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.