An All Day Adventure Through Copenhagen

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Geo: 55.6763, 12.5681

I'm wide awake from all the noise at midnight. That's only 3 hours of sleep. I concentrate and eventually doze off until 4 am. It's light out and the noise is picking up. No longer the party crowd, it's now garbage trucks, postmen, street sweepers, wall washers and delivery trucks. This is a clean city but it seems like all the cleaning is taking place outside our apartment window. I'm finally out of bed at 4:30am and Karen soon succumbs to my incessant quandaries, "What's for breakfast? Are you going to make coffee? Where's my medicine?" Good. Now she's up too.

I work on the blog that never seems to get out, downloading pictures from the cameras and all the while monitoring Danish life outside my window. At 6am, painters show up to paint trim on the building across the street. These guys don't stop! Mom makes a good breakfast, cheap and convenient too. While Karen watches game 3 of the Warriors, with Danish commentary, I make plans for the day. It's Thursday morning, about 8 and this game is recorded and shown repeatedly. At least we see something from back home. We know nothing of the news back home and that could be a good thing. I think we should leave in an hour to visit the Rundetaarn tower, Mom's canal boat ride, Tivoli amusement park and some free time on the Strøget. That should do it. Oh yes, and find some WiFi. The entries are piling up!

The Rundetaarn opens at 10am and we leave our apartment about then for the 4 block journey. Shops and eateries abound as we navigate through the narrow cobblestone passages. The smell of Danish pastries and the sight of shopkeepers preparing for their busy day is really why were traveling to this region of the world. We turn the corner and behold, the tower of Rundetaarn looms before us, it's footprint cutting a swath from the already narrow road.

Rundetaarn is a 17th-century tower located in central Copenhagen Denmark. One of the many architectural projects of Christian IV, it was built as an astronomical observatory. It is most noted for its equestrian staircase, built for the king who, being quite rotund, found it much easier to ride in a carriage to the top. We pay our $4 each and Mom surprises me in her eagerness to ascend the steep circular ramp. OK, maybe not eagerness. Willingness. It proves much easier than I thought. Being steeper in the center, Mom quickly moves to the outer ring and, while longer in distance, proves more suitable for her abilities. We take pictures of each other during our ascent and peer out the many windows providing views of the city. At the top of the ramp, I leave Karen and tackle the last 100' via stairway and finally a single spiral staircase serving traffic in both directions. At the top is a vista area with 360 degree views of the rooftops of old Copenhagen. There are screaming kids everywhere up here, probably from some school. Three little tykes are trying to scale the fence. Oh boy. I take my photos and exit swiftly. Mom finds going down much easier and we're out in no time. Those kids screamed and hollered all the way down and out of that place!

Next on the list is the canal boat ride. From here it's just a few blocks but Mom spots a coffee house offering free WiFi. I'll take coffee if it comes with WiFi. The coffee and carrot scones are good and I pull up my three bog entries while Karen takes advantage of the rest period. WiFi is good but I find some problems with my blog when I finally sync up with the Travelpod website. Some stuff is duplicated and some never came through. With this occasion being the first time for a connection since we've been here, I have to perform some repairs and it takes longer than expected. Regardless, three days are sent while enjoying some Cafe Americano and we continue the final block of our journey to the boat.

We find the boat ride is pleasant and relaxing and, as you know, Mom loves boats! And sitting too. However, all good things must come to an end and when our boat ride concludes, we find that the bus ride to Tivoli Park takes 1 1/2 hours. The lady says, "Don't worry. Just cross that bridge, follow the canal and you'll be there in 15 minutes." Sounds good so off I go with Mom in tow. That 15 minutes is for Danes, not for Big Mom. She's continually asking, "Are we there yet? How much further? Where is this stupid place?" It's 45 minutes but we get there and pay the 100 DKK entrance fee.

Tivoli Gardens is a famous amusement park in Copenhagen. The park opened in 1843 and became one of the most popular theme parks in Europe. It offers a mix of attractions, gardens, and restaurants. Although always continually evolving, Tivoli maintains its traditional feel and quaint charm. Tivoli is part of early theme park history; Walt Disney modeled Disneyland after Tivoli once he'd experienced its magic. At night, Tivoli supposedly takes on a whole different aura. Thousands of lights and lamps hang from the trees. Unfortunately, we won't experience it at night since darkness is after 10 pm. The ad says that Tivoli is a truly romantic setting, right in the heart of Copenhagen but we found it full of screaming kids, at least by the rides.

We stop for lunch. It's about 3 and Mom orders chicken for her and a burger and fries for me, all for only 305 DKK or $45. It's good and afterward, we walk around the park, taking in the sights. I can see it as a smaller and simpler version of Disneyland. With a few pictures stowed in the camera, we leave Tivoli and traverse the 5 blocks back home. After a brief break, we spend an hour walking some more on the Strøget, checking out the Lego store and topping off the day with a people watching session from a park bench. Mom liked that.

It's now 6:30pm and our last evening in Copenhagen, Denmark. We elect to skip dinner and instead, I charge batteries and gather camera equipment together and Mom lies in bed, watching a National Geographic animal show. We're done and in bed by 8pm, ready to do battle in the forthcoming night.

Today's high 75F and sunny.

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Comments

[Scarlett Thomas]

What's up with all those kids ..... And poor mom walking everywhere . I bet she no longer will need to worry about those 10 extra pounds she keeps complaining about . She's getting a lot of exercise ..