21 April, 2023

We have an easy day today. Just about flying from Dublin to Copenhagen. Our flight is due to take off at about 1:15 pm so we check out of the Radisson Hotel at Dublin airport at about 11:00 am and take the hotel shuttle bus to Terminal 1. The airport is significantly busier than Belfast International but checking in goes well and we just beat a large number of 20-somethings through bag drop.

Our gate is about as far away as you can get from security so we head down and find a seat before the 20-somethings crowd around and increase the noise significantly. The aircraft is 30 minutes late arriving at the gate so we know that we are going to be delayed today. Luckily it is only a 2-hour flight. We have priority boarding so we get on before the noisy mob and hope that we don’t have them sitting near us, or worse, between us.

Once everyone is loaded onto the aircraft the pilot announces that we may be delayed another hour as he has lost his slot into Copenhagen. Our 2-hour flight is quickly turning into an all-day affair.

At last we are in the air and departing a chilly Ireland. From one cold climate to the next.

The 20-somethings are a bit rowdy but we have a vacant seat between us and they are far enough away not to be an issue to us.

We take a taxi from the airport which is quite expensive but I just want to get checked in at the hotel before it gets late and we are not familiar with the rail transport from the airport to the city centre.

Our hotel is a bit funky but seems comfortable enough for the next 4 days. The hotel is located in the old meat packing area near central station which you would think is right in the city centre. It’s not far but a good 15-minute walk to the actual city centre. Still, it is close to a Metro station and the actual central station for medium- and long-distant trains. It will do.

It is a Friday night. The sun won’t set until about 8:30 pm and all the city workers seem to be out for dinner and drinks this evening. Why not? The sun is shining and the weather is relatively warm after a cold and wet winter in Copenhagen.

We are given directions to a number of restaurants near the hotel so we head out looking for a place to eat.

There isn’t a free seat anywhere to be seen. Most people are just drinking so finding a place to eat is a bit of a challenge.

Eventually we manage to get two seats at the bar of a small, trendy restaurant/bar. It is all a bit Boho.

We feel like we are the oldest people in Copenhagen. The menu is a choice of about 4 items. I have a pork dish and Lynn has arancini balls. It is expensive and takes a long time to get served. The food is OK but hopefully we can do better over the next few days.

It is rather late by the time we return to the hotel so we head straight to bed.

22 April, 2023

Lynn has booked us into a free walking tour of the city this morning so we are out of bed by 8:00 am and down to breakfast with the crowds by 9.

We don’t have time this morning to work out the Copenhagen Metro before our walking tour starts so we just walk the 15 minutes to the Town Hall where the tour commences.

Our guide for our 2.5-hour walking tour was born in Argentina but his English is very good and he has been in Denmark for many years. He is a bit too much of a touchy-feely, political greenie for me but he seems pleasant enough.

I won’t add all the photos that we both took during the tour as they are mostly of historical buildings which get a bit boring after a while. Still, we have fantastic weather today. Not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze and a top of 17 Deg C. Great walking weather.

From Radhuspladsen we walk down narrow streets like Farvergade and Radhusstraede past the Bastard Cafe.

On Magstraede we are told about which houses survived numerous fires and the current price of Copenhagen real estate – 3-story townhouse, 147sqm, recently furbished, no garage – Euro1.8m.

We cross over the canal that surrounds Slotsholmen (Castle Island).

And view a canal tour boat squeezing through one of the low arches of Stormbroen.

Before us is the Christiansborg Palace which houses the Danish Parliament. Surprisingly there are two, sand-covered enclosures which house a white horse in each.

To the right are the Royal Stables.

We then walk to the adjacent gardens of the Royal Danish Library which feature emerging spring foliage and a beautiful, flowering magnolia tree.

From there we pass by the other side of the Parliament Building and cross over the canal at Holmensbro.

Next we stop by the Nikolaj Knusthal Church, one of the city’s oldest churches and most conspicuous landmarks. It is now a contemporary art centre.

Nearby is Kongens Nytorv – King’s New Square.

Where classical buildings such as the French Embassy and the Magasin du Nord are located.

We walk by the top end of Nyhavn – one of the most photographed canal sides in Copenhagen – then onto Amalienborg, the Royal Palace.

The Queen is not home today as she is now in residence at the Summer Palace in Aarhus.

This is where the tour ends.

In the centre of the 4 palaces is an equestrian statue of Frederick V by French sculptor Jacques Saly. It was commissioned in 1752 and completed in 1768.

The statue faces Frederiksgade and Frederiks Kirke – the Marble Church.

Not all marble but limestone since the earlier King spent all the country’s money on lost wars.

At the end of the tour our guide mentions that this weekend is the Sakura Festival – Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival – in Langelinje Park.

On our way there we walk past the head quarters of Maersk on the harbour where we will be lunching with Henning, a friend and colleague of Lynn’s, on Monday.

The park is next to the Kastellet, a grassy fort, and the park is heaving with people, some dressed in kimonos, all wanting to be photographed under the cherry blossom trees.

Retracing our steps we pass by the spectacular Gerfion Fountain. It features a large-scale group of oxen pulling a plow and being driven by the Norse goddess Gefjon. It is the largest monument in Copenhagen and is used as a wishing well. According to an ancient legend, Gefion was the goddess who ploughed the island of Zealand out of Sweden. The Swedish king Gylfe offered the goddess Gefion as much land as she was capable of ploughing in one day and one night. Like the Trevi Fountain in Rome, it is closed for maintenance.

Walking to the Marble Church Metro station we notice a shop across the road featuring signs such as ‘Enjoy Cocaine’ and ‘Murder King’ in the styles of their respective logos. We purchase a 1-day Metro ticket and get the subway back to Central Station then walk to the hotel.

Lynn has been intrigued by a series of cute, playful sculptures that are in and around the building where we have breakfast.

After a couple of hours’ rest we get the Metro to Gammel Strand to catch a one-hour boat tour of Copenhagen’s numerous canals departing at 17.45.

23 April, 2023

As predicted, the weather has gone from warm and sunny yesterday to cold and raining today. To make full use of our 24-hour Metro ticket we plan to see the views from the tower of the Parliament Building, visit the interior of the Marble Church and have a coffee by the Nyhavn canal.

Only a short wait at the head of the queue to clear the airport-standard security then take the lift to the 5th floor then a set of stairs to the 4 viewing platforms of the tower. Apparently, on a clear day, you can see Sweden.

We take the Metro to the Marble Church only to find that instead of it being open at noon today as advertised it won’t be open for sightseeing until 2.30 pm, so back to Nyhavn for a coffee.

And a stroll along both sides of the canal.

The rain has stopped but it is still overcast as we head back to the hotel before our Metro ticket expires at 2:10 pm. It is about 1:15 pm and a Ticket Inspector joins the train and inspects all the passengers’ tickets. Good thing that we are headed home early.

This evening we have been invited to dinner at the home of Henning (from Maersk) and his wife Vibeke who live in Horsholm, a town about halfway between Copenhagen and Helsingborg.

We catch the 5.26 pm train to Helsingborg from Central Station in brilliant sunshine. En route we catch glimpses of Sweden across the water. We are met at the nearby Kokkedal train station platform by Henning who drives us to their delightful terraced home about 5 minutes away.

It’s been 13 years since Lynn and Henning last met and for the next 4 hours we are treated to amazing Danish hospitality and cuisine while catching up.

Vibeke, in a previous life, spent time in Italy and was involved in Italian cuisine and turns her deft hands to producing 4 sublime and perfectly-formed courses: fish roe and chopped onions on blinis;

cod and hollandaise sauce with asparagus spears;

pan-fried reindeer with broad beans, baked baby pesto potatoes and salad, and a home-grown rhubarb compote with cream and biscuit pieces for dessert.

Beverages included a cherry juice and tonic starter followed by a Californian white and a Sicilian red, reminiscent of a rioja, followed by tea and Danish chocolates.

To reciprocate their amazing hospitality, Lynn invites them to join us for dinner on 16 July when we will be staying in Snekkersten, 15 minutes’ drive north on our way back to Copenhagen at the end of our 3-month road trip.

At 10:00 pm Vibeke drive us all to the station so that we can purchase return tickets then Henning walks home with Dusty, their black Labrador who has been waiting patiently for his usual 9:00 pm walk.

Again our train tickets are inspected and we can’t believe that the Inspector, when speaking English, has a perfect Brummy (Birmingham) accent which even he doesn’t know how he acquired it!!

24 April, 2023

Today we take the Metro to Osterport and walk for 20 minutes past the Kastellet to the AP Moller Maersk building on the habour arriving at noon.

As we walk to the front door Henning emerges to take us next door to an older building which houses the Maersk Museum. Henning is the company’s Group Historian and next Monday will be celebrating 25 years working for Maersk.

Unfortunately last week this building had a water pipe leak so the Museum is closed and under plastic but he is able to show us a schematic of AP Moller Holding and its numerous businesses, the 4 leaders of the family company from original owner to present-day and an office set up with AP Moller’s possessions at the time he died – a large wooden desk, chairs, a globe, photos and paintings and a large-scale model of a wooden ship.

Time for lunch so we head downstairs of the main building to the packed Bistro where the cuisine today is in celebration of the end of Ramadan. Apparently Maersk has the most diverse workforce in Denmark.

1.30 pm and it’s time to bid farewell and to walk to the Little Mermaid, this time to view her from the front.

20 minutes later we finally get to view the inside the Marble Church then take the Metro back to the hotel where we need to catch up on the blog and pack ready for our departure to the airport tomorrow to collect the hire car and to commence our Scandinavian road trip.

After a big lunch today dinner will be a hot chocolate and a Snickers bar. It has been an interesting four days in Copenhagen. It has also been a busy visit but we have managed to see most of what we wanted to achieve in the four days despite the periods of rain.