So I am back in Canada having spent most of the last few days feverish and sleeping... A day to call in sick for sure.
The last leg of the Iceland Express flight, I am not sure how many seats were sold but lots empty, they cleared out the back two rows as I said I had the flu when asked if I felt OK on boarding.... Saw a ton of ice out the window from my full row "bed" - this may be a cheap airline but no charge for pillows and blankets like Air Canada... The plane was bumping around around in a strong headwind they said, but if we bellyflopped onto the ice, I was so full of ativan and whatever I dont think I would have cared...
So I write this from my cosy bed at the Winnipeg Sandman, the plane is already going back to Iceland, I am going to sleep it all off more. At least the two days wasted are the crappy bit coming home...
See you next time :) Hopefully with a less runny nose and clearer head :)
As they say on this trip Tag, Tak and vielen dank.
- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on pictures for larger version and gallery.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
CPH Last Full Day in Copenhagen
So like a bear with a sore head I did get up, drained the sinuses, and then headed back to bed....but I cannot stay so long... But now... My all included breakfast buffet closes in an hour, so I got showered, went down and stuffed my face. Imagine how jolly I look.... Yes a pig's rear end I am sure.
Off I go to get the bus into the old town for more ancient delights... While standing at the bus stop I am looking around and (skip this picture if you are shy) but I saw this:
Since it was an article plugging some of the community pluses of the boonies my cheap hotel put me in (not as good as the Berlin deal by far) - I am only assuming the word has another meaning here and I am not going to ask what that is... A lot of Danish is easy to work out, Toiletter you can guess, Timer means hours, Caad is cold, Brod is bread and a Tog is a train. Still not asking about the one in the pic.
If I had not stuffed my face so much at breakfast I could have gone here: it smelled tasty! I stuck my head in, English voices, plain as day...
So here is more of old town...
The Round House is famous, but I am off climbing towers after what happened in Berlin, that damn Victory Angel will get hers one day....
This is not Nyhavn, this is Christianhavn. I got the metro for just one stop to cross under the water behind me in the picture....
And saw yet another truck load of high school completing kids. They rent trucks and drive around screaming their heads off and the locals wave with smiles.... The way my head is I could wave other things....
Yes the barges filled with cruise ship tourists make it here too...
Even this woman, immortalized prior to the 70's ( educated guess) is thinking the same as me and voicing her opinion....
Another tower I refuse to climb, looks scary too!
Ok, so I came over here to see this, a failed social experiment from the 60s and 70s. It is called Christiania. The hippies basically moved in, in what was then abandoned dock warehouses and such, set up camp, after a while declared themselves autonomous from Denmark and the European Union (although they do take 'foreign' money) - and the police has fought with them on and off ever since. Prob is, they have been here too long, some squatters have homes and go to work in the city now. The government tries to negotiate a dismantling because of drug dealing, marijuana is openly sold here though they don't allow pictures, and this is not Amsterdam. No shortage of people coming to buy and there is no control on the market like Holland. So drug gangs do operate here....the police tried to shut them down a few days before I arrived, but it looks open again to me when walking through. There is no smiles and idle banter at the drug counters herd, just hard core business. I prefer the Dutch way... This is almost threatening
So I tried to sneak a shot in the drug side of Pusher Street as they call it, and it was out of focus, gawd damn it. The guy with no legs seems dissapointed though, sorry :( I guess my career aspirations with Associated Press are over
Back out in lovely middle class Christianhavn, you would never know what is tucked back there....
But this is northern Europe in 2011, so socially it is relaxed, no more barricades in Christiania like the 70s and 80s - they will likely have to be like the Netherlands to control it now I suppose. At the hotel they told me the police love it, as they can keep an eye on one main place to sell drugs, not force it out it many other areas.... Kind of contradicts them trying to close it last week then....
Back in old town Copenhagen, more lovely buildings...
Two contrasting cars, a Fiat 500 and Merc SLK. I ate some expensive sushi here, wasnt so great for the money - I should have had a sandwich
This is Ameliaborg, the queen's palace. Charlotte Amelie who gave her name to a town in the Virgin Islands was here....
There are many big buildings around an open plaza.... Very nice
A fellow tourist
I am back by here to grab a present for my mother...
You will not see this famous statue come Sunday afternoon, but tell no one please....
A war memorial
And yes passing through Nyhavn
Again
Looking for the perfect colourful shot
This is the Royal Copenhagen porcelain shop
This advertised Man. Utd. Soccer games
Those darn hot dogs are back! the birds really dig 'em
And two colourful railing handles..... As a segway to...
Copenhagen is very stereotypically Scandinavian in that everyone is tanned, not sure how with all the cloudy skies, and just like the stuff you see in Tommy Hilfiger windows, they do wear bright coloured check shirts and white jeans. They seem to buy lots of clothes, eat out lots, plenty of nice cars and of course in the Scandinavian way, taxes on purchases are 25% to fund a system that keeps almost anyone from being poor. Income tax is high too. There is less spread in wealth from top to bottom, but still mega yachts and fancy cars abound.... And lovely old buildings. They are not doing badly at all... With real palm trees it might be heaven on Earth.
It doesn't have the raw edge of Berlin, one time city full of spies, espionage and the rise of Hitler.... But it is still very nice.
Back to the hotel now for sleep, I am dying.... I still have some strawberries and chocolate which I am eating while typing this in my bed at the Clarion.
Update tomorrow from the trip home..... If I don't get quarrantined. Quarantine with full board at no cost is greatfully accepted... Anywhere!
- David.
- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on pictures for larger version and gallery.
Off I go to get the bus into the old town for more ancient delights... While standing at the bus stop I am looking around and (skip this picture if you are shy) but I saw this:
Since it was an article plugging some of the community pluses of the boonies my cheap hotel put me in (not as good as the Berlin deal by far) - I am only assuming the word has another meaning here and I am not going to ask what that is... A lot of Danish is easy to work out, Toiletter you can guess, Timer means hours, Caad is cold, Brod is bread and a Tog is a train. Still not asking about the one in the pic.
If I had not stuffed my face so much at breakfast I could have gone here: it smelled tasty! I stuck my head in, English voices, plain as day...
So here is more of old town...
The Round House is famous, but I am off climbing towers after what happened in Berlin, that damn Victory Angel will get hers one day....
This is not Nyhavn, this is Christianhavn. I got the metro for just one stop to cross under the water behind me in the picture....
And saw yet another truck load of high school completing kids. They rent trucks and drive around screaming their heads off and the locals wave with smiles.... The way my head is I could wave other things....
Yes the barges filled with cruise ship tourists make it here too...
Even this woman, immortalized prior to the 70's ( educated guess) is thinking the same as me and voicing her opinion....
Another tower I refuse to climb, looks scary too!
Ok, so I came over here to see this, a failed social experiment from the 60s and 70s. It is called Christiania. The hippies basically moved in, in what was then abandoned dock warehouses and such, set up camp, after a while declared themselves autonomous from Denmark and the European Union (although they do take 'foreign' money) - and the police has fought with them on and off ever since. Prob is, they have been here too long, some squatters have homes and go to work in the city now. The government tries to negotiate a dismantling because of drug dealing, marijuana is openly sold here though they don't allow pictures, and this is not Amsterdam. No shortage of people coming to buy and there is no control on the market like Holland. So drug gangs do operate here....the police tried to shut them down a few days before I arrived, but it looks open again to me when walking through. There is no smiles and idle banter at the drug counters herd, just hard core business. I prefer the Dutch way... This is almost threatening
So I tried to sneak a shot in the drug side of Pusher Street as they call it, and it was out of focus, gawd damn it. The guy with no legs seems dissapointed though, sorry :( I guess my career aspirations with Associated Press are over
Back out in lovely middle class Christianhavn, you would never know what is tucked back there....
But this is northern Europe in 2011, so socially it is relaxed, no more barricades in Christiania like the 70s and 80s - they will likely have to be like the Netherlands to control it now I suppose. At the hotel they told me the police love it, as they can keep an eye on one main place to sell drugs, not force it out it many other areas.... Kind of contradicts them trying to close it last week then....
Back in old town Copenhagen, more lovely buildings...
Two contrasting cars, a Fiat 500 and Merc SLK. I ate some expensive sushi here, wasnt so great for the money - I should have had a sandwich
This is Ameliaborg, the queen's palace. Charlotte Amelie who gave her name to a town in the Virgin Islands was here....
There are many big buildings around an open plaza.... Very nice
A fellow tourist
I am back by here to grab a present for my mother...
You will not see this famous statue come Sunday afternoon, but tell no one please....
A war memorial
And yes passing through Nyhavn
Again
Looking for the perfect colourful shot
This is the Royal Copenhagen porcelain shop
This advertised Man. Utd. Soccer games
Those darn hot dogs are back! the birds really dig 'em
And two colourful railing handles..... As a segway to...
Copenhagen is very stereotypically Scandinavian in that everyone is tanned, not sure how with all the cloudy skies, and just like the stuff you see in Tommy Hilfiger windows, they do wear bright coloured check shirts and white jeans. They seem to buy lots of clothes, eat out lots, plenty of nice cars and of course in the Scandinavian way, taxes on purchases are 25% to fund a system that keeps almost anyone from being poor. Income tax is high too. There is less spread in wealth from top to bottom, but still mega yachts and fancy cars abound.... And lovely old buildings. They are not doing badly at all... With real palm trees it might be heaven on Earth.
It doesn't have the raw edge of Berlin, one time city full of spies, espionage and the rise of Hitler.... But it is still very nice.
Back to the hotel now for sleep, I am dying.... I still have some strawberries and chocolate which I am eating while typing this in my bed at the Clarion.
Update tomorrow from the trip home..... If I don't get quarrantined. Quarantine with full board at no cost is greatfully accepted... Anywhere!
- David.
- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on pictures for larger version and gallery.
TXL-CPH
Friday in Berlin and time to leave early in the morning (7am check out to get the bus), oh boy I did not want to get up, my throat was burning, didn't sleep so well and now my nose is.... More flu? Yeesh.... I am spreading disease like Typhoid Mary. At least it is not peak time for traffic yet, civilized Europe starts work at 9am.
Didn't I get sick on week one of my last trip?
Berlin's Tegel airport is a bit chaotic and has no metro, only bus! Ewwwww a bus.. LOL. Really they are better than home, I am the only one drunk and coughing on everyone and I cannot smell any urine or vomit.... They closed Templehof airport, I prob. should have flown into Schonefeld, but Tegel was it, took me a half hour to find the right check in desk.... I decipher from the news they are planning a massive new BER airport coded monstrosity to replace it all, sounds good to me they may have better shops and cafe's while waiting... Waited in a pretty boring post security area, with one cafe and one shop, left lots of germs everywhere - imagine the movie Seven Monkeys and you're on the right track - by the time I get back to Canada, I am sure Moose Flu will be in all the newspapers laying Europe low.... This flight to Luxembourg, yes take it thank you, Ankara, there you go buy some Kleenex - Stuttgart can have a dose too because you never gave me a Mercedes Benz from that never ending production line, fresh flu flow in courtesy Lufthansa. Not that you would want a Benz after traveling in Europe, they are Taxis here, the C and D classes at least. How many people lust after a German Taxi? I would take one, I know :) But is true they are known as the 'Taxis of Europe.' I would really like another Audi.
Oh well, I was numb for most of the flight, only 45 minutes, then on to hotel number 2 in Copenhagen, which was cheap but is a bit out of the way.... My suitcase is now exactly 20kg which is the max weight for my cheapo ticket (thanks Terry for the bag scale thing, very handy,) so I should not collect much more...
Checked in, slept for a couple of hours to dislodge the tranqs then off into town.... Tivoli Garden had huge crouds so did not go in, it is mostly a fun fair and I am more scared than the kids of their rides...
Town Hall, as you can see the weather is still on off cloudy with sunny breaks and cooler than Berlin by 10 degrees.... Cooler than when I left Copenhagen a few days back too
Ok, so why take a pic of hot dogs.... Well these hot dog sellers are all over, literally hundreds, the pork biz is huge in Denmark, we always bought Danish Bacon; but they have the Dutch and German idea of unsliced buns with the sausage sticking out the end and after several days of seeing hundreds of these posters I am wondering why no one else thinks it looks obscene...
I am sorry, had to say that; 'Weiner Gate' on the American news has nothing on these posters, zip it up guys!
This is what you look like after too many hot dogs
Vikings appear all over, well, the Dane version. I hope they are not playing anything by Bieber or Gaga.
Lots of old fountains and squares... Hard to believe we are so north...
The graffiti spoils this one
I like street cafes...
This building must be very old, the glass is hand made, nicely uneven
The city has an endless supply of little harbours and mini canals from its sheletered position in the Baltic Sea
Lots of church spires
More Danes looking for a hot dog on the way to church and wielding an axe... Likely because the NRA wasn't invented yet
Beginning to lose light now.... :( Sunrise is around 4am, sunset after 10pm.
This street cafe and startled patron was not for naught. Look at the little space heater thing, flames rise in the glass tube inside the metal frame... I like those
This is a popular old Brit Pub, quite a few Brits here it looks like
Back in Nyhavn
This is the Kings Palace
Ooh, getting dark.... Jeff will like this picture...
I always wanted a Citroen car when I was a kid, the new ones are less stylish...
And here are the Danish "S" trains.... Newer than the Berlin ones, but the digital displays are cute, every seat has one above it too, so if the seat is reserved it is marked, etc etc. The underground Metro is small here, though they are digging all over to expand it, not like the Berlin U-bahn underground, huge...
Oresundstag means don't eat the hot dogs or you will be sorry
Gut Nacht. I think I feel feverish...
- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on pictures for larger version and gallery.
Didn't I get sick on week one of my last trip?
Berlin's Tegel airport is a bit chaotic and has no metro, only bus! Ewwwww a bus.. LOL. Really they are better than home, I am the only one drunk and coughing on everyone and I cannot smell any urine or vomit.... They closed Templehof airport, I prob. should have flown into Schonefeld, but Tegel was it, took me a half hour to find the right check in desk.... I decipher from the news they are planning a massive new BER airport coded monstrosity to replace it all, sounds good to me they may have better shops and cafe's while waiting... Waited in a pretty boring post security area, with one cafe and one shop, left lots of germs everywhere - imagine the movie Seven Monkeys and you're on the right track - by the time I get back to Canada, I am sure Moose Flu will be in all the newspapers laying Europe low.... This flight to Luxembourg, yes take it thank you, Ankara, there you go buy some Kleenex - Stuttgart can have a dose too because you never gave me a Mercedes Benz from that never ending production line, fresh flu flow in courtesy Lufthansa. Not that you would want a Benz after traveling in Europe, they are Taxis here, the C and D classes at least. How many people lust after a German Taxi? I would take one, I know :) But is true they are known as the 'Taxis of Europe.' I would really like another Audi.
Oh well, I was numb for most of the flight, only 45 minutes, then on to hotel number 2 in Copenhagen, which was cheap but is a bit out of the way.... My suitcase is now exactly 20kg which is the max weight for my cheapo ticket (thanks Terry for the bag scale thing, very handy,) so I should not collect much more...
Checked in, slept for a couple of hours to dislodge the tranqs then off into town.... Tivoli Garden had huge crouds so did not go in, it is mostly a fun fair and I am more scared than the kids of their rides...
Town Hall, as you can see the weather is still on off cloudy with sunny breaks and cooler than Berlin by 10 degrees.... Cooler than when I left Copenhagen a few days back too
Ok, so why take a pic of hot dogs.... Well these hot dog sellers are all over, literally hundreds, the pork biz is huge in Denmark, we always bought Danish Bacon; but they have the Dutch and German idea of unsliced buns with the sausage sticking out the end and after several days of seeing hundreds of these posters I am wondering why no one else thinks it looks obscene...
I am sorry, had to say that; 'Weiner Gate' on the American news has nothing on these posters, zip it up guys!
This is what you look like after too many hot dogs
Vikings appear all over, well, the Dane version. I hope they are not playing anything by Bieber or Gaga.
Lots of old fountains and squares... Hard to believe we are so north...
The graffiti spoils this one
I like street cafes...
This building must be very old, the glass is hand made, nicely uneven
The city has an endless supply of little harbours and mini canals from its sheletered position in the Baltic Sea
Lots of church spires
More Danes looking for a hot dog on the way to church and wielding an axe... Likely because the NRA wasn't invented yet
Beginning to lose light now.... :( Sunrise is around 4am, sunset after 10pm.
This street cafe and startled patron was not for naught. Look at the little space heater thing, flames rise in the glass tube inside the metal frame... I like those
This is a popular old Brit Pub, quite a few Brits here it looks like
Back in Nyhavn
This is the Kings Palace
Ooh, getting dark.... Jeff will like this picture...
I always wanted a Citroen car when I was a kid, the new ones are less stylish...
And here are the Danish "S" trains.... Newer than the Berlin ones, but the digital displays are cute, every seat has one above it too, so if the seat is reserved it is marked, etc etc. The underground Metro is small here, though they are digging all over to expand it, not like the Berlin U-bahn underground, huge...
Oresundstag means don't eat the hot dogs or you will be sorry
Gut Nacht. I think I feel feverish...
- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on pictures for larger version and gallery.
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