Copenhagen seems to be a beautiful city from what I saw of it. I say that because, the way the cruise worked out, we only got about 5-6 hours on shore. That may seem like quite a bit of time, but if you have ever traveled anywhere you know it is most certainly not. It was a cloudy day when we were there. No rain though, thank goodness. Once off the boat, we visited a town called Christiania. It is a self-proclaimed autonomous "commune" of sorts in Copenhagen. I enjoyed walking through it. It was the only quiet place in Copenhagen, and in all honesty, the only quiet place we have been in a while. It looks like a very small, run-down village. At night, I would say it's probably pretty sketchy. There is lots of graffiti and wooden houses that are certainly not in tip-top shape. There are some restaurants, a few shops, and a concert stage. Christiania is set right next to lake, as well. There are certain rules that you must follow when you enter: no running, no photographs, etc... Sarah described it as something from an apocalyptic movie scene. When we were there, there were not many people walking around, so it looked like a slightly deserted rebel village. There is more of a story to it's findings. I would suggest Google-ing it.
Next we visited the Church of our Savior. It has an awesome-looking spire at the top that you can climb. Micah went up it and took some pretty cool pictures from the top. He said when you got to the very top the steps were so narrow you could just fit one foot on each stair.
After that we walked across the canal to Nyhavn (New Harbor). This is one of the oldest parts in Copenhagen and had beautiful colorful, narrow houses to show for it. Hans Christian Andersen lived there for a period of time. Nyhavn is on either side of a canal. There we took a boat tour through the canals. That was nice because we got to see the palaces, the Little Mermaid Statue and some different parts of Copenhagen that we would have never been able to walk to in the time we were there.
Copenhagen, according to our tour guide, is the biggest bicycle capital in Europe. I believe it. There were all kinds of bicycles, all over the place. I saw a wheelchair bicycle, a bike with a cart in front specifically for your dog, one in front for children, many with baskets. Basically all areas of the city have a pretty wide bike lane, along with the regular sidewalk. Even the stairs had ramps for bikes.
At this point, I think I liked Stockholm better, but I think if had the opportunity to spend more time in Copenhagen, I might come to like that better. I felt like I barely got to see the city at all.
The cruise itself was pretty fun. The ship was a cross between a ferry and a cruise ship. It seemed pretty big, but I know it wasn't compared to most cruise ships. There were only about 4 restaurants, a few cafes, a casino, a pool/hot tub (yes, I did spend a good chunk of time Saturday in the hot tub), conference center, etc.. They had live music in two night clubs on the same level each night, one had more of a selection of current popular music and the other was older and laid back played (and sang) by Jerry on the piano. Sarah and I hung out there a bit, and even got to swing a little. We were gravely disappointed by the number of people we met who did not know how to swing dance, though we did teach a couple people some beginning steps.
Thursday I am traveling across the mountains to a town called Ulvik with May and her friend whose name I cannot remember (Sorry). We are going to stay with Tobba who lives there. Tobba is a friend of one of the people I work with at the credit union, and I got acquainted with May through her. I am excited. I think the trip is going to be really beautiful.
No comments:
Post a Comment