Last Days

Our last few days have just been spent relaxing. We've been discovering the bus routes (wish we'd done this earlier, would have saved us getting drowned the other night) and I've been using Google maps to find the directions to places that we wanted to see. (Important note: do not close maps when you have no wifi).

Wednesday we went for a bus ride and walk to see the Little Mermaid statue displayed on a rock by the waterside.

passing the Gefion fountain on the way. (The Gefion fountain is the largest monument in Copenhagen and depicts the Norse goddess Gefjun and some animals. People throw coins into the fountain to
make a wish).

I wasn't feeling well, so after finding some lunch, we went back to the apartment, and I had a couple of hours sleep. We then ventured out to the shops in the afternoon, wandering around and buying a few souvenirs.

Yesterday, being our last day, I decided that we should see Grundtvig's Church, a beautiful church that resembles the shape of the pipe organs that are found in many of the churches in Europe. We used our Map directions to catch the bus that we needed and because it was a 1/2 hour or so bus trip, I decided to use the free bus wifi to have my turns on Words With Friends, and to save battery, I closed all the apps on my phone. We lost the directions to the church; took the bus to the end and then had to get the bus route map and find where the church was (6 stops back). Lucky it was quite tall. We knew it was only 3 minutes walk from the bus stop, so when we went up the street, we could see the top of it.

 I was also impressed with how the buildings around the church had similar styling to the church.

 

The plan was to go to Rosenborg Palace after the church, but seeing as tho my little excursion turned into a half day adventure, we went back home and had croissant with ham, cheese and tomato for lunch, had a rest and then went back down town to spend our last few hours.

 

Today, it's packing up, leaving the apartment and catching the bus and train to the airport. We leave Copenhagen at 2.55pm, arriving in Dubai at 10.10pm tonight.

Holiday is nearly over.

An Eventful Day

Tuesday morning we walked into town, stopping at the Copenhagen Cathedral for a quick visit, disappointed that a truck pulled up in front of the cathedral at the same time, and stayed there the whole time that we were in the cathedral.

We then kept going down the street, past the university building and to the Rundetarn, the Round Tower, built as an observatory in 1642. It has an amazing 209m spiral ramp going 7.5 times around a hollow core. Peter the Great and Catherine of Russia drove their horse carriage up to top to see the magnificent views in 1716. (Matthew wished he had his skateboard). 

There was a glass floor covering the hollow core near the top. Both Matt and Cam stood on it and looked up and down.

 Then we went up the spiral staircase to see the view. Very cold and foggy, but a great view

When we got back down to the bottom, it was starting to rain so we went and found a bakery that made pizza slices and had lunch and coffee and then wandered around the shops for a few hours, before returning home to wait for our visitors.

Rick and Wendy flew into Copenhagen from England at 4.30pm and rang us from a pub near the metro to meet them. Armed with a map and our drizabones, we traipsed back into town in the pouring rain. After stopping and consulting the map and our phones a few times, and with some phone calls from Rick asking where were we, the drowned rats finally found the pub. (and it stopped raining when we got there). 

A few drinks at the pub, a bit of drying out and then we went out for dinner at Cafe Victor. 

After a fantastic meal, lots of laughs and great company, we caught taxis to the apartment, chatted for another couple of hours and then went to bed. Rick and Wendy got up this morning, had coffee with us and then left again for the airport. Their plane was leaving at 10.50am. Thanks for a great night! 

Copenhagen

We've been in Copenhagen for 3 days now, and are definitely in wind down mode. We've just been wandering into town, having a look at a couple of places, having lunch/morning or afternoon tea and coffee and cakes and then wandering back home.

So just a quick photo share.

Trivoli amusement park (closed)

 Town Hall

Museum

Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum

 Nyhavn (drinks)

Christianshavn 

Today, it's off to the Round Tower, shopping and then catching up with Rick and Wendy, who are coming to visit us.

Skyview

We woke up to a foggy looking day, little bit damp, but not too cold. Our last day in Stockholm and I really wanted to do the Skyview ride, so we caught our trains down to Global, had a look and decided it was too foggy. What now?

We went back up to Gamla Stan, wandered up the streets to the Cathedral and went inside for a look.

Very pretty. The statue is actually St George and the Dragon. From there we went to the palace,  where the king was actually meeting 4 new governors, so some parts were closed. We did a tour of the treasure, armoury and the outside. (Matt was quite impressed, there was a big Game Of Thrones exhibition).

After the palace, we walked through the archway, past Parliament House

and walked downtown for a look. We found a great little restaurant that served the best lasagne and had amazing desserts and then walked down to the Royal Canal Tour.

Amazing how much parkland they have preserved in Stockholm. Everywhere there are trees and open lands, makes you forget that you are in a city.

Then it was off to try Skyview, one last time. And SUCCESS! Skyview was open, skies were fairly clear and it was awesome.

A great end to our time  in Stockholm. 

 Saturday, it was back to the airport for our flight to Copenhagen, the last leg of our journey. Hard to believe our holiday is nearly over. One more week to go.

Day 2 in Stockholm

This morning we made an early start, catching the subway just after 9, to be at Skyview just after 9.30. (We bought a Stockholm card, which entitles us to a free ride, but only if there is room, so we wanted to be there early). All was going great, until we got to the ticket box, it was closed for maintenance. Reopens tomorrow.

So, it was back on the subway, onto the tram and off to Skansen Open Air Museum, founded in 1891, designed to show the history of life in Sweden. It has huts and houses,

lots of animals

and a village recreating the early 19th century. We were lucky enough to be there on a student careers' day, a day whereby students come to experience many different trades that are available, so there were many displays happening. 

Cam and Matt spent a lot of time in the engineering workshop. Cam, talking to the guys in there, Matt building. 

After a couple of hours wandering around, we went back to the apartment for lunch, found it was too late for the canal cruise and to visit the castle, so we caught the subway down to Gamla Stan, the old city, and walked up and down the tiny streets and alleyways, admiring the buildings and looking in the shops.

Then we found the castle and cathedral! Tomorrow.