Copenhagen and beyond

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Thanks to all the faithful readers of this blog. I can’t tell who reads it but I get a count of the number who do (some may be counted twice if they come back later). And a special thanks to those who commented. I used to reply to each one but it is a bit complicated, especially on the road with an underpowered netbook,-(

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those in Italy who were affected by the recent earthquake. It occurred in a part of Italy where we have been but will not be going this trip.

For the past eight days we have been out of easy WiFi access so it has been difficult to update the blog. But we are now back online, so here goes.

Last full day in Copenhagen

Our first stop was the National Museum. The floor plan is huge and a bit of a maze but well worth the time. We concentrated on the pre-history section which was incredible. Unbelievable quantity of ancient articles and well organized (and described in English, thank goodness). The second floor dealt with more modern stuff and we skimmed it having seen a lot of related items in our visits to various castles. A second visit would have been enjoyable.

Tivoli Gardens

I had heard about these gardens but didn’t really know too much about them. (“I told you about them”, says Dianne). Reminded me of the midway at the Calgary Stampede except it is in the middle of town. Of course, the way Calgary has grown I guess the Stampede grounds are in the middle of town. Lots of rides especially for kids and no shortage of places to eat. We managed to visit without spending any money!

Christiansborg Slot

A trip to Christiansborg Slot was next. We weren’t sure how much time we would have but managed to get to yet another castle. This one was particularly interesting, especially the ruins. The “castle” was built on top of what was left after the fire that destroyed a castle that had been built on top of a castle that had been destroyed by fire sometime before. The original castle had been built on top of a fort built by the founder of Copenhagen. Fire was a big deal in those days. There was even a display on firefighting techniques in the 18^th century.

The ruins were a section under the castle where you could see remnants of the original walls and see where some walls were built on top of others.

Walkabout

Checking the city map we realized we were within walking distance of the Little Mermaid so set out to see her from the land side. It turned out to be a bit of a hike but too early to stop for cappuccinos (We have managed to limit ourselves to two a day.) The walk is along part of the canal we had cruised earlier and it was interesting to see everything from a different perspective, especially the Little Mermaid. The statue is smaller than I expected and lower down which makes it look even smaller. But the crowds were enormous.

Our hostess had recommended a Punjabi buffet for dinner and it was a pleasant stroll from the Airbnb. We had just sat down with our selections when a tour bus pulled up and a huge crowd piled into the restaurant. Turned out to be a group of Indian doctors touring Copenhagen and Oslo medical facilities. We were sitting at a table for four so two of them joined us. We had a great discussion on a wide ranging series of topics from geography, American and Canadian politics, and the meaning of life (not the Monty Python version). They were certainly good ambassadors for their country and encouraged us to visit.

Drive to Ribe.

We rented a Volkswagen Up!, a model of car I had not encountered in Canada. Small and standard but just what we needed. Also rented a GPS. The clerk switched it to English but unfortunately the street names are still in Danish and virtually unpronounceable to this English speaker!

The drive from Copenhagen to Ribe (on the west coast of Jutland) is about as far as you can go east-to-west. Very pleasant drive crossing one of the longest bridges I have ever seen. Seems to me it is 18 kilometres in two sections. Traffic moves very well and the signs are easy for non-Danish speakers, especially those with an English GPS.

Danhostel

Different type of accommodation here in Ribe. You can save money by bringing your own sheets. Not too practical for us air travelers but what the heck? The hostel is bare bones but very neat and clean. Has a nice kitchen where you can prepare your own meals. People had warned us about the cost of restaurant eating in Denmark and I don’t think they were exaggerating. The restaurant meals have been great but we are lucky to have a kitchen in most of our places here in Denmark.

The only problem is this place is full of young people; school groups we found out later. This is, after all, a hostel. Their youthful enthusiasm makes it pretty noisy in the evening but the noise seemed to turn off about 10:30 and it was quiet after that. Watching them prepare their breakfasts and bag lunches for their activity today was fun.

Walk around town

Old Ribe is quite small and you can walk around most of the town in short order. Pretty nice though. We have visited the one church and cloister and taken many pictures of neat side streets. Tomorrow we visit the old Domkirke. The good news is that there are no castles to visit here.

Viking Museum

There are a couple of Viking museums and the one we chose was a few kilometres out of town. It is a huge area, mostly outside where there are a lot of works in progress. One of them is a dock on what is supposed to be the river through town. It (and everything else) is being built with original-type tools using original (as far as they know) techniques. We chatted with one of the workmen who was a font of knowledge. I know more about dock building in the 10^th century than I could have imagined.

Everyone tells us we are having one of the three hot days in Denmark. The internet tells me it was 29° C today but it felt a lot hotter out in the sun.

Tomorrow

We visited the old cathedral before driving to the coast where we will wind our way north on the scenic (we hope) route to where Dianne’s cousins live. We get to see the house where Dianne’s grandmother grew up and spend a week or so at a summer house on the fjord. We may be able to avoid castles for a while.

To Be Continued

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Photos

Little Mermaid
A great Copenhagen icon

The long haul?
This shot gives some idea of the size of the National museum.

The aurochs from Vig
They drowned trying to escape from hunters' arrows. The skeleton was found in a peat bog in western Zealand. 8600 BC.

The Sun Horse
In case you were wondering how the sun moved through the sky every day.

Early photoshop?
This painting from the 1200s shows a Capuchin monk supposedly at the foot of the Cross. After the Reformation in 1536 he was allowed to remain there. But in the 1600s he was retouched to have a full beard and a Lutheran minister's ruff.

Christiansborg Castle
Hard to believe this place burned down at least twice.

Library
The Royal family in the 1700s had a huge library. Over 80,000 volumes if memory serves me well. Over 10,000 were stored in these rooms.

Cappuccino
Of course.

Tivoli Gate
I had no idea what to expect.

Riding high
You sit on what look like ski lift chairs, are raised to the top of the pole and then spun around. We waited but could never get a good shot.

Some people were head over heals about this ride.
lots of screaming!

Just the ticket
You could buy tickets in many places in the park. What you needed was a press to print more money.

On the road again.
GPS and map in hand, we are ready to go coast-to-coast.

Bridge
This was one massive bridge.

Road signs
Danish only but not hard to understand.