Sweden pictures

Oresund bridge
Turning Torso apartment building in Malmo
Cathedral in Lund
Hamlet's castle

Pictures

Stroget - pedestrian street in Copenhagen
Wall mural in Christiania
Being Danish and cycling around Copenhagen
Tivoli - Copenhagen's amusement park decked out

for Hallowe'en
King's Park in Frederiksberg

Sweden day trip

Our last day in Copenhagen and the weather was nice and sunny, but bitterly cold with a very crisp wind. It was definitely the coldest day this week yet. I had spent the last six days touring around Copenhagen and while Z didn't exactly have the same amount of time, we decided that we would spend our last day with a day trip to Sweden. It's rather easy getting around once in Europe. We had heard about a bus tour through viatour that would take us on a day trip to Sweden. We read good reviews about it on tripadvisor, but we decided to wait on booking until Friday night. When we went to book the tour, the website said it was no longer available. We were both disappointed thinking that we had missed out. But Z was determined to find a way to get us on this tour without doing it as a "walk-on" in the morning. He called the viatour and they gave him the name and number of the tour operator. A little google searching later and Z found the tour operator's direct website and was off figuring out how to book the tour only 10 hours before the tour was to leave. He's so resourceful...definitely makes travelling a lot easier for me. :)

The tour was set to leave at 9:45am and lucky for us, was leaving right outside our hotel. The tour is a partially narrated bus tour that lasts until 5:45pm. We drove along the coast of Denmark to the ferry which would take us into Sweden. We're really glad we took this tour because otherwise we would not have seen the beautiful coastline and some of the more well-to-do parts of Denmark where, we are told a lot of the football players live in their villas. We didn't see anyone doing the Viking swim today, but learned that the Viking swim entails people swimming naked in the Baltic Sea. It's probably a good thing that we didn't see anyone out there today because with this cold weather I'm sure they would suffer hypothermia. We arrived at the ferry terminal and were told we'd get to see Kronborg Castle, also known as Hamlet's Castle, as we left the dock. This magnificent castle was built in 1574-84 and is used every year as the setting for the performance of Hamlet in the courtyard.

The ferry crossing was only 20 minutes. The ferry itself was your typical ferry, though much smaller in size when compared to our ferries back home. There was no immigration to go through because both Denmark and Sweden are part of the EU, which allows for entry into member countries without having to produce a password. This actually reminds me of our entry into Denmark. Denmark has one of the easiest entries I've ever experienced. We arrived at the airport and proceeded to passport control and were greeted by an officer who just said "hi", looked at each of us, scanned and stamped our passports and we were on our way. No questions about why we were in Denmark and how long we planned to stay, etc. Piece of cake.

Now back to Sweden...We arrived in Helsingborg a city founded in 1085. Helsingborg is a major regional centre for trade, transport and business. The city in its modern day is becoming a centre for many IT company headquarters. We saw the Sony Ericsson campus. From Helsingborg we drove through the countryside to Lund; total drive was about 50 minutes.

Lund is believed to have been founded in 990 when the Scanian Islands belonged to Denmark. At the city centre you find the towering Lund Cathedral which was built 1090-1145. There was a choral festival going while during our short visit and we weren't really supposed to enter the cathedral, but we entered through a side door and looked around anyway. No one kicked us out and we got to enjoy the beauty of the inside all the while listening to beautiful a cappella singing. They sounded so glorious. Inside the cathedral is an astronomical clock made around 1424. Lund is now known as somewhat of a university town because of Lund University which is the largest university in Sweden. We had lunch here before getting back on the bus for the trip to Malmo.

The drive to Malmo was about twenty minutes. Malmo is the third largest city in Sweden and I felt there was a little more to see and do when we were dropped off here compared to Lund. It just felt much larger. Here was got to see some more amazing architecture, including the Turning Torso - a 54 storey, 190 metre skyscraper where you could rent an apartment on the 52nd floor for only $11,000USD per month. This structure is incredible (I'll post a picture of it in a separate post). We enjoyed our time here by walking around the city centre and along the pedestrian streets. If Europe does anything extremely well, it's the pedestrian streets. They are so open and full of shops, cafes and restaurants. The restaurants all have outdoor seating. In Copenhagen and in Malmo the outdoor seating at the restaurants also came with blankets at this time of the year. People still love sitting outside to people watch and enjoy their time, but the weather is very cold so blankets and heaters are a must.

Malmo is the entry point from Copenhagen via the Oresund Bridge. This engineering wonder was constructed as a joint effort between Sweden and Denmark and opened in 2000. The bridge spans 7,845 metres, has three cable-stayed sections and partway turns into a tunnel under the Drogden Strait. It's a toll bridge and costs about $275 Kroener to cross. There are also railway tracks along the crossing. Thankfully the toll was already included in our tour. The trip across the bridge/tunnel took maybe about 10 minutes. The countries' border is partway across the bridge. Partway across the bridge you can also see a bunch of wind turbines in the middle of the strait. We learned on this tour that 20% of Denmark's electricity is produced by wind turbines.

A lot of Danes live in Malmo and commute each day over this bridge. The cost of living and taxes are that much cheaper in Sweden to make it worthwhile. We even noticed that the prices are much higher in Denmark than what we're accustomed to. Restaurants charge a 25% tax (doesn't the 12% HST sound good now?) and prices in general we found to be about 20-30% higher.

We got back to Copenhagen around 5:45pm and then rested up a little before heading out for our last dinner there. We chose a more traditional Danish restaurant and quite enjoyed the food. One of the staple foods in Denmark is the potatoe. It seems to come with almost every meal in some fashion. The pastries here are also amazing and I would have eaten more of them if I wasn't trying to watch my weight before the wedding.

Some more day 6 - Copenhagen

Last night while we were walking around during cultural evening, we found a couple of neat things that I thought should be written about. On one street we were invited to watch a theatre show. We walked into this tent and sat down at the back. I was a little reluctant to watch, but Z insisted we stay. We were quite curious to find out what the show was about and whether we'd understand it. They had a poster up displaying how pollution has a negative effect on the environment, so we thought it would have something to do about that. The show started and the narrator welcomed everyone in English and we thought cool, it's going to be in English. Well the welcome was all that was in English and it quickly changed to Danish. Though we did understand sometimes when the narrator would literally say "blah, blah. blah" as part of his script. It was rather comical. We figured the story line out as a Danish version of Little Red Riding Hood. Even though we didn't understand a word they said, the performance was good and the actors did a great job.

The other neat thing we saw was happening outside the hotel in front of city hall. There was a contest going on for people to stack what looked like milk cartons on top of each other as high as they could go before it toppled over. The catch here though was that the person would be sitting on top of this tower they were building. The one person we watched had at least 20 stacked before they toppled. It was quite high and as a precaution the people were attached with a cable to a crane so they wouldn't fall and hurt themselves. We found out later that tickets could be purchased to take part in this cultural night that that a lot of the museums and some government offices, like city hall, were open late with free admission. Apparently public transport was free too. People were still out and about well after midnight taking in a fun filled evening in Copenhagen.

Day 6 - Copenhagen

Yeah, Z`s work responsibilities are done and we have two full days to explore together!! Last night Z's crew ended their time in Copenhagen with dinner at a Spanish Tapas restaurant and a night-cap at an English bar thereafter. I was invited to join the festivities. It was a great night, the food was awesome and I enjoyed the company as well and got to know some of his co-workers a little better. They're a great bunch. The English bar was a neat experience, decorated in a way that you only see in Europe. It had a live band come on stage at around 11:30pm and they were actually pretty good to, doing a lot of covers that we recognized.

They say when in Denmark, do as the Danes. So we got ourselves a couple of bicycles and toured the city like the locals. Thankfully the rain held off again today, though it was overcast and colder than the past five days. Not only is Copenhagen a very walkable city, it`s also very bike friendly. It really helps that they put a lot of forethought into creating bike lanes and routes throughout the city that do not cause disruptions to vehicle traffic. The bike lanes have traffic lights at intersections and for the most part, the locals are quite orderly in their riding. It`s quite a sight to see during rush hour traffic, bikes lined up in a straight line at a red light, like we're used to seeing cars stopped at a red light.

Anyway enough about that. We started off heading into an area called Islands Brygge & Orestad. Here we found the only gas station seen so far on this trip; diesel was $9.79 Kroner/L, octane 92 was $10.96/L and octane 95 was $10.99/L. Now that expensive. I have read it's all the taxes added on that makes gas so costly. We cycled on and found one of Copenhagen University`s campuses. It was really modern and quite large. We cycled around a bit before heading off to Christianhavn. Here we wanted to take a look at Christiania.

Christiania is a freetown founded in 1971 when hippies occupied Christian IV's old naval base which was abandoned military property. The people there live by the motto that every individual take responsibility for their own life and home. The area is a self-governing society. The area has a very colourful history to it and is known for its open cannabis trading. The cannabis trading was tolerated by authorities until 2004 and since then the residents have taken down the stalls on Pusher Street. It was definitely a very different area and didn't feel like it was a part of Copenhagen. We didn't spend too much time there, which was probably a good thing.

From Chirstiania we made our way to Nyhavn and stopped for lunch in a quaint little restaurant filled with just locals. We went off the beaten track a little to find this place because we didn't want to end up eating in the tourist-trap restaurants along the waterfront. We did that on Monday. After lunch we had the energy to keep going and made our way along the water to where the Little Mermaid status normally resides. She's on loan to China for the world Expo and in her place is a live feed screen of her in China. From here we cycled to an area called Osterbro.

Osterbro is where many families with children choose to live if they can afford the rent. It's also known as an excellent shopping area. We continued on from here to Norrebro which is definitely a vibrant multi-ethnic neighbourhood. Z saw a Lebanese restaurant and got very excited. From there we touched slightly into Frederiksberg on our way back to return the bike rental before the deadline. In all we cycled for about 4.5 hours today. It was a great way to see a lot of the city in a short period of time. While we ended up in a couple areas that I had already been to on foot, Z had not seen much of the city at all and so it was great to explore this way with him. It was even fun for me to say, "oh yeah, I know where we are, we should go down this way". It was a great day and renting a bike for a day when in Copenhagen is a must.

This evening as we were strolling along Stroget (the pedestrian street by our hotel) we found that there was an unusual amount of people out and about. There were also a lot more street vendors and performers out. While walking along we found a company handing out free, very tasty soup and a coffee shop was giving away free cafe lattes and banana bread. Z and I joked that we would just keep getting back in line and perhaps that would be our dinner. We figured out after some time that a "culture night" was going on. The restaurants were packed, the street was packed...the crowds felt like our short two weeks of Olympics in February. It was great! This is one of the things I love about Europe; the people sure do enjoy living.

Day 5 - Copenhagen

It looked like the weather forecast was going to be accurate today; it must have rained at some point before I was awake to the world, or should it be to Copenhagen? There were signs of the fact it had rained and the sky was still somewhat overcast when I first got up today, but by the time I had finished breakfast I could see blue sky not too away, so I knew the answer to whether I'd have to lug the famous Brazilian umbrella around was "no".

The day started out with a nice walk to Denmark's National Gallery. Admission to the general gallery is free, but they also have a Bob Dylan exhibit on right now, which costs to see. I choose to skip that exhibit and just explore the general gallery. There is a lot of amazing work there, mostly from Danish artists but I also found one Picasso and a few Rembrandts. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Picasso; I've seen his work in several galleries around Europe now and I just can't seem to get a taste for it. Show me a Monet any day and I'll be very happy.

After the gallery I hoped on the M2 and got off in a neighbourhood called Frederiksberg. I had read that this area was supposed to be a classy upscale neighbourhood with spotless streets and tree-lined avenues. This area was nice and after walking just a short distance from the Metro line, I arrived at Frederiksberg Have, a large park. This park, along with the adjacent Sondermarken Park provide about 64 hectares of green space. Next to Frederiksberg Have is the zoo; I didn't go into the zoo. Frederiksberg Have was laid out when Fredrick IV started construction on Frederiksberg Castle as a palace garden. It wasn't until 1865 when access became unrestricted. The park has many winding pathways through it with ponds and canals and of course lovely trees. The view from the castle looking down onto the park was truly breathtaking. I can only imagine what it would have been like to live in the castle and then host parties on the lawns overlooking a pond. My first thought was how lovely it would be to have a wedding there on a warm summer day. I wanted to get into the castle to look around, but was told that it is only open to tours on the last Saturday of every month. The castle is used today as a military academy.

Seeing as I couldn't get into the castle, I wandered off and slowly made my way back through Frederiksberg on foot to the hotel. I decided I would walk back so I could get a better look at the city and I'm glad I did. It was a beautiful day and I was enjoying basking in the sun soaking up all the natural vitamin D I can get. After about 5 hours of walking around, I was a little tired. So I went back to the hotel to rest up a little before dinner.

Day 4 - Copenhagen

Today is Wednesday, October 13 and a special day at that - it's my adorable little niece's first birthday! It's another special day too...it's free admission day at some museums in Copenhagen. Just a note, there are quite a few museums that offer free admission all the time, one of which is on tomorrow's list of things to see - Denmark's National Gallery.

Today I decided it was time to take the Metro; I was heading to the Royal Danish Naval Museum. I walked up to Norreport Station, maybe a 10 minute walk from the hotel, and took the M2 line to Christianshavn, which is two stops away. The ticket cost me $23 Kroner, or about $4.34 CAD, and is valid for one hour. Keeping in mind that Copenhagen is a very walkable city, I could have walk there for free in probably about half an hour. The Metro, however was a neat experience. You take two escalators down to the platform. There is floor to ceiling plexi-glass blocking direct access to the rails; I'm assuming so no one can jump in front of a train. Once the train stops, the doors are lined up with the train doors and both open at the same time and people can enter or get off the train. It's a really good system. They also have very accurate board indicating how long the next train will be. Very efficient and clean...something can be learned here.

I didn't check the opening time of the Royal Danish Naval Museum and ended up arriving a half hour before it opens. What does one do with half an hour to kill? Some might sit and wait, but I go exploring. I can't sit that long. I hadn't been to this part of Copenhagen yet, but we did sail past it on the canal tour. It's not much different from the other areas I've seen thus far, except to say that a certain area called Christiania can be found here. Now I didn't venture there because it is an area that Z might be interested in seeing so I thought I'd wait until he's available; that's only the right thing to do. Instead, I walked around and got a closer look at the Vor Frelsers Church. We got to see a glimpse of it's amazing twisted spire and gold globe on top during the canal tour. I didn't venture inside only because I always feel bad going inside churches as a "looky-loo"; I'm always afraid I'm going to disrupt people inside. This church was built in 1680 and took 14 years to complete. Today it is the living parish of about 8000 people. From there I ventured to the waterfront to take some pictures before realizing the museum was now open.

The Royal Danish Naval Museum is situated in a building that was originally intended to be a naval hospital. This museum provides a glimpse of about 300 years of rich history of the Danish naval fleet. Throughout the museum you can find models depicting various ships from the naval fleet, as well as stern ornaments and figureheads. An interesting note I read was that these ornaments and figureheads added so much weight that at times the sailors had to cut them off to reduce the ship's weight. The models start out with the wooden sail ships and come to present day ships.The museum also houses many artifacts including maps, tools, naval equipment, weaponry, uniforms, clocks that were used to try and determine longitude, and lots of information on the history of the Danish navy. You can also go inside a partial replica of a submarine to see just how close the quarters really are. Some interesting things I learned include: in 1752 ship crew members were only allowed three litres of water a day for drinking, cooking and washing; they also received 2.5 litres of beer and 6 cl of spirits; the weekly menu didn't have much variety and included bread and butter, butter and porridge, and pork and peas; Sweden and Denmark had several naval battles throughout the years; the Danish navy was wiped out entirely during WWII.It was really fascinating and well worth a visit, especially on free admission day.

The next museum on the list was the Post & Tele Museum. This museum is supposed to provide a history of post and telecommunications in Denmark. Unfortunately when I got there the lovely lady in the ticket office told me that only the fourth floor was open and that the rest of the floors were closed until Friday undergoing restoration. Well, I was disappointed, but I was there and it was free so I went to check out the fourth floor which was supposed to be all about spying and espionage. I think if I could read Danish I would have found this floor very interesting, but alas this is not a language I know, so I looked at the picture and items on display trying to figure out what they were. One of the rooms had a film playing, again in Danish but with English subtitles and it was all about how "big brother" is watching our every move; telephone calls and internet usage are being monitored and how in Denmark the police can request that telecommunication companies hand over records for people for the last year. Interesting stuff, don't you think. I'm glad my big brother doesn't watch me that closely...

The last museum I visited today was HC Andersen Eventyrhuset, but I paid to enter (this one's for you J). In my naiveté, I did not know who Hans Christian Andersen was until someone pointed out that he was the author of some rather famous fairy tales. I guess I didn't read them growing up or didn't pay that much attention to them. As I went through the museum and read some of his work, I was astounded at how twisted some of these stories are and was glad to find this out before I went and bought a collection of his work for one of my nieces. I think this guy had some issues. It did definitely satisfy my curiosity of him though.

It was another beautiful and sunny day in Copenhagen. which we're told is unusual for this time of the year. The forecast is calling for a change of rain starting tomorrow. I only have three days left in this fabulous trip with so much more to discover, so I've got my fingers crossed the weather will hold up.

Day 3 Pictures

Pond at Botanical Gardens with glasshouse in background
The King's Garden at Rosenburg Castle
Rosenburg Castle
Statue of the famed Hans Christian Andersen

Copenhagen - Day 3

Today the plan was to get to Rosenburg Castle because my ticket was only valid until today. So after a leisurely breakfast, which consisted of toast, cheese, fresh fruit, some bacon, potatoe slices and let's not forget the coffee, I head out to find the castle. It wasn't actually difficult at all; Copenhagen is a very walkable city and so far everything that I've wanted to see is within walking distance of the hotel. I have a couple really good city maps too, but haven't needed to pull them out much. It was another sunny day, but the air remains cool especially in the shade so my whole objective today was to walk on the sunny side of the street. It worked most of the time.

So back to the castle....it was very easy to find and just as I was arriving so was a large school group. I guess it must have been part of a history lesson or something like that. Next to the castle are barracks where the Royal Life Guards is garrisoned. While inside the castle, looking out one of the windows, I saw a group of the guards practicing a marching drill along the grounds. The Royal Life Guards still actively guard the castle as well as the current royal residence - Amalienborg Palace.

There are three floors open to the public, but today the third floor was closed. Restoration work is taking place on the facade and perhaps this was the reason it was closed. Inside the castle, you can wander through all the different rooms which house Royal Collections and artifacts providing insight into the royal Danish families dating from the late 16th century to the 19th century. King Christian IV built this castle in 1606-1634 as a summer castle.

I was amazed at how in each room, the ceilings were painted with some type of art. Everything was so ornate. There are many hand-painted handicrafts with intricate detail and other personal objects available to view. The walls were filled with painted portraits of the kings and their family members; some were practically floor to ceiling portraits. It was actually quite fascinating to walk through and imagine exactly how it must have been when it was occupied. Through a separate entrance, you access the basement in which you can find ceremonial arms, including swords, guns and rifles, some of which are adorn in jewels. One of the riding saddles was also on display and I wondered why it was decorated in the manner it was. It didn't look like anything you would want to use for a riding saddle, but then this was a royal saddle and that explained a lot. You can also view crown jewels here including the crown of the Absolute Monarchs used by Kings Christian V to Christian VIII which were made of gold and had different jewels all over it. King Christian III's Sword of State dating back to 1551 is also on display. Just looking at it I think he must have been a very strong man because the sword looks very heavy. It's made of gold and is adorned in jewels.

The castle is situated in Kongens Have (The King's Garden) which is the country's oldest royal garden. The garden looks like the perfect place to relax with a good book. There was an area with a beautiful rose garden. I highly recommend this castle as one to see. I have to say that I enjoyed this castle museum more than the one at Amalienborg Palace, but you do get a better value if you buy the joint ticket - save about $35 Kroner. The only draw back for me, and this may not be a problem for others, was that I couldn't take pictures inside either museum. They wanted to charge an additional $20 Kroner for a picture pass and I thought it was rather lame that they would charge. But I understand that the artifacts housed there are old and fragile and probably wouldn't do well being photographed a million times.

After lunch, I went to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens must be an absolutely breathtaking place in the spring/summer when the flowers are actually in bloom. The gardens have several very large glasshouses which house hundreds of different specimens of flora. Despite not seeing many flowers the garden was worth a visit. It would be a great place to have a bag lunch or perhaps just sit and read a book. And it's free!

Pictures from Day 2

Royal Library
Waterfront apartment building
Opera house
Nyhavn - view from the canal

Day 2 - Copenhagen

I had a rough start to today considering I only got maybe 2 hours sleep tops...darn jet-lag. But it's not everyday I'm in Copenhagen so after a good strong cup of coffee with breakfast we were off this morning for some sightseeing before Z had to head off for work. We decided to do a canal boat tour. The weather was absolutely perfect for this. It's been bright and sunny all day. The air is still a little crisp, but it was a fabulous day! The canal tour took us along the eastern (?, I'm still not quite sure which way is north here...no mountains to guide me) part of Copenhagen's canal system. We got to see a good amount of the wonderful architecture that is found throughout the city, including the new opera house - which we were told is fourteen stories with five of those underground. We also got to see the Royal Library, which looks really cool with the water reflecting off the black exterior; it creates an illusion of water shimmering off the building. The canal tour took just over an hour and cost $60 Kroner each (about $11 CAD). Not bad value at all. The tour guide was quite knowledgeable and very informative. The tour is actually a hop on/hop off type tour and so once we do the whole loop we decided to stay on and let it take us to an area called Nyhavn.

Nyhavn is a great little area along one of the canals and we decided this would be a great spot for lunch at one of the many sidewalk restaurants. What more could one ask for....sun, good views, good company and good food. We had a great lunch and then Z and I parted ways with me off to discover something new and Z, well off to work. I had wanted to see Amalienborg Palace which is where the Danish royal family resides. The royal family has resided there since 1794 when Christiansborg Palace (now the Parliament building) burnt down. Queen Margarethe II was not home because I did not see the Danish flag flying (this apparently means she's home). The palace was built in French rococo style and is made up of four buildings that form an octagonal courtyard. The area is completely open and you are free to walk around without restrictions...well OK the only restriction is you can't enter any of the buildings aside from the museum.

Sometimes the best plan is having no plan. As I walked through the courtyard I continued along Amalienborg Street, which behind the Palace turns out to be embassy row. Further down the way I stumbled upon Kastellet, one of North Europe's finest and best preserved fortresses. It is owned by the Danish Defense and is still used as a modern military establishment. On my way back from this neat little discovery, I visited The Royal Danish Collections museum at the Palace. This museum chronicles the royal family and displays the various king's studies. It was interesting to see; all the kings had similar layouts with a lot of family pictures hanging on the walls. The furniture didn't look that entirely comfortable though. I paid $100 Kroner for an entry ticket that also gets me into Rosenborg Castle....so I guess that's on tomorrow's agenda.

Leaving the Palace, I wandered over to Marmor Kirken (Marble Church). The Church's cupola, at 31 metres in diameter, is the largest church cupola in Scandinavia. The first foundation stone was set in 1749, but the church did not open until 1894 because of budget cuts and the death of its architect. Admission is free, but you have to pay if you want a tour of the tower. Unfortunately, the tower was under maintenance and the tours won't resume until 2011. The interior of the church is beautiful. The ceiling of the dome is quite impressive. The organist was playing and the sound was amazing, no echoes, just perfect music.

My last touristy stop today was the Round Tower. This tower, completed in 1642, was built by King Christian IV and was built as an astronomical observatory. The tower spirals 209 metres and has no steps until the very top. This is because the tower was also used as a defensive fortification and it's easier to haul canons up a ramp than stairs. You get an awesome panoramic view of Copenhagen from the top. Today was an incredibly clear and I could see in the distance the bridge which connects Denmark to Sweden.

That pretty much wraps up my day of exploring. I spent about four hours walking around this afternoon and after only about two hours of sleep, I was rather pooped.

Pictures from Day 1

Movie theatre
Bike lanes have traffic signals too
Electric car being charged
Buildings lining one of the canals
Christiansborg Palace (Parliament)
Copenhagen city hall
Waiting for our flight to Copenhagen,

you can see from our magazines what our

purposes are.

Copenhagen - Day 1

The adventure wouldn't be complete without an Air Canada story. The flight from Vancouver to Toronto was great except for a rather hard landing in TO. We had about an hour and a half between flights which was plenty of time. We boarded our flight from Toronto to Copenhagen on schedule and then we sat....and we sat some more....and we sat still some more. After about an hour of sitting the captain finally came over the speaker to advise us that they were dealing with some mechanical issues. Apparently someone misplaced the fuel slip, so they needed to double check to make sure we were properly fueled up. Ahhhh....good old Air Canada. How does one misplace a fuel slip? The rest of the flight was uneventful and we arrived in Copenhagen without any problems.

We arrived Sunday morning to a very foggy Copenhagen. It was rather cold here (8 C) when we arrived. We took the train to the centre of town and it only took 14 minutes. We met a helpful couple on the train who gave us some pointers on places to shop. One of the first things we noticed was that the city was absolutely deserted. The helpful couple had explained to us that Sunday is "rest day" and that most stores would be closed as the Danes spend time visiting family and friends and resting....what a concept.

I noticed the bike lanes here rather quickly. You can't actually go anywhere without seeing people riding bikes or bikes parked at the side of the road. The cool thing here though is that the bike lanes are situated between the sidewalk and parking lane for the cars; something Vancouver should consider seeing as we're "modeling" our bike lanes after Copenhagen.

Copenhagen at first glance appears to be a rather clean city, not much in the way of litter on the streets. Haven't seen a single homeless person on my first day either. We met up with Z's work colleagues for lunch and went to a place called Puk. A quaint little place with a neat ambiance and friendly staff. The food was good though rather heavy. I had the Danish hash, which consisted of potatoes pieces fried with onions, pork and eggs. I skipped on the eggs. Afterwards we went off to explore the National Museum of Denmark. This museum is free, which is a bonus considering things are rather expensive here, and provides a good historical overview of different countries including a 400 year history of Denmark.

A quick visit to Christiansborg Palace, the home to the Danish Parliament, for some pictures, before heading off in search of coffee. Travelling for 15 hours straight without adequate sleep is rather tiring and taxing. We found a little cafe and got that much needed caffeine into our bodies.

The later afternoon/early evening I was on my own. I took back to investigating by foot and ended up walking along one of the many canals found here. You can take a boat tour, which I may consider depending on cost and how much I get done on my own. I found the Old Stock Exchange building, which was built by King Christian IV in 1619-1640 and is one of the oldest buildings in Copenhagen. The building has a cool looking dragon spire on top of its tower. Like many other European cities, Copenhagen also has a pedestrian only street stretching many city blocks with many name-brand shops and restaurants lining it. I also discovered Orsteds Park, a nice park with a lake not too far from the hotel. There is a botanical garden in the city as well, which I'll go in search of another day. I first noticed a 7-11 at the airport when we arrived, but as I got walking around the city centre today, I noticed one on practically every street corner.....they are everywhere!

So far I find the city quite inviting. I didn't feel unsafe wandering around alone though I was wandering during daylight. I'm told I have nothing to worry about in the evening either, but being jet-lagged I'll be staying in this evening and plan out day 2 and beyond.

Next stop Copenhagen

Well, I'm off again....a little sooner than I had anticipated but very happy to have the opportunity to discover a new place. My fabulous travel partner and soon to be life partner, Z, is off to Copenhagen for a work trip. He generously provided the ability for me to "tag" along - so while he's hard at work, I'll be hard at play. I really think I got the better end of this deal. I'm very blessed to have him as part of my life.

I'm quite excited about this mini-vacation. I have a week to discover as much of Copenhagen as possible and might even get a side trip to Sweden in. Why not, eh? It's rather easy to get around once in Europe and who knows the next time I'll be over there. Oh, who am I kidding... it will probably be sometime in the next couple years. After all, there's a honeymoon coming up next year!

Next stop Copenhagen.....

South America reflection

11 flights, 5 countries, 4 ferries rides, 3 train rides, countless footsteps and priceless memories, as this globetrotter puts another trip behind her, it’s hard to sum up this trip. It was absolutely amazing and I think that’s an understatement. I got to see so many things that left me in utter wonderment. I got to see the Iguassu Falls, a natural wonder. I got to hike Machu Picchu, a man-made wonder. I got to experience new things, like watching a football game live in Sao Paulo or watching a Tango show in Buenos Aires. I got to see nature at its finest. I got to try really tasty food. I got to experience some different cultures and got to witness firsthand the hardships of life. I experienced many emotions, some of which I have already shared and others which I will keep to myself. All I can say is that I am blessed and am trying to learn to appreciate that my life is pretty good.

The bug remains itchy, so until next time…

Lima

The pants are fitting a little looser and surprisingly I haven’t felt any homesickness. In fact as we arrive in Lima, the last leg of this absolutely amazing trip, I‘m wishing it wasn‘t coming to an end. What can I do to extend my stay?

Lima is the capital of Peru and is a very big city. The city has a population of over 7.6 million and it’s quite evident that there’s a big gap between rich and poor. You see businesses and residences behind gated fences, some even with electric fences. Lima is also rather polluted and you can see a haze over the skyline; somewhat ruins what would have been a beautiful sunset.

The weather has been great since arriving in Peru and it continues during our stay in Lima. I must admit that I have enjoyed the smaller cities and towns more than the big cities. Lima has been infiltrated by American food chains; Starbucks, McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, KFC are the ones I saw plenty of. Thankfully we didn’t eat at any of them.

Peruvian cuisine is awesome!! I’ve been drinking fresh pina (pineapple) juice at every opportunity….I tried cactus fruit for the first time; both the green and purple type. These are really good, except the seeds are a little difficult to eat. Another Peruvian dish that proved to be quite tasty is Causitas del Campo; this is a great appetizer type dish. It’s made of one of the many types of potatoes found in Peru. It was served as three round mounds of mash potatoes and each had a different topping such as chicken, avocado, and diced tomatoes. Very tasty. There was another dish called Causitas del Pollo which is a variety of the other and was basically two layers of mashed potatoes with a chicken salad mixture in the middle. I want to try and recreate this one at some point.

We stayed in an area called Miraflores, which is one of the more upscale neighbourhoods. It’s situated right by the water. They are in the process of building a waterfront area/promenade with a seawall and beach access. Unfortunately it was all under construction while we were there and getting to the beach seemed too difficult. I’m sure one day it will look wonderful. We stopped at Larcomar shopping mall which is built right into the oceanfront cliffs in Miraflores. It was quite a spectacular view to the ocean from here.

Our second day was spent checking out Central Lima in the morning and early afternoon. We made our way to the central square and wanted to watch the changing of the guards at the government palace. Instead we found a book fair going on. We only had the rest of this day before flying back home on the red-eye, so after lunch we decided we would head over to Huaca Pucllana. This is an active archaeological site with ongoing excavations and is found right in the middle of the city. Thankfully the site is now preserved, but who knows how much was lost with the development that occurred in its immediate vicinity; prime real estate, I guess. This site dates back to between 200 A.D. and 700 A.D., so pre-Inca. It was used by the Wari as a ceremonial and administrative centre. It is built with clay hand-made bricks and it’s amazing to see how it has survived the test of time. It doesn’t really rain in Lima, which also helps not wash away these structures.

Once our tour was over at Huaca Pucllana, we decided to walk around Miraflores a little more before packing it in and heading to the airport. We found ourselves a café called Café Z and enjoyed some Peruvian coffee and dessert while listening to some live reggae music... covers of Bob Marley and Simon and Garfunkel in Lima. I guess it was a sign it was time to come home.

Cusco

There is no doubt that Cusco is a tourist town. You constantly have people approaching you trying to sell you anything and everything on the street. Once, you say “no thank-you” however, they do leave you alone. There are taxis everywhere as well ready and willing to take you wherever you want to go. You have to negotiate the taxi fares upfront as the taxis are not metered. The city has a great history tying back to the Inca times, but there is not enough space to go into details. The city is surrounded by many Inca ruins and deserves an extended stay here just to visit all the sites. We did not have enough time for all the sites, and ended up picking Tipon. The Tipon ruins are challenging to get to. We hired a taxi to take us there and back. Once in Tipon, the ride up to the ruins is a very uneven, bumpy one-way dirt road. Our driver was great in navigating up the road and he waited an hour for us while we toured around the site. We hired a guide, who we discovered is studying archaeology. This site was amazing and represents an irrigation system with fountains and water channels. It’s disputed whether this was an agricultural centre or a water temple; either way it‘s an amazing site. Water for half of the site is fed by an underground spring and still runs today. The other half was fed by a nearby glacier and unfortunately this glacier no longer exists. The site is situated on a mountain side and our guide explained that each terrace level has a slightly different temperature given the elevation. This site is absolutely impressive.

Cusco the city is full of museums, restaurants and plazas. The roads are mainly cobblestone, but some of the major streets are paved. The infrastructure in sections could really use some work as there are pot holes everywhere. To control traffic speed, there are speed bumps placed along the roads at what appears to be random places. Traffic here is quite chaotic by our standards. While it looks like there are lines painted for lanes on some roads, the cars seem to just drive wherever they can find room. We never witnessed an accident though. There is a lot of horn honking going on.

The market in Cusco is well worth a visit and we were warned to be aware of pickpockets. This is true of any market you go to and being away of your surroundings is always important. The market here also serves the locals and provides not only handcrafted items but food items, including meat, cheese, fruits, vegetables, etc., spices, toiletries and so much more. We found the prices reasonable and bargaining is always recommended.

We both tried some local Peruvian dishes here. Z tried the guinea pig, or coy as it’s called here. I just couldn’t stomach trying this as all I could think about was my pet guinea pigs growing up and that somehow Z was eating a cousin of Charlie. He said it was alright, but probably wouldn’t order it again. I tried the Lomo Saltaldo, which is a very flavourful, tasty beef dish that I think rivals that of the beef in Argentina. In addition to the beef, it is mixed with onions, peas and tomatoes, kinda like a stir fry. YUM!!

To give a better idea of how cheap things are down here, we purchased a travel four pack of Kleenex brand tissues and it cost us the equivalent of $0.88USD. It’s insane at how low the prices are down here compared to back home. I'm sure these prices though aren't that low for the average working Peruvian.

We ended our experience in Cusco with a cultural show which was part of a tourist card we purchased. The tourist card cost $130 soles each ($46CAD) and provides admission to several different museums and quite a few of the Inca ruins immediately surrounding Cusco. Anyway, this cultural show was incredible. They had local music and dancing with very elaborate costumes. It was a great way to end this leg of the journey. Cusco is a very beautiful city with a lot of Spanish influence and probably requires at least five days to fully appreciate and explore.

Next up…Lima.

Pictures of Machu Picchu

Wayna Picchu and Machu Picchu

What an incredible day this turned out to be. We had read about Wayna Picchu in the guide book and how they only allow 400 people into this site a day. We (and by we, I mean Z) was eager to make sure we got to this part because the hike is to a prominent peak which gives you amazing panoramic views of the Machu Picchu site and the surrounding Andes mountains. So, the day started with a 5am wake up so we could get ready and on one of the early buses up to Machu Picchu; the buses are on a first come, first serve basis even with a bus ticket. The bus ride is about 30 minutes and winds up the mountainside with some crazy hairpin turns; there aren’t a lot of guardrails and you’re sometimes looking straight down a cliff. Thankfully the driver was experienced and manoeuvred through the dirt road with great skill.

We arrived and quickly walked to the guarded kiosk controlling entry to Wayna Picchu. It opens up at 7am and we were there just as it was opening…..turns out we were entrants 32 and 33...guess we didn’t need to get up that early after all, perhaps in peak season. This hike was mostly straight up the mountain to the peak. Now, before I go on, Machu Picchu is situated at about 2500 metres and so this sea-level city girl had a little difficulty with the thin air. Thankfully, I acclimatized during our stop over in La Paz, but still hiking at this altitude did take my breath away. I was quite winded anytime we had to ascend up a bunch of nature‘s stairs. It took us just over an hour to reach the peak. This peak is probably a couple hundred metres higher than Machu Picchu itself ,but unfortunately there was nothing the altitude here. As it was still very early in the morning, the clouds were still blocking most of the view across to the citadel; but we did get a few good glimpses. There is a cave we wanted to check out as well, so on we went to find it. The weather was actually perfect for this hike because it was overcast so we did not have to contend with rain or extreme sun/heat. What we didn’t quite expect was the amount of time it would take to reach the cave, mostly because I needed to go slow. This hike is not for the faint hearted to say the least. At times I felt like my heart was going to explode it was beating so fast. The other thing that I chose to ignore was that climbing down the mountain to the cave meant eventually we’d have to climb back up again. The pathways are in quite good condition thankfully and they do a good job in maintaining the site overall. The trail leading to and from the cave took us virtually around this mountain peak, going practically all the way down to the bottom by the river and back up again…it took us a good 4 hours to complete. The cave was quite cool and looks like it was inhabited a very long time ago. People were leaving Inuksuk-like statues there, so we made ours and left back to climb up the mountain. I think I climbed enough of nature’s stairs on this hike to last me for awhile. The scenery was absolutely incredible though and while I was quite disheartened at times seeing yet another set of stairs, it was definitely worth it. It’s not every day you get a chance to hike around in the Andes Mountains.

We had read that you are not supposed to bring water or food into the ruins. This is not exactly accurate information. You are able to bring small items of food and water along, but are supposed to only leave footprints and take all your belongings out with you. It’s a good thing that we asked about the water, because I would have died on this hike if we didn’t have water and a granola bar along. As you can imagine, we were both quite hungry after hiking Wayna Picchu so we head to the snack bar for a quick lunch before heading back into to explore the Inca ruins. Prices at the snack bar are a little over inflated, but not unreasonable once you factor in the exchange rate of 1 to 2.8.

Machu Picchu is definitely worth the title of one of the 7 Wonders of the World. These ruins are very well preserved. I was absolutely astonished at how the Inca people build this citadel. I think they were quite a sophisticated society for their time. We learned the Inca people existed from about 1200 to 1500 A.D. and during this time built Machu Picchu and many other habitats in the surrounding Cusco area, known as the Sacred Valley. I was amazed at their precision in building the walls for their buildings. The large stones are all intricately placed without mortar and there are no gaps. Each stone block lines up perfectly. I was fascinated by these walls. The ancient city of Machu Picchu was well laid out according to the ruins. They had their agricultural terraces, which also served to provide stability for the city, a scared temple, their astrological area which helped them determine the seasons depending on sun position, their living areas and an impressive water system that ran throughout. This place is very tranquil as well. You can just sit there and take in nature’s surrounding beauty of all the mountain ranges, the river and valley below for hours. We are truly blessed to be living on such a beautiful planet. Hiking and exploring Machu Picchu was well worth the physical pain and exhaustion I felt once the day was done.

Machu Picchu Pueblo, the town where you stay if you overnight, is a tourist driven town for sure. The restaurants cater to tourists and have wide ranging types of menus to satisfy any appetite. We stayed at Hostel Chaska, which is situated relatively close to the train station. Our host was Marta and she spoke only Spanish. She was fabulous and was available basically anytime you needed something. Breakfast was included, and she would have it prepared at whatever time you requested. So the early 5am wake-up had breakfast waiting for us and she was sitting there when we returned from the ruins at around 5pm with her friendly smile and greeting. This place was clean and great to stay at; it‘s across the creek away from the main area so is rather quiet. The town itself is split by a creek running into the river. There are markets all over the town, with one just a short distance from where we were staying. Across the creek you find many restaurants and more market shops. The town is situated in the mountains so having to walk uphill is unavoidable. This proved to be problematic for me after returning from our Machu Picchu adventure. It is still low season and so restaurants in particular are all vying for the limited business. We ate at two great restaurants and like many places in South America were seated outside. The entire experience was extremely memorable. I’m glad it re-opened in time for our trip. I know I would have been rather disappointed if we travelled all this way and were unable to visit this magnificent place.