We decided to make the most of my half term holiday coinciding with a break in Tim's shift pattern, and head to Denmark for a few days. It was only after we had booked out flights that we properly read the guidebooks, which told us that Danish winters are cold, dark and either wet or freezing. Not to be put off, we were up at stupid-o'clock Saturday morning, headed for Gatwick to catch our flight to Copenhagen. We got a bit of a shock when the pilot announced the temperature as we neared our destination, a mere -5 degrees! Foolishly we had both assumed that as Copenhagen is on a similar latitude to London, the climate would be similar. This was not to be, and we were lucky if the mercury even hit zero our entire visit.
Happily, Copenhagen airport is really handy to the city, so after indulging in our first hot dog of the trip, it was a quick 12 minute train ride to the central station. On our way to our hotel we passed the famous Tivoli gardens, a historic amusement park and Copenhagen's top tourist attraction. Unfortunately walking past was the closest we were to get, as the gardens were closed for the winter. The outside was still lit up in the evening though, creating a pretty display.
After dropping our luggage off at the hotel we headed back towards the central city, stopping for a quick photo with Hans Christian Andersen, near the town hall square, Radhuspladsen. Continuing on we walked down the cobbled main shopping street, Stoget, alive with Saturday shoppers.
Starting to feel the cold by then we continued on to the quayside area of Nyhavn, which translates as 'New Harbour' and has a pretty colorful history with the antics of the sailors that used to frequent the area. Now days the (then partially frozen) canal is lined with wooden sailboats next to numerous bars and restaurants. We pretty much dived into the first bar we spotted, a cosy Danish style pub where we spent an hour or so celebrating the beginning of our holiday with a couple of beers and some nibbles.
After that we headed back via the supermarket for a typical budget Strange-style hotel room dinner of cheese and ham sandwiches, washed down by yet another couple of Carlsberg! And later on some pretty amazing desserts. I could sense already that this holiday was not going to be good for the waist-line!
Happily, Copenhagen airport is really handy to the city, so after indulging in our first hot dog of the trip, it was a quick 12 minute train ride to the central station. On our way to our hotel we passed the famous Tivoli gardens, a historic amusement park and Copenhagen's top tourist attraction. Unfortunately walking past was the closest we were to get, as the gardens were closed for the winter. The outside was still lit up in the evening though, creating a pretty display.
We spent a good amount of time in the amazing Lego Shop, resisting the urge to splash out and buy some supplies for the boys at school, after remembering our carry-on luggage limitations!
Starting to feel the cold by then we continued on to the quayside area of Nyhavn, which translates as 'New Harbour' and has a pretty colorful history with the antics of the sailors that used to frequent the area. Now days the (then partially frozen) canal is lined with wooden sailboats next to numerous bars and restaurants. We pretty much dived into the first bar we spotted, a cosy Danish style pub where we spent an hour or so celebrating the beginning of our holiday with a couple of beers and some nibbles.
After that we headed back via the supermarket for a typical budget Strange-style hotel room dinner of cheese and ham sandwiches, washed down by yet another couple of Carlsberg! And later on some pretty amazing desserts. I could sense already that this holiday was not going to be good for the waist-line!
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