Contrasts of Scandinavia and Russia
Day One – 23 May 2010
Weather: Sun in am. Heavy cloud in afternoon. 15 C with cool wind.
I slept a solid ten hours and my alarm had to wake me. I skipped breakfast downstairs (my stomach said it was 4 am) and bought a ticket for the morning canal boat tour. I think it was about $10. The boat pulls right up to a dock just to the side of the hotel.
At the last minute, I threw my sweatshirt in my backpack and glad I did. My light jacket wouldn’t have been enough, especially on the water. The Copenhagen Marathon was being run today, so while it was Sunday, the area was packed with people.
From the Mariott, the boat went towards Gammel Strand which is a canal that loops into downtown about three blocks. We sailed by the palace, the national bank and under bridges so low that I recommend you take your hat off.
Then it was out into the main canal towards Nyhavn. This is the area of Copenhagen that you often see pictures of – the coloured buildings with restaurants lining the edge of the canal. The canal is essentially a one-way street. Goes in about 500 metres and stops with enough room for three boats to dock. And just enough room for one to turn around.
On entering the canal, our guide pointed out the home of Hans Christian Andersen and a ship that used to be used as a light house in areas where a light house could not be built. They are no longer in use. We picked up passengers in Nyhavn and returned to the main canal and sailed towards the harbour. We passed the new Opera House, the Royal Yacht as well as a yacht used by one of the co-founders of Microsoft. It looked like a small military vessel. I wonder if they painted it gun metal grey to scare away pirates.
We sailed as far as Trekroner – an old fort then turned around, crossed the harbour to where the Little Mermaid is located…or should I say, used to be located.
Funny story here. I’m going to China in October and I’ll be in Shanghai during the World Expo which doesn’t end until Halloween.
Guess where the Little Mermaid is.
Yup. I have to go to China to see the Little Mermaid.
So, the Chinese apparently put up a screen and there is a show of some sort shown there, but nothing was on as we sailed by. We continued on and crossed across the harbour again to go into Christianshavn. It’s an uppity place with high-end apartments and yachts parked along the canal like cars on a downtown street. In one section, the guide was not allowed to use her microphone because it disturbs the neighbours.
After a loop, we came back out into the main canal facing a new building built from black granite with a really neat way of reflecting the water. The whole trip took about an hour and the boat returned to the Mariott, but we were given the option of getting off at Gammel Strand or Nyhavn where we had taken on passengers. I went for the extended ride and got off at Nyhavn.
The marathon was still ongoing with streets blocked off for the runners. I walked the Stoget (sp?) which is a pedestrian shopping street. Of course, it’s Sunday so almost everything was closed, except souvenir shops.
Well. How about that?
I walked along the street, shopped and had lunch at Burger King. There are a variety of street performers around and despite the cool breeze and closed stores, there were a lot of people out for a walk. Really nice way to spend a day. I walked by Tivoli, went into the railway station to check my email then returned to the hotel to check on the welcome drink timings. There was an announcement posted in the lobby for 1800 this evening. That gave me five hours to go back out for a walk.
I went back to Stoget and picked up my t-shirts and fridge magnets. Everything is close by. It took me less than a half hour to walk all the way back to Nyhavn. On my way back, I had lots of time left, so I dropped into Tivoli.
Entry was about $15 and worth it as it’s a nice spot to just walk around. It’s full of restaurants, gardens, amusement rides (including a roller coaster) and games of chance.
After two hours of wandering, I exited across from the train station and checked my email again then returned to the hotel to rest up for the welcome drink.
Overall, my impression of Copenhagen is very very positive. The people are really friendly and the streets are spotless. It’s a very easy city to navigate and drivers (at least on a Sunday) are forgiving. The cyclists less so, but they’re not as kamikaze as the Berlin cyclists. Just make sure you’re not standing in the bike lane at the lights. If the cars can go, so can the bikes…which means you can be standing in the middle of their lane. That makes you worth at least 150 points.
The welcome drink started at 6 pm. Our TD is Diego and there are 17 people on the tour (or at least 17 at the welcome drink). We didn’t have a general introduction, but so far it seems to be at least 8 Americans, 2 other Canadians (French) and maybe some Australians (if I can go by the accent). About half the group is doing the extension to Moscow. As it stands, I’m the only solo traveller.
Diego went over the itinerary and optionals. A couple of our dinners look like they will be combined with the Scenic Scandinavia crowd (Tivoli and Stockholm) because we need access to a bus and that’s the easiest way to do it. (That’s the only pitfall with the train tours, Diego said. Getting hold of a bus. We had one optional cancelled because they couldn’t arrange a bus). We were given the optional list for the tour up to St. Petersburg. After that, half the group as well as Diego will say farewell to the rest of us. Someone else will take us from the hotel to the train station for Moscow while the rest go to the airport.
Diego also made note that wandering alone in Russia was not recommended, and for that reason, they make sure our time is as occupied as possible. He says less than 5% of the Russian adult population can speak English compared to 90% for Denmark. He is going to take us to areas for our free time, let us loose and meet us couple hours later.
He checked all our passports to make sure our Russian visas were in order and gave us a copy of a card that we have to fill out twice on entry into Russia. The photocopy was for practice because he said the Russians are very picky.
Oh, and the first thing Diego said to us: “Remember, you’re on a tour. You are not on vacation!”
LOL. Where have I heard that before.
After the welcome dinner broke up, I walked up to Tivoli to have a burger at Burger King and walked back. The clouds cleared off and I had not taken my camera, so missed a couple of nice pics with blue sky behind it.
Note to self: Take camera everywhere.
Tomorrow we do the city tour then the Zealand optional. We should get back mid-afternoon and then do the Tivoli dinner optional in the evening.
Go to Day Two
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