The Viking and I woke up late today. We had a lovely continental breakfast on the penthouse floor of the Radisson Blu Hotel. The almost 360 view proved breath-taking. I’m amazed that we can actually see the bridge that joins the mainlands of Sweden and Denmark.

We discovered in Stockholm, Finland, and Tallinn that Hop On/Hop Off tours are a great way to get a quick layout and history of a city, so after breakfast we head to Central Station and purchase two-day tickets. Yesterday, when we arrived the temps were almost suffocating and nary a breeze relieved the heat. Today, it’s in the 60s, the winds are gusting, and hold an icy chill. But, the sun’s shining and only a few clouds interrupt the vast expanse of a powder blue sky. Here are some pics of Copenhagen:

     

  

 

Everyone hails Denmark as a ‘green’ city, and the narrative on the tour emphasizes over and over that the country intends to have no, that is absolutely zero, carbon footprint by 2025. Cars are taxed a 180 percent to encourage cycling and, believe me, all those on bicycles have the right of the way. Yet, this is the first country (except for parts of St. Petersburg) we’ve visited where litter abounds. I took a shot of one street to prove this. There are cigarette stubs, paper wrappers, and other garbage everywhere. It’s so contradictory.

We have lunch along this charming canal (this is what I imagined Copenhagen would look like everywhere), and then head back to the hotel for a nap. After our rest, we cross the street to Tivoli Gardens to grab dinner before the Elton John concert. The gardens are lush and soothing, and we eat outdoors at a Bavarian place in Tivoli.

  

 

Now, Elton John’s one of my favorite performers, and I’m totally in paradise when he plays Candle In The Wind, Rocket Man, Daniel, Your Song, and so much more. The breeze has died down, the sun’s shining, and Elton John’s singing. Could there be a more perfect end to our first full day in Denmark?

Cheers,

 

While we’re sorry to see the end of our Baltic cruise and say goodbye to our friends, the Viking and I are eagerly anticipating our week-long visit to Denmark. First, however, we have to survive Royal Caribbean’s nightmare of a disembarkation.

Because we have to catch the early train to Copenhagen from Stockholm’s Central Station, we opt for a manual disembarkation.This means  we take our own luggage to the exit, await clearance, and disembark. Sounds simple and easy, right?

Turns out there’s another ship in port and they’ve gone ahead of us and Royal Caribbean’s staff is thrown into a tizzy (like this hasn’t happened before *rolling eyes*). What should’ve taken thirty minutes and been an organized and orderly leave-taking turns into almost a mob exit, which lasts for two hours. Another nail in the Royal Caribbean’s coffin— for me anyway.

Finally, we’re on the train travelling to Copenhagen. The scenery’s interesting, the seats comfortable, and everything’s hunky dory until we hit the last stop in Sweden. The conductor announces there are delays in Denmark, our train will go no further, and we must switch to another. No one bothers to give any details. However, there’s only one other train in the station, so we board that one.

Once we cross the sea border (the bridge between Sweden and Denmark is sooo impressive and a little unnerving as we are going over the Baltic Sea), the train stops and starts with no explanation. When we arrive at the Denmark international airport, we’re informed of another delay, but no one’s able to estimate the length of time it’ll take to get to Copenhagen’s Central Station. The Viking’s tired and snappy, so we opt to take a taxi to our hotel.

By this time, we’re three hours late, and anxious to get settled. While the Viking checks in at the Radisson Blu Royal registration desk, I head over to the concierge to ask for dinner recommendations. To my surprised delight, the concierge, Glenn, is a Trini who grew up not ten minutes away from my old childhood haunting grounds. Go figure.

Glenn recommends a tapas bar and mentions that Elton John’s playing the next day at Tivioli Gardens (right across the road from our hotel) and that the concert’s included in the price of the tickets. Hah! We buy tickets immediately. Here’s the view of Tivoli Gardens and one of the more hair-raising rides from our hotel room:

 

 

 

 

 

After a shower and a rest, we head out for the tapas bar, get hopelessly lost (I took the directions, and I’m directionally-challenged, or, in other words, I have trouble with left and right). We end up at a restaurant called uformel. Our first experience with ‘Danish’ food (the Danes pride themselves on serving purely organic, seasonal, sustainable food). Our haughty waiter informs us that uformel serves ‘little plates’. The Viking replies “Oh-tapas.”

Doooing! Wrooong!

“We’re in Denmark,” the waiter snaps, “We don’t do tapas.”

Aside from the twerp’s attitude, the food turns out to be scrumptious, and we end up having a wonderful dinner. Click here to see the menu:
http://uformel.dk/food-wine/

We had the monkfish, the crab, oysters, ceviche, pork, and ended with this desert (not listed on the current menu, salted caramel gelato on a bed of lingonberry crumble):

         

 

 

 

 
 

Lovely ending to a somewhat trying day.