Thursday 30th July  Day 9

“Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen”, so the lyrics go from the film Hans Christian Andersen and how true it is! What a wonderful city, but with beer at £6.00 a pint, we won’t be emigrating  - ever!

Wherever you queue in Scandinavia, there is always a ticketing system and regardless of how many there are of you, if the number says 58 and you are 99, and there’s no one else in the queue, you have to wait for the numbers to tick through. Having bought our tickets to Copenhagen from Malmo, we then realised that we’d bought the wrong ones, so had to queue again and go through the dreaded ticketing process again, however, it did save us £30.00.

Tivoli Gardens... exquisite and so tiny!

We walked straight out of the  station into Denmark’s second biggest attraction - the Tivoli Gardens, the biggest being Legoland in Billund. The gardens were much smaller than we had anticipated, but it was a fun place and beautifully decorated. Probably everything that Alton Towers should aspire to; clean pleasant and welcoming. 

We went to watch the sharks being fed and having experienced Cape Town, where two divers complete with chain mail along the length if their arms immersed themselves into a massive aquarium, I was a little disappointed to see that these black tipped and hammerhead sharks were no longer than 3 ft long!

We headed for Nyhavn, which means new harbour, (as it was in the 1700’s) a really attractive little port that must have been bustling in its day. Lovely colourful buildings surrounded by bars, restaurants and all manner of marine craft. Apparently this is where Hans Christian Andersen lived and dreamt up all his fairy tales!

Nyhavn, bustling and beautiful

We then marched (Kate and I don’t do “dawdling”) to see the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace, a ring of four identical buildings which is the winter home for the Danish Royal Family. This is not a “Buckingham Palace” extravaganza style operation and whether you are sexist or not, when at least one of the guards is female, it doesn’t seem quite politically correct!

Hmmm.... me thinks some were a little too girlie?

Kate (with some persuasion and a certain amount of trepidation) and I then wandered off to an area that I had heard about called Christiania. 

The Mafia and all sorts moved in and used it as a distribution centre to feed the European lust for all manner of drugs. How things change! As it has cleaned up its act, the Danish Government has now given the Christiania commune self governing status. You can even buy shares in Christiania to help them in their quest to continue to self-govern. Interestingly, no photos are allowed and when you are in amongst it all, you can understand why. Little kiosks are everywhere selling “stuff”, with each attendant wearing dark glasses, a hoody and a bandana covering their faces. This is despite notices everywhere stating that buying drugs is illegal. Restaurants abound, although they are more like cheap cafes selling a lot of veggie dishes! It would appear that if you can’t crush the illegal system, then the answer is to give it “independence”. I would have loved to take a photo, but preferred to keep both hands. Look it up on the internet.

It’s all in complete contrast to Copenhagen which makes it all the more interesting.

The Amelienborg Palace and the same Polo shirt once again!

So, we elbowed our way through the throng of camera clad Japanese and just like them, snapped away! So, not only are we on an intrepid adventure, but at times, we are also mere tourists as well!

The Little Mermaid meets Aqua Marina from Stingray!

Then  we joined a happy throng of Danish youngsters all sitting and squatting beside the canal! Armed with cans of beers they were all waiting for Tors Alan Nilsson, something of a come-back king as he was big in the nineties and all the youngsters have taken to him so he’s having a bit of a revival. Kate and I, once again, being the youngest in the crowd by some considerable years, bagged our spot , bought some “tinnies” and waited for Tors, who was performing in the restaurant the other side of the canal. One and a half hours later he strummed away and we decided he was Denmark’s answer to Van Morrison.

Tors Alan on the left bank and Kate in the throng on the right. Canoeists and some chap with his platform and outboard motor.

Copenhagen was a typical “Kate and John Full On Day!” We caught the train back and collapsed into our little pod. Because of the prices, we munched on a sandwich on our train journey back over the bridge and chatted to a Ghanaian chap who, like many in the area, live in Malmo (it’s cheaper) and work in Copenhagen, where salaries are much higher.

The photo just had to be taken. The zoom on my lens proving its worth!