Day 1 (8/9/13)
Unusually I did not really take many pictures the first day, as I had packed my camera in my rucksack for the flight from Bristol to Copenhagen. I normally carry my camera in my pocket most of the time when travelling. Luckily there was a very handy restaurant only 3 doors down the street from the Hotel, called Frk Barners Kælder which served traditional Danish food, and they serve Carlsberg draught beer in a handy 0.7 litre size glass. The only problem is that beer is quite a bit more pricey than in the UK, almost twice as much.
Day 2 (9/9/13)
The Hotel was quite near the central station, but this was a good 20 minutes walk to the city centre, so the plan was to walk to Nyhavn, and I used the handy Google Maps walking route finder which estimated a half hour walk.
A decorated model elephant.
There was a green Brompton bike which was chained up just by its front wheel! I have a Brompton and I would not chain it up on a public sidewalk like this and certainly NOT just by the front wheel like this. This looks like an M2R model with Shimano hub dynamo.
Being a keen cyclist it was good to see just how many people cycle in Copenhagen and almost every road apart from the quiet back streets seemed to have their own dedicated cycle lane, which was separated from the main carriageway by a raised step. The provision for cyclists here in the UK is almost non existent in comparison, usually just a painted white line, which often has parked cars in it rendering it useless. In fact I don't think I saw a single car parked in a cycle lane the whole time I was there, probably because most motorists also ride a bike so can see the annoyance it must cause.
Getting a bit nearer to Nyhavn here, about half way, when the pavement suddenly stops and only bikes are allowed, no pedestrians!
Crossing the road is tricky as you have to be aware of both bikes and motor vehicles!
There are a lot of cargo type bikes like this one, where you could carry shopping (or even a kid if you have one!)
This is an unusual sign with 2 cyclists facing each other.
Finally now at Nyhavn - this is a Danish style phone booth on the quayside
There was a handy eatery called "Els" at Nyhavn, and it was just away from the main ultra-touristy bit on the quayside. The service was very good and they had a large barrel of Carlsberg outside on the pavement.
It was about 2.30pm by now and had just started raining, but there were radiant heaters and "Carlsberg" blankets for warmth.
This is the food that was served, quite simple but very tasty. Eating out in Copenhagen is about 50% more expensive than the UK at a guess - the bill was about £60 but still worth it compared with what other nearby places were charging. You are not expected to tip in Copenhagen which is just as well, but the service here was excellent, even though the waitress was not relying on tips like in some other countries.
It really did start to hammer down while we ate our lunch and luckily the large awnings above the tables offered protection from the rain. Here a crafty Danish businessman on a bike is using an umbrella whilst cycling.
There was an interesting arrangement in the gent's loo with the WC right next to the urinal with no separate cubicle like you get in the UK, just a small metal barrier to offer an element of privacy.
As it was too wet to walk back to the Hotel it was decided that we would hop on a tour boat which cost 100DK per head for a 1 hour trip (about £12 per head). Here is the view of Nyhavn from the boat.
Luckily there is a separate window for each row of 4 seats and we found two rows of seats next to each other, so we each had a window seat. We were the only people on the whole boat that actually opened our windows, and the rain did sort of pour in as a result BUT it meant we got a proper view of the outside rather than just a view of a misted up window!
Here we are out in the middle of the main central canal.
This is the "little mermaid" which is normally like a tourist honey pot, but almost deserted due to the heavy rain.
The iconic modern opera building - pretty cool
This interesting church is the same one that I visited on "Day 4"
The building on the left is know as the "Black Diamond"
A view through the rain covered roof window
I was tracking the path of the boat using google maps, and noticed that rather than simply get off at Nyhavn again, it would make more sense to get off earlier as it docked near the central shopping area near the "stork fountain". This is near the "old town" of central Copenhagen known as "indre by" and is very different to the area near the hotel and station.
This area has one of the longest ever pedestrianised shopping streets, and led directly towards our route back to the hotel. I can thank google maps walking routes function for finding the handy route.
Below is a shop full of lego characters
Two local girls push their traditional style bikes through the street - cycling is banned from this narrow street
When the rain gets really bad there are handy ponchos available with "I ♥ CPH" on them.
Almost back to the Hotel now - there were "full nude shows" in the same street as this is I understand the "red light" district of Copenhagen.
The Hotel itself - The Andersen Hotel
We found it via trip advisor and it was reasonably priced yet still a good hotel
They even threw in a nicely chilled bottle of fizzy wine which saved the cost of buying more expensive beer the second evening.
OK no beer, but a cocktail seemed in order
Day 3 (10/9/13)
This was the last "full" day of the holiday and it was decided we would take a day trip to Sweden.
Sweden is only a 35 minute train ride from Copenhagen which takes you to the city of Malmo - this is a cool modern water tower just outside Malmo. The shot above shows the 2 level bridge crossing the sea - rail on lower deck and road on upper deck. The train was quite fast at about 100mph.
We got off at central Malmo station - the train here is bound for Stockholm, the Swedish capital.
I decided to draw out some local Swedish currency from the ATM, and it is cheaper at about £10 for 100 krona vs about £12 for 100 krona in Denmark. The building below is near the waterside.
Interesting Swedish signs - it is forbidden to allow a dog to walk on water here!
A major landmark in Malmo is the "turning torso" tower, it's very tall in the region of 200 metres. You can even see it from Copenhagen!
Annoyingly you cannot go up it as it's a block of flats, although I think there are rare times they allow visitors.
It's a long walk from Central Malmo to the turning torso, but there is a nice boardwalk area with views of the bridge that connects Sweden with Denmark.
Back in Central Malmo, and a quick glass of Carlsberg and we head back to the train bound for Denmark.
It was mainly full of business commuters who commute between the 2 countries each day.
The trouble with relying on google maps to find walking routes is that it takes it's toll on the phone battery - I think I was down to about 6% by the time I arrived back in Denmark again.
Another view of the train
Our final evening in Copenhagen and a "wienerschnitzel" washed down with a 700ml glass of Carlsberg was in order - this was quite a meal yet very tasty.
Day 4 (11/9/13)
This is the last day of this break in Copenhagen, and as it's an evening flight there is still some time to taken a trip on the "s-tog" to the castle and "little mermaid", especially as the weather has got really sunny for a change.
I'm impressed with the quality of the s-tog which is much more comfortable than a typical London tube train.
The little mermaid is surrounded by tourists like bees round a honeypot.
Rather than walk back to the hotel we discover that there is a handy riverbus service which is only 240kr per head (about £3) and it's a great way to see the city from the river. You simply pay the "captain" of the boat when you board.
We got off about 4 stops later near the cool church where you can walk up the outside of the tower. Called "Church of Our Saviour"
Before you get to the outside climbing there is still several stages of interior climbing to complete. It starts with a normal staircase up to roof height - you then enter the tower section, with a warning that you proceed at your own risk as there are narrow wooden steps, which get steeper and narrower as you get higher. There is a bellroom section with a sign warning that the 120db bells could start chiming at any time.
When you get outside there is a very good view, but not good if you get vertigo. It felt like the tower was tipping over!
The spiral steps get narrower and narrower till you can climb no further as it is only a few inches wide at this point.
After the tower we then walk back to the hotel to collect our bags
A "drug free zone"
A cat in a window sunning itself
A happy & warm cat
The Copenhagen rush hour
It gets very busy with as many cyclists as cars
We get to the airport and there is a nice bar that serves draught Carlsberg
There is a long walk to the gate, with markings to show the time left to walk
Waiting to board
On the way home now at 38000 feet and 500mph
The fight was pretty much full on the way back so no luxury of an empty aisle seat this time
Checking the height of the plane via gps, and also the speed. At least android seems to enable gps when using "flight mode" unlike ios.
