Denmark

Copenhagen in a (very raspy) breath

When we woke the next morning all I wanted to do was hide under the covers. Fortunately for me, a 12pm checkout seems to be standard practice in Europe so I left Dan to wander the streets while I and my lurgy stayed tucked up under the covers for another couple of hours.

When I eventually surfaced and checked out we had about three hours left to wander the streets of Copenhagen. For me this visit to Copenhagen was all about Christmas at Tivoli – I had already paid a visit to Christiania, the Royal Palace, the design museum and Nyhavn, four of Denmark’s attractions. And no. We didn’t visit the little mermaid or any Hans Christian Andersen themed attractions (unless you count the boulevard that bears his name. Our first stop was a coffee house where I could get a cup of tea and something to eat. My tea came as leaves in a strainer and a cup of hot water. Dan’s hot chocolate was warm milk with three sticks of different kinds of chocolate to stir in. We also had chicken and basil, and ham and cheese paninis. Not really the smorebrod I was looking for but I wanted to sit down with a tea more than I wanted smorebrod so it was a pretty good choice in the end.

I decided Dan probably should see  Nyhavn before he left Denmark so we set out towards there on a route  that took us through the forecourt of the palace that is  now the Parliament building – Christiansborg Slot. There was obviously something fairly important going on there. The forecourt was filled with black limousines, most of them with ambassadorial flags. It felt a bit like we shouldn’t be there but the forecourt of the building is clearly a public thoroughfare. Nyhavn is the stuff of picture postcards/ you would have to be a pretty poor photographer to not get a usable shot here.

After our whistle stop sightseeing tour, we headed back through the centre of town. I was still on the hunt for a better beanie, which I found, paid 50 DKR ($10) for and promptly lost it less than an hour later in the train station. What is it with me and hats – I have to find a better system. Dan bought a wallet – which I hope is not the sign of a similar trend to my hats.  After a bit more of a wander we collected our bags and headed to the train station for the train to Hamburg. The border crossing here is actually done on a ferry. Last time I made this journey I hadn’t been aware of the ferry part. I was typing away and had my head phones on and hadn’t noticed that the train had pulled right into a ferry. This time I was keeping an eye out for it. I had particularly booked this train so Dan could experience the train on a ferry phenomenon. 

As we were arriving into Hamburg quite late – about 8pm or so, we decided to have dinner on the ferry. It was just the kind of food you would expect. I had the Bolognese because I didn’t feel like anything fried – the sauce was OK but I probably would have just preferred a big bowl of spaghetti. Dan mad a better choice – the bratwurst and chips. I fear even Dan might be sick of hotdogs after this trip. In the queue at the ferry bistro, the guy who served us commented on Dan’s Dropkick Murphys t-shirt. That’s when I realised we had committed the cardinal sin – we were both wearing the same band t-shirt – I granted mine is a For Boston t-shirt so only true fans would have made the link. But we never do that – we must have been tired. (Tessie – Dropkick Murphys – written for the Red sox World Series win and one of my fave Murphys tracks)

When we got off the train in Hamburg, I was sick and tired and cranky and we couldn’t access wi-fi anywhere in the system so the GPS wouldn’t access a Hamburg map. The maps at the station were pretty unhelpful . There we were in the middle of the biggest train station we had yet experienced and we had no idea how to get to the hotel. Eventually we worked out vaguely which direction to head in. Between us and the hotel was a quite seedy part of town (no not the Reperbahn). The street was littered with casinos and kebab shops and women standing in doorways along what was a very busy street. Sure, they weren’t dressed the same way as on William Street but it is very cold here. Of course they could just have been outside smoking but it was only women. At any rate, it’s not really somewhere I would have felt comfortable lingering at any rate. We arrived at our hotel, the Arcotel, cold and tired and ready for bed. Unfortunately the hotel had overbooked and had to send us to another hotel further away from the train station. The hotel paid for a taxi to get us to the other hotel, The Scandic. It was a pretty good hotel, obviously newly fitted out. It was good we had dinner on the ferry. By this time it was 9:30pm and still suffering from a dreadful lurgy all I wanted to do was sleep. (When Doves Cry – Prince – some 80s tunes definitely stand the test of time – this is one of them, even if its creator isn’t)

Christmas themed activities – 7  War museums and model shops – 1.5

A magical fairytale land – Christmas at Tivoli

Overnight my cold had taken a turn for the worse so I was glad that although we had to wake early, we were spending the first five hours of our day on a train to Copenhagen. We arrived just after 1pm and immediately got a taste of the Christmas excitement we were in for when we exited the train station in front of Tivoli. Even though it was still daylight (for another couple of hours, the lights and Christmas decorations were already making the world’s oldest amusement park look like Denmark’s other favourite son  Hans Christian Andersen had a hand in things.

We were able to check in when we arrived but despite my cold now being quite invasive, we decided to go out and take a look around. I was still in search of semi -fashionable  headwear. We didn’t find that but we did come across a lego store. It was amazing – not only did they have architecture and Star wars lego we had never seen before, including the new large size Sydney Opera House, there was also, I kid you not – lego pick and mix. You can just go in and buy the extra, odd bits you need. It was amazing.

Shortly after we left the Lego store, we saw our first Danish Christmas market. That’s when it probably happened. Dan stopped to take a photo with his phone and minutes later realised his wallet was missing. He was pretty tired – my cold induced snoring had kept him awake all night. Fortunately we had learned lessons from my disaster episode in Sweden a few years ago travelling solo where all my access to cash of any kind was in my wallet when I lost it. Dan had a travel card, with a spare carried separately and I had still had all my cards. The one thing we didn’t contemplate however is that you need your licence to hire a car. Yep. That was gone too. I know my limits and one of them is driving and automatic (they confuse us manual drivers) on the wrong side of the roads up windy hillsides in the snow. Dan is a much more confident driver than me and I’m sure would have accomplished this task with ease. Alas, we will never know because we have now re-organized our trip so we can do it all by train. No hotel in Austria but I am sure we should be able to find a tour from Munich to see the Disney Castle and go up on the reticulated railway to the peak at Garmische Patinken.

We decided to get over it and try and kill my cold with some Gloog at Tivoli. It was the best way to raise the spirits. They just go so over the top with Christmas at Tivoli that you can’t help but smile no matter what sort of day you have had. There are lit Christmas trees everywhere, tables and chairs shaped like sleigh, hundreds of Christmas Market style stalls, toy soldiers and even a big (Trojan) reindeer. The whole place is lit up like a, well, Christmas tree and most of the rides are open. I didn’t get a chance to go to Tivoli last time – it is closed in February) but I doubt there is a more perfect time to visit than Christmas. We wandered around for a while just drinking in the spectacle. It was only about 6pm but it had already been dark for a few hours so that magical feeling of lights that twinkle like stars was already present. (A Winter’s Tale – Queen – this track somehow appropriately captures the Tivoli Christmas mood without the schmaltz – RIP Freddy)

Eventually our hunger got the better of us – we had passed a yummy smelling pulled pork sandwich stall near the entrance but we thought we might be able to find something we could eat sitting down. There is a dearth of mid range food at Tivoli. There are plenty of rather expensive restaurants selling steaks and the like. Then there is sideshow alley food (done the Danish way which is slightly more interesting than a dagwood dog. When the guy at the entrance explained the Danish map to us he said – over here every hour there is a light show, over there are the rides and the rest is places to eat and drink. He wasn’t kidding. We kept wandering past the Asian places – we have so much good Asian food on our doorstep and in our own country – takeaway Chinese is not really what I’m looking for at a Scandinavian amusement park. We settled on a hotdog place. The grilled smoked hotdogs were a definite step above the footy franks they put in dagwood dogs. They are served in rye rolls with a choice of tomato sauce, mustard, French dressing (mayo) and a sweeter Danish equivalent. I chose the Danish version – I probably would have preferred the hotdog on the bun sans sauce. We also got some chips – with plenty of salt (one of my pet peeves in Australian fast food outlets) and mayo and tomato sauce. The sauce dispensers here are pretty convenient- they are hung upside down with a kind of teet on them and the sauce is dispensed by milking the teet, in much the same manner as you would mile a cow. Dan washed his down with beer in a recycled cup. You pay 5 kroner (about $1) extra for the cup and you collect it when you return the cup to a recycling station. If nothing else, it must cut the rubbish in the park dramatically.

Satisfied with our fairground dinner, we decided to go in search of some Danish Glogg. You could choose that, Swedish Glogg or German Gluhwein. We went for the Danish stuff. It comes with raisins, slivered almonds and quite a kick. After consuming the rather liege glass (slowly as even warmed you could still strongly taste the alcohol) we decided it would be a good time to check out the amusement part of the park. Many of the rides were way too scary for me but if I hadn’t had a cold that felt like I was doing somersaults in a swimming pool, I probably would have given the rollercoaster a go (despite the fact it turns upside down at a few points). Rides are not really Dan’s thing but I did get him to come on the (quite small) ferris wheel. It was a good choice because we were able to see the whole park in all its glory. We missed the light show because when we made it to the lake where it was supposed to happen, there wasn’t another one for about 45 minutes. My cold induced tiredness was not going to stay awake that long so we wandered back to the hotel. It was then that the lurgy really settled in – probably a good tip = Glogg isn’t any better at curing a cold than any other alcoholic beverage. The hot toddy principle may well be a myth that only works on proven alcoholics. We settled in for the night in our twin beds (which are always jammed together like a double bed. The good thing though is that the Europeans seem to have learned that whether you sleep in a double bed or two singles pushed together, you need two donnas. A very civilized approach to a good night’s sleep. (Coma Girl – Joe Strummer – although one of the most simple musically, this is still one of my fave Strummer tracks – lyrically spot on and more pop catchy than many of his tunes.)

Christmas themed activities – 7  War museums and model shops – 1.5

Denmark dash – Copenhagen in three hours or less

The closed Tivoli – good thing too in the snow
The most photographed place in Denmark – in the summer
Pretty in the snow
The gate to Christiania

 

I had only planned a quick stop in Copenhagen (something had to give for Santa) but the visa drama and my trepidation at wandering through the red light district crunched that time frame much further. I decided this was one of those times I had to put my fear of mornings aside and get up as early as I could so I could at least see some of Copenhagen. Sure I wasn’t going to have enough time to bag a prince but I don’t think the Danes would allow two Australians in their palace(s) anyway. [‘Love will tear us apart’ Joy Division – sure it’s a song (and band) definitely born in the bleakness of northern England but traveling through the wintry, grey of Denmark, it seems thoroughly appropriate. I hadn’t quite realized until this trip how much of my favourite music has a wintry vibe (except for the summery Jamaican tones of my ska collection of course).] I set the alarm for 6am and crawled out of bed 20 minutes later. It was snowing outside and looked delightful. I got dressed and headed out with my fast-paced itinerary memorized.

 

Travel tip no. 16 – there is a reason people in cold countries wear their pants short or rolled up – they get wet walking in the snow. I am now onto my jeans which in true Australian style are so long that the bit that falls on my heel is all scuffed. Not great for Copenhagen in the winter.  The temperature in Denmark is above zero so despite the fact it was snowing, the snow on the ground quickly became soft, sludgey and wet. And of course the fabric in my jeans just kept soaking it up. The wet always makes it colder too – even with my Scandinavian boots on, for the first time on the trip, my feet actually felt cold.

 

Attire issues aside, I set off around Denmark, which while postcard pretty in the snow, really is a city built for summer and spring. Tivoli, the infamous amusement park is closed for winter and it’s not hard to see why. A snow-covered roller coaster probably wouldn’t meet with any kind of OH&S standards for the driver or the passengers. Next stop was a wander up the most photographed street in Denmark, Nyhavn canal – pretty in the snow but I imagine the summer sun makes the coloured apartment buildings much more vibrant.

 

From there, I wandered across the main canal to check out Christiania. Succession aside, it mostly reminded me Nimbin – a place set up as a peaceful, organic nirvana in the 60s that over the past five decades has deteriorated and become a haven for those escaping society and themselves rather than actively working to enjoy a different way to personal prosperity. Having said that, there was a great little art gallery there and a couple of venues listing an impressive gig list of mostly unknown bands. [‘Television, the drug of the nation’ – Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Yes it is and it’s mine – but like all drugs, it depends on how you use it.]

 

After my walk through Christiania, I wandered around the adjacent upscale Christianshavn area and then back across the canal to Mary’s house. Well one of the ones that will be hers if the trash mags would stop discussing how bad her life is. No sightings of Mary. Not surprising really. I live in Canberra and, unlike some people, I haven’t had a single sighting of Kevin. The best I can manage is Laurie Oakes at the theatre, Ros Kelly in a chemist, Annabelle Crabb at a Christmas barbecue and Alexander Downer at the Leagues Club but that was in Kiama.

 

Next stop was the Danish Design Centre. Not surprisingly, there was yet another lighting exhibition but rather than focusing on form in the way the Swedish lighting did, this was about technology, including a house that was wired to adjust the lighting based on how much sunlight was available in the room – probably only useful in Australia in offices – it’s pretty simple, you turn the lights on at home when it’s night time. My favourite was the chair that projected coloured light onto the wall based on the colour of the cushion on the chair. There was also Sony’s latest screen. Not LCD or Plasma but OLED. I’m sure one of the techno geeks amongst you will understand it but the screen was amazing – very clear, 3D almost.

 

There was just enough time left for a final Danish pitstop. Yep you guessed it – Smørrebrød for brunch. I got two – pastrami, mayo, dried onion (I think) and pickles; and boiled egg, bacon, lettuce and a tangy mayonnaise. On a pumpernickel rye bread of course. It was from a takeaway Smørrebrød store called Copenhagen corner which I imagine is a chain (or at least hoping to be in the future – kind of like a Danish version of Subway with much better food. While I was eating them the TV was showing Danish breakfast television with a whole segment on the Australian bushfires and their relationship to global warming (at least they were the words and pictures I could work out). Everywhere I go in Europe, people ask whether I lost anyone I know in the bushfires. It has been quite prominent on the news here.

 

After brunch I wandered back to my hotel (in the red light district), took a brief look at the quite bizarre stuff in some of the shops – Adam and Eve has nothing on Danish sex shops. A note here – be careful with the television in Danish hotel rooms if you are sensitive to this kind of material. While the previews for porn in Australian hotels are moistly in the suggestive nudity category, Danish porn is hardcore and even the previews on the channel scroll are pretty full on. And no, I didn’t pay to do any more research than that! [‘Wide open road’ – The Triffids – nothing like listening to an Australian song with evoking the feel of wide open Australian highways while traveling on a German train in the cold dark of winter on the way to Berlin.]

Arrival in Copenhagen, bicycle capital of the world

It may be stating the obvious but the first thing you really do notice is the bicycles. They’re everywhere and everyone is riding them. Not like the Canberra bike riders, kitted up in all their colourful gear. Here people ride bikes in the clothes they would wear walking or in the car. They ride in coats and skirts and heels. Biking really is a mode of public transport here – no racing bikes, no fancy mountain bikes. They’re all old school with the basket on the front and with mud guards.

 

The hotel was really only five minutes from the train station so I mad a bee-line to sort the money stuff out. I wasn’t looking forward to another sketchy shared bathroom experience like the one in Finland. Fortuitously, the hotel upgraded me – a double bed and my own bathroom – just like a regular hotel room (apart from the fact someone thought olive green was a great decorating colour. After a few more protracted phone calls with the visa people and the Commonwealth Bank, it was decided that I would receive my replacement card in Germany and some emergency cash by wire transfer this evening [‘The Mercy Seat’ – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – I’m not quite as angry as Nick and while I may not be afraid to die, I’m not ready yet]

 

So my next port of call was a Western Union agent. You see it in the movies – people anxiously waiting for someone to wire them money. I never thought it would be me. I decided the train station was a better option than some deli around the corner because there may at least be some guards. So I ventured up there, past the dodgy types that gather around train stations at night, just about anywhere in the world, past the sign warning that people at the money exchange should be wary of pickpockets. The maths did my head in from AUD to USD to Danish Krone and then to Euro. Being Scandinavian is hard work. Apart from speaking about three languages, you also have to do maths in your head! [‘Deanna’ – something a bit more upbeat (well as upbeat as you get from Nick)].

 

Cashed up, I was ready for a stroll. It was then that I realised I was staying in the middle of Copenhagen’s Kings Cross although much sleazier. The thing about the cross is there are police cruising, lots of people walking about and lots of light along the strip. In Copenhagen, the area is dark, dirty, seedy and there are loads of dodgy looking people on the corners. Maybe I’ve watched too many episodes of The Wire lately but I didn’t feel safe walking around alone. I am sure if there was someone with me, I would have been fine but as it was, I felt a bit like a target. Daytime on a Monday is probably a better time to look around.

Through forests and snow covered plains – the journey to Copenhagen

If you’re planning a trip to Europe and tossing up between the budget internal flights and the trains, my advice is to choose the trains. I got a first class Eurail pass – it cost about 500 Euros and the reservations are extra but the first class is luxurious. I feel like a thin person in the seat, it is that big and comfy. I even had to move the tray table closer so I could type. There is a buffet car so you can walk around. In first class there is coffee, bottled water and fruit available at the end of the carriage. There is a power connection near your seat and (for a price) there is wireless internet on the train. When you factor in the time you have to spend in the airport, the fact that you have to put your bag in the hold (so it can get lost) and the price of getting from the airport to the centre of town (in Stockholm, for example, it cost about $A40 and 20 minutes by train from the airport while the trains actually drop you in the centre), the train is definitely a better alternative. [‘What Difference does it make?’ – The Smiths – can’t beat a bit of the depressive Mr Morrissey]

 

The trip south from Stockholm took me through more varied countryside than the trip through Finland. There was snow again and some of the familiar Christmas card shots were there but as we got further south there were more farms and field with smatterings of snow and a lot of frozen lakes. My friend at the train station had said this was the first real winter Sweden had seen in a while and he and his friends were getting out on the lakes with long (I guess cross country) skates. [‘Debaser’ – The Pixies – probably my fave Pixies track – probably because it’s more Ms Deal and less Mr Francis]. So I’ve just crossed the bridge across the sea and arrived in Denmark – time to pack up to get off the train and hassle those visa people.
On the way to Copenhagen
Snow covered plains – Stockholm to Copenhagen
The Swedish love an umlaut