May 14, 2013 - Ebeltoft

Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark, which isn’t saying a lot since the whole country only has about five million people. The last time we were in Denmark with a car, we came to Aarhus to go to Den Gamle By, the world’s first open air museum created in 1914 by collecting 75 historic structures from around Denmark, sort of a Danish version of Williamsburg. There are also many historic sites in the area going back to the Bronze Age. A number of bodies have been discovered in the bogs, perfectly preserved by the tannin in the water....

May 12, 2013 - on foot

While we waited for the new passengers to board the Emerald Princess, we took a walking tour of Copenhagen. The sea was almost always within view. Denmark has 4,000 miles of coastline and no part of the country is more than thirty miles from the coast. Our walk began at the Little Mermaid statue, the symbol of Denmark and the main character of one of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales. This small unassuming piece of art has been vandalized so often, a cast has been made so replacement parts can easily be regenerated. As we walked the...

May 9, 2013 - Day 1-2 The unending flight

Ah! Finally here. Something like 35 hours to go from Melbourne to Malmö. The Qantas flight from Melbourne to Singapore was uneventful. The plane only about half full which allowed us to stretch out into a single window row each. Very nice. I have to say I thought the in-flight entertainment was quite good. I caught up with The Guilt Trip and Goddess with a few tv shows thrown in. Nothing fantastic but wasn't bad. Worthy of mention was the dark chocolate mousse with salted caramel fudge. Roger is not a caramel fan so we negotiated to swap my...

Nov 8, 2012 - 9th to14th/08/2012 Sweden to Denmark

Well you may notice a difference in writing styles, Nickie has found being back a very time consuming activity and unlike when we were biking, there are many activities vying for her time, …. So here we go, a brief run on down of the last four days of our awesome adventure. Well; thinking back to the last days of our ride seems a bit surreal, it’s now coming up to 3 months since we got back to NZ and we well at least I still get a really satisfying and complete feeling every time I think about the trip, it’s a bit hard to try and describe....

Sep 18, 2012 - Midnight Express

We caught the train from Copenhagen to Hamburg and knew to anticipate a voucher for a chocolate and a drink each.  This time we didn't get a table each, but after the train drove onto the ferry and then we had to disembark to go upstairs and duty free shop (as well as have a wiener schnitzel for tea) the kids sequestered a table to play Lego on when we got back on the train. Stanley had spent 10:07 Euros on a creator set whilst on the ferry - money well spent.  They played beautifully and quietly until we got to Hamburg.   We arrived at...

Sep 18, 2012 - Last day in Copenhagen

Today, over my dead body we walked 2 miles to the Holy Spirit Church, which has a famous dark chocolate spiral and polished copper steps all the way to the very top; on the outside of the building.  Naturally, someone had to stay on the ground to take photos so, I stayed on the ground.  Scott tells me it was very slippery with the light drizzle and somewhat unnerving allowing the precious children to run up the narrow medieval steps.  The end destination was only 86 metres high but still sufficient to reach terminal velocity prior to...

Sep 17, 2012 - Legoland

Yesterday was day 3 in Copenhagen and we went to Ripley's Believe It or Not.  (I really can't believe I let the kids suck me into going!). We also went to the Hans Christian Anderson Museum and got to listen to stories like the Tin Soldier, Little Match Girl and the Ugly Duckling.  We then hired a car and drove across the great belt bridge (at great expense $40 each way) through Odense Veijle and on to Billund, that Millie would like me to just call Legoland. Legoland was well worth the effort!  It was amazing and we were really impressed...

Sep 17, 2012 - Roskilde

The cabin accommodation turned out to be quite good and Scott's driving was impeccable.  There is no way my brain is ready to drive on the right yet.  The kids fed the ducks on the fjords at isoj where we stayed last night and then we packed up and left to go to Roskilde.  Roskilde is a pleasant second city 40 kms out of Copenhagen.  It is famous for it's cathedral and Viking museum.  We saw both.  At the Viking museum we booked ahead to sail a Viking ship and I think it's fair to say that the Viking king in our family had his favourite day...

Sep 16, 2012 - Arriving in Copenhagen

Our first day in Copenhagen was very exciting.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we went to the children's museum.  There the kids got to dress in medieval costumes as well as play in a Viking boat.  The city is absolutely beautiful and the architecture amazing.  The whole city does not exceed 5 storeys in height.  We stayed in a less savoury part of Copenhagen with two establishments for red lights in or street.  The prices are more expensive here than Germany.  I think it is about the same as Australia, but bread is awfully cheap.

Sep 16, 2012 - Tivoli Gardens

Day 2 in Copenhagen was exceptionally cold but absolutely delightful.  The locals were reasonably well behaved in our street and despite automatic check in, it appears the hotel isn't a rent by the hour hotel.  Stanley was getting enough education just walking past the "kakadu bar".  Thankfully, Millie was oblivious.   We took a boat  and hop on hop off bus around town and got to see the changing of the guard at Mary's house.  Scott asked the question of how the Viking warriors could end up looking like English guards, but dressed in blue....

Sep 11, 2012 - Copenhagen

@@@@@@@ BACKGROUND There is evidence of fishing villages existing for millennia on the shores of the narrow stretch of water that separates the modern countries of Denmark and Sweden. In the 12th century, the locals called upon Bishop Absalom to build a fort on a small island in order to protect them from prowling pirates. A city eventually took root there, built upon the wealth of the herring fishery. In the 15th century, København (‘købe’ meaning ‘the buy’ and ‘havn’ meaning ‘harbour’) replaced Roskilde as the capital of Denmark. The city...

Sep 10, 2012 - Copenhague

Mercredi le 5 septembre Nous accusons un peu de retard ...nos journées sont bien occupées !!! Après 45 minutes de vol, nous arrivons à Copenhague, ville portuaire. De l'avion, nous voyons les éoliennes en action dans la mer Baltique. Copenhague est la capitale et la plus grande ville du Danemark. Son nom danois, København signifie : le port des commerçants. Le nom français est, lui, dérivé de l'allemand Kopenhagen. La population du pays est de 5.5 millions d'habitants et la langue parlée est le danois. Nous avons le train et le métro à...