Sunday, September 9
A brush with Scandinavia
After a flight of 12 hours
With my body going into a state of limbo..
Time is screwed.
No longer aware what time it should be..
Be it sleeping time, movie time, breakfast or lunch time.
The air craft cabin was another world on its own.
Totally had no appetite for the second meal.
But we opened the shutters to this,
Absolutely no idea which continent we were above.
And I'm beginning to love the thrill of all..
As we stepped off the plane..
We saw a lady carry a huge bag pack, lugging a hand carry bag, pulling a little girl on a suitcase with another brawling little boy tugging and pulling at his mother's sleeves, demanding to be carried.
The lady needed help obviously,
And there wasn't a single sign of exasperation on her face.
She took it in her stride and was really thankful when mommy offered to carry her bag so that she could carry her kid.
We walked 5 mins all the way back to the queue
There were only two queues, no other way out.
One to the transit flights, the other to the passport check point.
So we queued for another 40 minutes before we finally see the passport check point.
Looking around us,
We were the only Asians around.
The rest were tanned blondes in suits and cardigans.
Absurdly good looking people.
When someone tried to cut the queue in front,
The people at the back all let out a unanimous "mm mm"..
And then smiled to the attempters and politely asked them to join the queue behind.
Such happy people!
After checking out,
We proceeded to the automated machines..
With the help of another crazy good looking staff..
He helped us checked in for our night transit flight to Helsinki.
Since our baggage went straight to Helsinki,
We proceeded to Left Luggage between Terminal 2 and 3 to leave one of our bags for 50 Kroners.
At the Metro station
We realized the credit cards can only be used with pins.
So this had to be by cash.
75 DKK per day ticket
Copenhagen
A dream came true.
Still unable to believe that I managed to wait for a stopover ticket at Copenhagen en route Helsinki.
We had a whole 10 hours to ourselves :)
It was too early for breakfast as most cafes by the harbor are not open.
We took a one hour canal tour departing from Nyhavn.
One of the best way to see Copenhagen..
Blue skies, precious sunlight and cool wind..
What more can we ask for :)
At this time,
The boat rides are already filled with both locals and tourists.
70 DKK per person
This is a lucrative business.
All the guides attached to the boat are young and sporty.
Tanned bodies, lobster red faces..
Resulted from being in the sun all day long.
And the best of all
They speak at least 3 languages.
The boat ride took us through these wonderful architectures..
Both new and old..
Theatre for ballet and opera
Royal Danish Playhouse
Copenhagen Opera House
Black Diamond
(Singapore's Esplanade equivalent)
The biggest shipping conglomerate
Danish A.P. Moller Maersk Line Headquarters
The white building with its signature small blue windows
People crowding around Little Mermaid
Thurah's corkscrew spire,
Church of Our Saviour
Church of Holmen
Spotted this interesting red bricked house whose stairs are outside and over the water
Commerce Building with a Spire that has four dragon fingers wrapping around it
Sandcastles in the making
The other tour departing from Gammel Strand
I see a lot of happy blonde kids on the streets..
Yacht to travel the many harbours in Copenhagen..
Loveeee this camera :)
*****
After the tour in just an hour difference..
Nyhavn is filled with people..
The al fresco ambience is electrifying.
We took brunch at Nyhavn 17..
An old restaurant since 1936 :)
Soaked up the ambience
This felt good, really good :)
Our breakfast took a little longer than expected.
They have this bakery in the basement, and bread was freshly baked only upon orders placed.
All of us were shivering outdoors..
This cuppa hot chocolate was god sent in this temperature.
Brunch
Nyhavn Fish Trio
Best apple pie I have eaten
We sat for a while, really "chilling" out.
Tried to order some warm water..
And unknowingly,
We ordered a bottle of water that was more expensive than the hot chocolate.
And we did not expect the water to be chilled.
The entire meal cost us 347 krons (SGD 80)
Water after that was refilled from the toilets..
Wa sat watching the people fill up the restaurant..
Danish tugging their dogs to and fro..
Then we saw this beautiful husky at the cafe
*****
After brunch
We proceeded with our itinerary.
Fredericks Church (The Marble Church)
A few minutes walk away..
Amalienborg Palace (The Royal Palace)
This palace is the winter home of the Danish royal family
Royal Life Guards changing parade
Behind the palace was Amaliehaven, a two level garden
We walked back to Nyhavn,
To look for the ice cream shop we came across before brunch
By now,
The harbour was filled with loads of people
Old couples strolling hand in hand..
Young adults chatting, eating sandwiches and ice cream by the waterfront.
Businessmen in suits dining and people watching..
Street artists performing
Both young and old
We blended in :D
*****
On our way to Strøget..
Strøget is not difficult to spot.
Being the longest pedestrian shopping area in Europe, the crowd of people gives its location away.
Many of the city's most famous and expensive stores are found here.
Bicycles are a common sight.
We see young women casually chain their bicycles outside the shops before they went in.
The things there are really expensive.
No intention of buying any stuff.
We were in fact planning for Helsinki shopping.
It was more of basking in the happy shopping crowd :)
All we came across are good natured people who apologized to you even though you bumped into them.
We see a lot of young parents spending quality time with their children..
The cohort of people here..
Filled with energy, full of life :)
*****
The end of Strøget is our next destination.
Rundetårn (The Round Tower)
A 17th-century tower is an astronomical observatory.
It is most noted for its 7.5-turn helical corridor leading to the top, and for the expansive views it affords over Copenhagen
The view atop
Us braving the cold gusts of wind
*****
We had one more place to check out on our itinerary
But along the way,
It's not possible to miss this huge public square that is brimming and bustling with more relaxed people.
Rådhuspladsen (The City Hall Square)
We continued to see groups of people who whizzed by you in the most fashionable wear..
Ladies in tight skirts and smart blazers
Chic youths in funky styles
Bicycles became functional accessories for transport.
We saw this modern glass bus interchange acoss the road.
Weird how this modern structure stood in the midst of the old buildings..
Tivoli Gardens is right beside it.
*****
Tivoli Gardens
A famous amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen.
The park is the second oldest amusement park in the world.
Read the travelogue that Tivoli is a place worth visiting.
This is one amusement park that inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland
Even without the rides,
The place is exquisite enough to keep you happy and relaxed
Since mommy was so exhausted, plus we did not have much krons left,
We went to the entrance but skipped it altogether.
We routed back to the City Hall Square and tried to look for dinner.
Ming wanted to try the hotdog bun from the mobile van.
So we ended up sitting on the benches at the square like the rest of the Danish..
Soaking in the sun, people watch while munching on a hotdog bun.
Birds were roaming the area, and flocked to the bread crumbs during "feeding time"..
Everything was so carefree and easy
More street artists claimed their space.
In Copenhagen,
All the street performers that we came across are extremely talented.
So Youtube worthy that could garnered million hits.
But none of them are hankering after fame or money.
They are here simply to make ends meet, to make a living.
A final shot as we depart for the airport.
Copenhagen is not a place for retirement, but still I loveee the ambience here :)
An ultimate jump shot to end the post :D
(I have no idea how he did it)
*****
Labels: Copenhagen, Europe, family, photo logs, thoughts, travel
irony @
10:17 PM
