Bali Bound

Day 3 Wow, how is it already day 3 and a new country?  It really feels like this trip is flying by already. Hamlet castle in Denmark, viewed from ferry Today we're leaving Copenhagen behind and heading to our next destination of Oslo, Norway.  Norway isn't actually attached to Denmark so we will be driving through some of Sweden along the way to get there.  And while they have the very exciting Oresund bridge, that starts as a bridge and then goes underwater as a tunnel to cross from Denmark to Sweden, we're taking the ferry because it's far cheaper and probably just as fast. The ferry is really fast, only 20 minutes.  Barely enough time to get upstairs and get comfortable before you head back down. We've made it to Sweden, and it is actually the 4th largest country in Europe which I did not expect.  It's actually just a little smaller than Alberta, with over twice the population.  I am only seeing a very small part of the country as the Scandi...

The brooder Day 2 Today started with our city tour.  We stopped at the Carlsberg Glypotek to see the brooder statue.  And if you're thinking, hmm, doesn't Carlsberg make beer, you would be correct.  The beer makers in Denmark are big supporters of the arts and Carlsberg contributes a hefty amount of their profit to the arts, hence an art museum.  They had lovely gardens and a variety of statues around the building to enjoy for free. Royal reception room The tour also included the Royal reception rooms of Christiansborg Palace.  These are the actual reception rooms and are quite amazing.  We even had to wear little blue booties to protect the floors.  The rooms aren't overly ornate and covered with gold leaf but are more simple and seem to have a big focus on animal motifs.  I'll be honest, I knew that Denmark has a royal family, but I don't really know much more than that sadly.  The Danes are very prolific as a royal family and ...

Day 1 *note on blogging, many of the Scandinavian words have umlauts, lines through letters, dots and the like.  I have no desire to be so accurate as to spend extra time to insert these properly so I'm not going to.  Also, I didn't write any of that down so I'm not looking it up either!  So if you see things and think 'hey, that should have a line through the o', I'm doing it on purpose.* I survived the Keflavic airport quite nicely.  Usually an hour to change planes is a bad plan when the only back up flight is 12 hours later, but we arrived early and the airport is small and moves you through efficiently.  I was amused on the plane that we were a mere 400 km from Churchill, if we were lower and it was a different time of year maybe I could have spotted some polar bears.  And I feel like in this world of information at our fingertips that perhaps people can do a little research.  Passengers behind me were asking the flight attendant if there was...

Had a busy day today.  One catch with this tour is that you are offered a lot of extras that you have to pay for.  Today's was the castle from Hamlet.  Which I'm sure would have been fabulous but I wanted to spend more time in Copenhagen.  So I did! I saw more of the harbour and the canals on foot.  I went up the round tower for some great city views and I toured Rosenberg palace. And included was a ticket to Tivoli to use when I wanted.  I thought about waiting until it got dark to see it all lit up but I'm leaving early in the morning so I just went and wandered after dinner.  It was an interesting place and I really enjoyed all the gardens there. Tomorrow we head to Oslo, it's a bit of a drive so probably not much for excitement but a rest day is always good too!

I have arrived.  In a quest to maximize time and stave off jetlag I had a busy afternoon.  Because the lesson I learn over and over is that jet lags enemy is motion! I walked down to Nyvahn, I might be spelling that wrong.  I took the fancy pedestrian street there and ended up going on the canal cruise.  It was a great way to see the city from the water. Then we had our welcome dinner.  Tour is small with only 35 people.  Does mean I get my own seat! Tomorrow we are doing a city tour and then I'm exploring the city on my own in the afternoon and evening with a visit to Tivoli, their famous amusement park. Also, I am in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Or as they call it: Kobenhavn, Danmark.  I still haven't really figured out why we still use the English version of names but it helps to figure out both words and go from there.  And they speak good English here to my relief. And if any of this sounds like gibberish I've been awake for 30 hours...

Yes, it is holiday time again.  And yes, it has only been 6 weeks or so.  Just the way things worked out this year.  And happily, by the time I get home spring should be fully here and that will be fabulous. I am heading on another bus tour.  There is really something about the bus tour that I enjoy.  It's well organized, I see a lot and I put in little effort and have a good time. Scandinavia will be 6 countries (I hope) in a little under 2 weeks.  Yikes! I start out in Copenhagen, Denmark; travel to Oslo, Norway; head to Stockholm, Sweden; take an overnight ferry cruise to Helsinki, Finland; a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia; and a stopover courtesy of Icelandair in Reykjavik, Iceland on the way home. I have high hopes for this trip.  It'll be a lot of adventure and I think a nice mix of city with a bit of nature.  And I should get a bit more of a break from my fellow passengers with more free time in the cities. Stay tuned for the adven...