Copenhagen, Denmark Day 1 2009

We had one last sea day and we wonder how can the trip be almost over? (we now say the same thing about 111 day cruises----they still end too soon. We enjoy the ports and touring, but we also love sea days. We took pictures of the ship areas and headed to lunch at the PG where we also had dinner that night. On the Veendam the food was so good in the main dining room that we hated to tear ourselves away to try the PG, this time it was nice not to have to eat in the main dining room.

Our last post was Copenhagen. We chose to self-disembark which works well for us. We stayed at The Mayfair by Clarion which was close to the central train station. We walked with our luggage to the nearest train station that took us to the central station. (not a bad walk) They also mailed our CPH city cards so it was all included with the card. The room was quite nice and the included food was more than adequate. The only complaint here was the location was in a bit of a seedy area. A Gentleman’s Club was across the street, which wasn’t a problem, but families with kids might not have appreciated the risqué photos of the ladies. For us it was more the seedy characters along the street that we had to pass getting to and from the hotel. (witnessed a couple of guys in a window alcove smoking possibly a crack pipe and hookers and others just loitering about) We survived of course and it wasn’t THAT bad, but I’m sure those that stayed at the Marriott or other areas were happier. The train station here was also seedier compared to the nice ones in Amsterdam and Belgium.

our room

lobby

view from the window

Our room was ready so we dropped our bags and grabbed a bus to Amilianborg Castle and we had time before the changing of the guard so we walked to Nyhaven where we grabbed an ice cream and later some of the most beautiful raspberries from the outdoor stand and ate them while sitting in the park.

Saly's equestrian statue of Frederik V in center of square

Frederik's Church

Opera house

walk to Nyhavn along harbor

garden next to palace

Nyhavn canal

sand art

Amalienborg Palace & Square

Christian V statue in Kongens Nytorv square

we stopped for a basket of raspberries to eat in the park YUM!

Royal Theater

4 different palaces flank the square

We had time to see the museum at Amelianborg and watched the changing of the guard.

walk to Little Mermaid

Gefion fountain (1908)

Little Mermaid

We then wandered out to the little Mermaid and walked back through the Naval base on our way to Rosenborg Castle where we met up with the afternoon Richard Karpen tour. Very nice. He dresses up as Hans Christian Andersen and gives a great tour of the Castle.

walk to Rosenborg Castle through military base

entering the Castle grounds

Rosenborg Castle

gardens of Rosenborg castle

Richard Karpen does tours of the castle

crown jewels

We grabbed a late lunch at a hot dog cart. Loved the ones with crispy onions with everything and the French dog.

walking the Stroget

We headed back to Nyhaven to do a canal tour, but it had started to rain and we opted to wait until the next day. We ran into the Round Tower on the way and climbed that.

Round Tower

walking up the Round Tower

clock in the shop

presenting the beer choice.....

refreshed we finish the walk to the top

views from the top

luckily, NOT the public toilette.....

Trinitatis Church built onto the Round Tower

back on the Stroget

walking back to Nyhavn

Headed back to the hotel and then walked down the street to Tivoli. Acted like kids and rode most all the rides. Had a nice dinner at Groften (and pricey too I might add). We stayed to see the evening laser, light, water display.