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 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 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 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...

Aug 18, 2012 - Clear Lenses

I have been meaning to write an entry about how long term solo travelling has affected me and many others. The best way of summing it up is that we all see the world through a lens. Some of us have the rose coloured glasses, where we see things through optimism, others have blue lenses, where they see things in a negative way. Most of us have mud on our lenses, which impairs us from seeing things for what they are. The world can seem to be a confusing place where we may get frustrated or upset because we can't see things for what they are....

Aug 18, 2012 - Kunta Hora

Greetings and salutations from the Czech Republic, Yesterday I went on an excursion to a small town outside of Prague. I took two trains to visit the town of Kunta Hora. Kunta Hora is home of the world famous bone church. Basically it is a church that is decorated with skulls and bones of victims of the Black Death. Check out more info with the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary On ot

Aug 13, 2012 - Prague, CZ

Just finished doing some sight seeing in Prague, CZ. The morning was a walking tour around the city and in the afternoon did a boat tour along the river Vltava. Checked out the Jewish quater along with, the Powder gate, Old town Square, the Charles Bridge. Finishe the session off with cheap Czech beer. I high quality chilled pint costs about a dollar during happy hour. Not bad. Cheers, Dan