København

The last port of call was Copenhagen, Denmark. This was an overnight stop which allowed us two days to explore the city and the countryside. One of Copenhagen's biggest attractions is the Little Mermaid statue. The statue is remarkably small but sits perched on a rock near the harbour. As it sits out in the open we heard several stories about vandalism to the statue including beheading and painting. It was really beautiful day out so we continued our walk into the city, past the Gefion Fountain, Resistance Museum, and into Amalienborg. This is the palace where the royal family lives and we spent some time walking around the area. Our walk took us farther into the city center and we ended up in Nyhavn Harbour. Being good tourists, we hoped on the must do canal cruise for an hour long guide tour. The boat went through some amazing areas of the city showing both residential and business districts on the waters edge. Copenhagen has along naval history and had to defend this harbor from attack for many years. The edge of the river is dominated by new buildings like the Opera House, Theatre, and the Library, better known as the black diamond.

We headed over to the Christianhavn district for lunch along the canal. The place we were eating at looked very familiar and then we remembered it had been recommended on the travel channels Passport to Europe. We had been told on the canal tour that you could climb the tower at the Church of Our Savior...and did I mention that the stairs are on the outside. The spire of the church was built in 1752 so it was quite a trek up the 250 years old stairs, but once at the top, the view over the city was fantastic. We could even see our ship in the distance. I wont mention any names..okay i will...Mom, dad and Keri had a death grip on the railing the whole time, but I'm pretty sure they had a good time, even though they look even happier being on the ground again afterwards. We continued to walk the city for the rest of the afternoon stopping at the National Museum, city hall square, and along the walking street filled with shops and restaurants. We had a couple of drinks at a great outdoor cafe and enjoyed the local beers.

We returned to the ship for dinner and to relax for a bit before heading out again that night. The biggest attraction in the city is by far Tivoli Gardens. It is the second oldest amusement park in the world and was opened in 1843. The whole park is lit up at night and it is beautiful. The park was alive with people and the story goes that Walt Disney visited the park and got some of his inspiration for Disneyland here. The park is filled with restaurants, theaters, classic rides and even some modern roller coasters. When it was built, Tivoli gardens was situated on the outside of the city, but now it lies directly in the middle. After the park Keri and I went out for the night and met some great local people. We spoke to a local at the bar for a while and she answered all our questions about Danish culture. We hoped to a couple of other bars and having a great time until we eventually retired back to the ship.

Day 2 in Copenhagen was spent out of the city. The original plan was to rent some bikes and go exploring, however that was a wash when the bike place was all booked up. We instead rented a car and headed north to Kronborg Castle. The castle was about 45 mins north but we took the scenic route along the ocean which was just amazing. The seaside towns were filled with people enjoying the sunshine...they don't get a very long summer in Denmark. Kronborg castle and the town of Elsinore were made famous by Shakespeare Hamlet. The castle was built in 1585 and sits on the edge of the ocean overlooking the small 4km gap between Denmark and Sweden. The castle is surrounded by several moats and was quite an imposing structure. We toured the rooms and even went underground into the depths of the castle which was cold and creepy. The castle's ground were beautiful and there were even more people here soaking up the sun and getting in some fishing. After the castle we headed back down the coast and had lunch at a little cafe. The ship had an early departure so we had enough time to drop the car off and make it back.

Copenhagen is a beautiful city situated right along the water. The Danish people were probably the nicest of any of the countries and they genuinly look like they enjoy life and living there. The next day and a half of the cruise was spent reminiscing about the ports and enjoying the amazing food and amenities that ship offered. When the ship finally docked it was hard to believe two weeks had come and gone. Mom and Dad had 2 more days in London while Keri and I headed to France for 6 days.