The ships itinerary included two stopovers here, the first stop was the beginning of our Norwegian leg of the cruise. The first leg of Tour de France was on (we didn’t know the tour was in Denmark we thought it was only in France) on our first stopover day and with roads cordoned off, taxi’s virtually unseen and people everywhere, we decided to stay on the ship and have a relaxing day before the busy cruise schedule. We were pleased with our decision as we were having 3 nights here at the end of the cruise before heading home. The cruise is only half to capacity, with a lot of Americans on board, being an American ship and many westerners have opted not to travel at the moment due the war in Ukraine.
Copenhagen is Denmark’s capital and sits on the coastal islands of Zealand and Amager. It has a population of 2,000,000. It has similarities to Amsterdam with the canals and push bikes being the most popular form of transport. Some bikes had a box on the front and the Dad was peddling with Mum, the kids and the shopping was in the box, Denmark’s version of the family car.
There are not many cars in the city as they have a 180% car tax here and there is a big shift towards electric cars with charging stations on most inner city streets.
There was conflict between Sweden and Denmark until 1821 (21 wars in fact).
On Saturday after leaving the ship we caught the hop on hop off bus to see the local sights and to find our bearings. We visited the little mermaid, a statue by the river that was in Hans Christian Anderson, fairy tail “The Little Mermaid” and the statue is one of the most photographed landmarks in Denmark. He is very famous here and his house still stands in Nyhavn.
We had lunch at he iconic Nyhavn area with all the colourful buildings. It was very busy and the tourist crowds were intense. We did a quick visit to Christiansborg Palace, which is their House of Parliament and also stopped by the Christianborg Palace Chapel, this chapel is used by the royal family use for ceremonies relating to baptisms. A short stroll into the Stroget area, (the shopping district)and then heading back to our hotel via the Inderhavn harbour (canal/lakes area).
Lots of people sunbathe and swim in and around shore of the canals with various types of water sports and electric boat hire. It has a very joyful feel here. A lot of people are liberal and don’t mind sunbathing topless and some swim naked. We found a nice seafood restaurant for dinner not far from the hotel as well as a putt putt golf bar which was really cool.
Our second day we caught the hop on hop off bus to the first stop where we joined a canal cruise that was included in our ticket. This was as wonderful contrast and way to view Copenhagen and it took us places we would never have seen. Most locals can speak English which was easy for us after our travels further north. I was keen to visit the Amalienborg Palace where the Royal family and Princess Mary and her family live. I also visited the Amalienborg Museum although Mark was not so keen to pay the entrance fee so I explored by myself. In January, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark will celebrate 50 years on the throne. And we recently learned that there will be a major royal jewellery exhibition staged to celebrate the milestone.
The exhibition was at the museum, which is located within Christian VIII’s Palace in the Amalienborg complex, until the end of October. She narrated it with a translation device and it was just amazing. How she wanted to leave her legacy by buying new modern pieces of jewellery and add it to her collection. She spoke beautifully about Princess Mary and how she was given the broche that was her mothers and it was nice as Prince Frederick was close to her mother. She gets pleasure to see her wear it and enjoy it whilst she is alive. I really thought this was wonderful. The Museum also showed the study rooms left untouched from the Christian IX and Frederick IX. Afterwards we visited the Frederik church which is just behind the palace and faces the relatively new opera house. All three are inline and face the harbour.
Walking back (after 18,000 steps) we discovered a little bar called “green bar”on a little pontoon close to the hotel overlooking the river. An ideal spot for a cleansing ale and Aperol Sprits. People just stop here with their boats and have a drink and a nibble.
Food and drink is very expensive here and it includes a 25% vat tax. Income tax is 42% and the average income is about A$50,000, much less than ours. Their tax covers world wide healthcare and all education.
We spoke to the manager at the pontoon bar and she recommended a place called Reffen to have dinner. It was a short taxi ride winding through old warehouses, wharfs, and abandoned industrial complexes before you arrive. Reffen is Scandinavia’s largest street food site serving well cooked, healthy food from around the world. Located at Refshaleøen. Reffen is more than just food, with lots of bars, craft beers and events, it’s a great place to relax at the harbour waters edge. It was just incredible to see.
On our last day we decided to find a local food market called Vel be Kimmel and experience some local food. The fresh food was amazingly well presented so many flowers and veggies, small retail shops and food stalls. It was another great spot to visit. A slow stroll back to the city centre to visit Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as “Tivoli”, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in heart of Copenhagen.The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world.Walt Disney was in the planning stages of Disneyland when he took his first trip to Tivoli Gardens in 1951 and this was part of his inspiration. We really enjoyed walking around here. Great restaurants, food hall, rides, brewery’s, side show alley. So much to see and do.
We would say its worth a visit if you come here. That wrapped up our last day in Copenhagen that we thoroughly enjoyed. Homeward bound and we arrived in London via Heathrow to transit back to Sydney. They have made most staff at Heathrow airport redundant during Covid and put a clause in their redundancy that they can’t re-apply for their jobs for 2 years. So they have under trained staff and getting through security here is a nightmare. Allow for lots of time if you have to transit here, or avoid it if you can.
We have learn’t how valuable and important your health is when you travel and the ever evolving covid situation that forces us change plans at short notice. The prices of accommodation has increased since covid, as demand is high with more and more people now travelling in Europe and the UK and off course our dollar has dropped. The crowds are obviously intense at popular tourist spots. Australians are generally still well liked by other nationalities and they respect how far we have travelled to be there. You do learn a lot when you meet and talk to other people whether they be locals or tourists. We have had a wonderful trip and have really enjoyed our destinations. Our 40 hour trip home started from Copenhagen and we had a hiccup in Singapore when the airport ground staff hit our Qantas A380 with a forklift, causing a extra 5 hour delay until the engineers made it safe to fly. When we arrived in Sydney, we had border force enter the plane as apparently there was a medical emergency with a passenger. No-one was allowed to leave the plane for 35 minutes until we were cleared. However, it is always nice to to see your bags come off the carousel especially when they were booked in back in Copenhagen. The delays caused us to miss our connection to Port Macquarie, but anyway we are now safely home.
Thank you for taking the time to read about our holiday, that we both pieced together and if you haven’t been to Ireland, Spain, Portugal or Scandinavia hopefully you’ll have the chance one day soon.
Carol
2022-07-15
Hi Just really enjoyed your commentary Kylie.I loved Copenhagen when I was there many years ago. Hugh and Aggie missed you by a day coming back from their holiday north.They had planned a night in Port M.to catch up with you.Spent the night with Nean and Scott instead.They were heading back to Sydney today. Hope you don't suffer too much jet lag.Love Was and Bruce xo