Copenhagen

Yesterday was a day off from writing. We drove for around five hours to get to Copenhagen. After hours of driving through the bland Danish countryside the highlight of the journey was driving across the Nyborg to Halsskov bridge. This bridge stretched into the distance as far as you could see. We both commented what an amazing feat of engineering it was and that we hadn’t had to pay a toll. Imagine our surprise then, when we got to the other side and arrived at the toll booth where the attendant relieved us of approximately £28.50. I suppose it was expecting a bit much to drive across a phenomenal road bridge like that without it costing anything. I have no idea how long it’s been there or how much it cost in construction but somebody has to pay for it I suppose!

Arriving at the campsite we pulled in only to find the way blocked by two rising bollards. Instead, I parked in the nearby car park and we wandered on foot into the site to look around. There was no sign anywhere of a reception and we were a little puzzled to say the least. All there was to see were the fronts of two buildings set into the hillside like elaborate hobbits houses. In the end I found a friendly German couple sitting in their motorhome who were very helpful and told us the reception is outside the campsite in a cafe. Having found it we then checked in for three nights. The girl on reception warned us to beware of thieves but that they mainly target tents so for us, shouldn’t be a problem. Still slightly disconcerting though! It’s a nice site though, set in an old fort of raised earth embankments and a moat all the way round. There are also a number of huge old cannons aimed out to sea. From what I’ve been able to find online, I don’t think they were ever fired in anger. We had a walk to the nearest supermarket only to find that things here aren’t all that much cheaper than they were in Norway. Nevertheless we still have to eat so we stocked up on grub and returned to Nellie. We spent the evening watching episodes of Sneaky Pete thanks to the campsites excellent wifi.

Friday morning we left at about 11.00 a.m to go into Copenhagen. It’s a 15 minute walk to the train station and when we got there we quickly found a ticket machine. There are no staff in attendance so the machine is the only way to purchase a ticket. Which left us with a slight problem as the ticket machine was dead! Lynne looked online and found you could buy tickets from a 7-11 so I looked and found the nearest one was a mile and a half away. We decided the best option was to walk to the next station. That took us 30 minutes and when we got there the machine appeared to be working. So we dialled in two adult tickets and hit the pay button only to find the card reader was dead. This was not going well at all. Luckily this time there was a 7/11 open right in the station itself so we went in and joined the queue behind a particularly unpleasant younger man who had tattoos all over his face. I know it’s each to their own and all that, but, what on earth possesses anyone to have their face covered in tattoos? I just don’t get it, some tattoos I would acknowledge are very clever, but all over the face. Really? Anyway, we got tickets and boarded the train to the city. That got us in at about 12.45 p.m. What a waste of time having to walk half the way!

As soon as we left the station we made our way to Radhuspladsen which seems to be a fancy Danish way of saying City Hall Square. This square is flanked on one side by the impressive looking Palace Hotel.

Lynne and I stayed there some years ago when we took my mom back to Copenhagen for a long weekend. Looking back now I’m not sure she enjoyed it all that much. We had walked around the old neighbourhoods where she had lived as a young girl only to find that everything she knew had long been replaced by anonymous apartment blocks. I think maybe as a result, the whole trip was a bit of an anti climax for her. From Radhuspladsen we walked a long street of shops of all sorts toward Nyhavn. It seemed to take ages to get there, as we took a couple of wrong turns and there was a wicked cold wind that cut straight through you. Nyhavn is a very busy tourist area made up of pretty coloured buildings most of which are pubs or restaurants on one side of a harbour inlet.

As soon as we arrived there we were struck by the busy bustling atmosphere. We wandered up and down looking for somewhere we might both fancy eating. We saw a sign that said, try our veggie burger and you will become a vegetarian! We decided to try it, but not before we had walked to the little mermaid statue. Again this was quite a long walk and when we got there I was amazed to see how many people were crowded around trying to get photographs of the mermaid. I was reminded of my first visit to Copenhagen as a small child of six years old. There was a photo taken of me in front of the mermaid and just as they shot it I bent down to scratch my leg. I’m sure my mom and dad must have thought I’d ruined the photo but I don’t think they bothered taking another one! We were lucky though because as we approached  there was a large party of Japanese tourists just leaving. I’m sure that made life easier for everyone else! It took me about two minutes to get the photos I wanted and we set off back towards Nyhavn.

When we got back we made straight for the veggie burger cafe/restaurant. After so much walking I was ready to sit down for a while and we both had beers although surprisingly they didn’t have Carlsberg. The veggie burgers were nice but had no meaty texture about them at all. They seemed more like hard potato but we couldn’t work out what they were made from. When I asked the waitress, she said they’re made with celery! I hate celery but there was no hint of it here. Two burgers, two beers and two deserts cost roughly £62. Not quite Norway prices but still not exactly cheap. We sat and enjoyed the wonderful laid back atmosphere of Nyhavn. I think it’s quite a special place and looking around there didn’t seem to be anyone who wasn’t happy to be there! All in all we’d enjoyed our day in Copenhagen. I think it’s a great city with lots of magnificent old buildings mixed with some interesting modern architecture.  After eating we wandered around some more and I bought a couple of t-shirts from a small shop which is located in the same building where Hans Christian Anderson used to live, true or false? I don’t suppose they could make that claim if it weren’t true. The walk back to the station seemed to pass very quickly and we bought a 24 hour pass so that we can return tomorrow. On the way from the station at Charlottenlund I could see the sky over the sea beginning to change colour with the sunset behind us. There were white fluffy clouds backed up with pastel shades of pink and purples. I ran to set up the tripod and get a picture. Its a really simple image with the sea and a couple of clouds and those beautiful colours.

We were back at the campsite just after 7.00 p.m. On reflection we both really like Copenhagen, even with their crappy broken rail ticket machines. It’s a fun place just to mooch around and we’ll be back for more tomorrow!