Upon the Baltic Sea

Page 1

Copenhagen, Denmark

August 28-30, 2008 Day One: After a not unpleasant 6 hour flight to Amsterdam, and a 1 ½ hour to Denmark, we arrived at Copenhagen’s airport, groggy but excited. A simple train ride brought us to Central Station, followed by a 3 block walk to the Absolam Hotel and our small, but cheerful room. A short nap revived us, and we set out to explore the city on foot. We found wonderfully different architecture (most buildings made of dark, red brick in intricate designs), charming tourists, and friendly Danes. There were more bicycles than any other city we visited, and woe betide the pedestrian who walked in the cycle lane. It was a beautiful clear afternoon and evening and we did lots of walking, and our first Danish meal (all food is expensive but quite delicious).
But we had to stop and rest often, and finally succumbed to jet lag and went back to the hotel for the night.

Day Two: Breakfast in the hotel was sumptuous! A huge and tasty buffet. Since the weather was off and on drizzle, we sought out indoor activities. We walked around the Parliament area until 10:00 AM, and the opening of the Carlsberg Glyptotek. This newly renovated museum with the collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiques, as well as French Impressionists, is one of the best art museums I’ve ever seen. Everything beautifully mounted in huge, well designed rooms and cases. Herren Carlsberg (the beer baron) was a huge art lover and what a collection!
The Roman, Greek and Egyptian collection rivals any I’ve seen anywhere. Some great French impressionists, too, but I couldn’t take photos of the paintings.

We then walked (in the drizzle) to the National Art Museum, which was full of Danish artists, and not particularly exciting. Some interesting modern pieces, though.

Day Three: Just enough time to visit Tivoli, opening at eleven, before we had to lug our luggage to the boat (another story). Tivoli is much better at night than in the morning, but it’s still beautiful, old fashioned and charming.

On this wonderful Peacock outdoor theater, Comedia Del Arte lives.

(In 1965, I saw Marlene Dietrich on this stage.)

	We didn’t go on any rides, but we watched some kids enjoy the “death drop” ride.

To the Ship!

(This is one of those adventures that is unpleasant while it’s happening, but makes a good story.)

We noticed the first day in Copenhagen that one block from our hotel was a bus stop for the #28 bus, which said “To the Cruise Ships”. Great! We heard from a man in the hotel elevator that he was going to the ship at 1:00 pm (the ship sailed at 8:00). So after we spent a couple hours at the Tivoli, we rolled our luggage one block and waited for the bus. A #28 bus came that didn’t say “To the Cruise Ships”, but something else in Danish, so we let it go. Then the right bus came and we hopped on. Sure enough it’s last stop was on the pier for cruise ships, so we got off. However, the only ships there were the Aida and the Arcadia. We asked at the information desk where the Crown Princess was docked, and were told at another pier, 30 minutes walk from there. So we schlepped our heavy luggage, on a very hot day, all the way to the other pier – not fun. As we were about to arrive, the other #28 bus drove past us and stopped right in front of our ship. We were glad we had started early, and very happy to finally climb on board our fabulous cruise ship.

Go to the Crown Princess page: