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Today is Sunday May 11th – Mother's Day with overcast skies – I think it’ll be raining before the day is out.
We’re back on schedule and arrived on-time in this Danish city for the first time for both of us. We thought we should get an early start so we had breakfast early and were among the first to exit the ship. With T&J doing a castle tour today, we were on our own to explore this city, knowing that we’d back for another two days on May 24th. The shuttle cost from the ship into town was 20 Euros’ per person return but there was a Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus at the ship that charged 25 Euros’ per person for the trip into town, which covered 3 routes in and around the city and return to the ship so we felt that this would be our best option. Seems there were two Hop-On/Hop-Off buses there at the pier – different companies though. Each driver vying for the cruise traffic as they walked by. "He’s the fake" one driver would yell “FU” would respond the other. Seems that the original HOHO driver had the best sales pitch as our bus was full and the other was near empty. Not that there was pushing and shoving, but explicative’s were exchanged, even to the point that when our bus was ready to pull out the other driver backed his bus up within 2” of ours in an attempt to block him from departing. Again the drivers got into a shouting match. Given that we were one of the first people on the HOHO bus we went directly to the 2nd level and up to the front to help me with my pictures as we drove around Copenhagen. It was here that we met two sisters that were retired school teachers – Lizzy and Gloria. Most of you know me and the way that I have very little “filter” – so by the time we hit town we had an invitation from Lizzie to visit her in her Monterey, California home any time - she has a big 4 bedroom home and is never there – currently they are both on Day 63 of their current cruise. What a life ! Copenhagen is nice. There’s a good mix of old and new here. It’s definitely the most expensive city that we’ve been in so far – at one the local café’s that line streets they advertise Cappuccino at 35DKK or about $9.00 U.S. Their new Opera complex is quite astounding, while the area of Nyhavn is very historic and a photographer’s playground. This is one of the first days of spring here in Copenhagen, and the residents of the five and six-storied apartment buildings that line the streets are out in force. Many must be strangers to each other – after all it’s a city of more than a million people but the nods and smiles that I see as two groups pass each other it seems that they all know one another, at least by sight. I think we were all surprised at just how green it was all over town.
Even more than the bike lanes, and there are many - the Danes have a fetish on recycling given that Denmark’s cap on carbon emissions is quite strict. There is a national rejection towards “production” for production’s sake and it lies at the heart of the Danish notion of “Miljovenlig” or environmental friendliness. I think they believe the most sustainable way is NOT to make things, unlike us in North America.We ducked into McDonald’s for their Wi-Fi as I hadn’t been able to post my blog updates for the past three days. Deb was famished. She headed for the food counter and her first Danish transaction – a little nervous – she returned with a tray so all must have gone well. The rain did start to come down, but we prepared and continued our walking tour in and around the main square of Nyhavn. So far we have eight magnets for each city that we’ve visited. With the current airline luggage restrictions there’s not much you can really buy anymore without being overweight on the return trip so we’ve resorted to magnets as the best memory of the cities visited. My Copenhagen magnet will be a collector’s item as it was 5 Euros’. To be back on board for the 3:30 gangway lift we had to be back for our second “muster” at 3:15 as some 1400 new passengers boarded for the start of their 12-day Baltic cruise. I think we might have some new pigeons on board as I was able to get into a poker game tonight – quite different from the previous cruisers – couldn’t get anyone to sit at the electronic Texas Hold’em table. It’s good start – maybe some more money could be on the horizon. Tomorrow’s a Sea-Day so likely we’ll take it easy – sleep in and get prepared for the next 6-city blitz of – Tallinn, Estonia – a two night stay in St. Petersburg, Russia – Helsinki, Finland – another two night stay in Stockholm, Sweden before we get another sea-day rest. The balance of the cruise will be Warnemunde, Germany – Kiel, Germany – and an overnight back in Copenhagen before we fly off to Amsterdam. By the time that this 24-day adventure is over we will have traveled close to 6,000 nautical miles to 16 countries and it doesn’t really feel like we’ve traveled at all in this magnificent floating hotel – we just wake up to a new city every day. Again, to all those who open my email blog advisories when they arrive – thanks for following Deb & I – it’s appreciated.
We’re back on schedule and arrived on-time in this Danish city for the first time for both of us. We thought we should get an early start so we had breakfast early and were among the first to exit the ship. With T&J doing a castle tour today, we were on our own to explore this city, knowing that we’d back for another two days on May 24th. The shuttle cost from the ship into town was 20 Euros’ per person return but there was a Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus at the ship that charged 25 Euros’ per person for the trip into town, which covered 3 routes in and around the city and return to the ship so we felt that this would be our best option. Seems there were two Hop-On/Hop-Off buses there at the pier – different companies though. Each driver vying for the cruise traffic as they walked by. "He’s the fake" one driver would yell “FU” would respond the other. Seems that the original HOHO driver had the best sales pitch as our bus was full and the other was near empty. Not that there was pushing and shoving, but explicative’s were exchanged, even to the point that when our bus was ready to pull out the other driver backed his bus up within 2” of ours in an attempt to block him from departing. Again the drivers got into a shouting match. Given that we were one of the first people on the HOHO bus we went directly to the 2nd level and up to the front to help me with my pictures as we drove around Copenhagen. It was here that we met two sisters that were retired school teachers – Lizzy and Gloria. Most of you know me and the way that I have very little “filter” – so by the time we hit town we had an invitation from Lizzie to visit her in her Monterey, California home any time - she has a big 4 bedroom home and is never there – currently they are both on Day 63 of their current cruise. What a life ! Copenhagen is nice. There’s a good mix of old and new here. It’s definitely the most expensive city that we’ve been in so far – at one the local café’s that line streets they advertise Cappuccino at 35DKK or about $9.00 U.S. Their new Opera complex is quite astounding, while the area of Nyhavn is very historic and a photographer’s playground. This is one of the first days of spring here in Copenhagen, and the residents of the five and six-storied apartment buildings that line the streets are out in force. Many must be strangers to each other – after all it’s a city of more than a million people but the nods and smiles that I see as two groups pass each other it seems that they all know one another, at least by sight. I think we were all surprised at just how green it was all over town.
Even more than the bike lanes, and there are many - the Danes have a fetish on recycling given that Denmark’s cap on carbon emissions is quite strict. There is a national rejection towards “production” for production’s sake and it lies at the heart of the Danish notion of “Miljovenlig” or environmental friendliness. I think they believe the most sustainable way is NOT to make things, unlike us in North America.We ducked into McDonald’s for their Wi-Fi as I hadn’t been able to post my blog updates for the past three days. Deb was famished. She headed for the food counter and her first Danish transaction – a little nervous – she returned with a tray so all must have gone well. The rain did start to come down, but we prepared and continued our walking tour in and around the main square of Nyhavn. So far we have eight magnets for each city that we’ve visited. With the current airline luggage restrictions there’s not much you can really buy anymore without being overweight on the return trip so we’ve resorted to magnets as the best memory of the cities visited. My Copenhagen magnet will be a collector’s item as it was 5 Euros’. To be back on board for the 3:30 gangway lift we had to be back for our second “muster” at 3:15 as some 1400 new passengers boarded for the start of their 12-day Baltic cruise. I think we might have some new pigeons on board as I was able to get into a poker game tonight – quite different from the previous cruisers – couldn’t get anyone to sit at the electronic Texas Hold’em table. It’s good start – maybe some more money could be on the horizon. Tomorrow’s a Sea-Day so likely we’ll take it easy – sleep in and get prepared for the next 6-city blitz of – Tallinn, Estonia – a two night stay in St. Petersburg, Russia – Helsinki, Finland – another two night stay in Stockholm, Sweden before we get another sea-day rest. The balance of the cruise will be Warnemunde, Germany – Kiel, Germany – and an overnight back in Copenhagen before we fly off to Amsterdam. By the time that this 24-day adventure is over we will have traveled close to 6,000 nautical miles to 16 countries and it doesn’t really feel like we’ve traveled at all in this magnificent floating hotel – we just wake up to a new city every day. Again, to all those who open my email blog advisories when they arrive – thanks for following Deb & I – it’s appreciated.
- comments
Roswita Now you are coming into the waters, we'll be visiting in two weeks. Hopefully our weather will be better, you look cold in your pictures! Continue enjoying your trip! See you in Amsterdam on 24th!
Keli Wow! It looks like a postcard!
marie forster May l5 - just read your notes on Copenhagen. Its 5 a.m. It was so hot in the suite yesterday. Windows open now but will have to close it up as soon as the sun comes. Going back to bed. Love MOM
Candice Well, if you can't have your name up in lights....