dark grey of the thatched roofs.

We had left an hour for our drive to Copenhagen but it didn’t take anywhere near that and it was only a slight hiccup with the GPS instructions that stretched our arrival time until just after 4pm.

Tinna and Martin our Air BnB hosts were there to meet us and show us the apartment which again looks like it has everything to make us comfortable.

The apartment is theirs and they had moved out to his parents place. They had partly refurbished it but the building was still the old style ‘rack and stack em’ type where as many apartments can be squeezed into a small space.

We took a stroll down to the larger supermarket near where the subway station was and did some shopping for the next two night’s dinners.

The two streets we walked down to get to the supermarket reminded us of Eastern European from our first trip in 2008 when that part of Europe was slowly emerging from communist rule when buildings were constructed exactly how the state wanted it done and there was no private enterprise to make the neighbourhood’s look and feel different.

What was really odd though was that just a few metres away from these regimental buildings on the main streets through the suburb the houses on their own sections were of varying design and had plenty of room around them. Guess this is the difference of where those that can afford the equivalent of NZ$1M plus in a detached home vs. a tight apartment in a block worth about NZ$300k have to live to be able to be part of the Copenhagen society. Not dissimilar to Auckland and other cities in New Zealand.

We had a leisurely dinner and watched a bit of YouTube and it was time for bed.

Tomorrow we embark on a day of sightseeing the most well known spots in the city. It is a shame that we have just the one day as there looks like we could spend longer here if only we had the time.

PS:enjoy Van Morrisons blues music about Vanlose the suburb our Air BnB is located in on Youtube as usual.

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