Chapter 3: Copenhagen (July 15):

We arrived in Copenhagen at 8:00 a.m. for our first port of call. Mom & I didn’t have any pre-booked shore excursions and walked the mile from the ship into the center of the city. The most famous landmark of Copenhagen is the mermaid statue and we still don’t get it? Its weather worn brass and about three feet tall, you’d have thought it was the Mona Lisa as the crowd to get a picture was a mob scene. On the way back several tour buses were lined up to letting off tourists to get a picture. If you’re reading this before seeing the photos I’m sure you’ve already jumped ahead to get a peek at the masterpiece! We walked to a 16th century castle called the Rosenborg Slot where Denmark’s royalty lived whilst ruling the nation. Several armed (machine-guns) guards were posted at the basement treasury where crowns and other jewels were displayed. I apologize for the glare in the pictures as our new camera is smarter than I am and I left the book in California. The good news is I figured it out for the following sites (who’d have thunk it, a lightning bolt icon would mean flash)! The rest of the day we toured the center city visiting several churches and statue sites. In the absolute center of the city was an open air market where we spent the few kroner we had on Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream for lunch. All the streets are cobblestone and our feet were killing us by day’s end. Most of the townspeople get around by bike and every major thoroughfare has a bike lane. We saw women in dresses and businessmen in suites biking to work, now that’s something you don’t see every day in So Cal! Copenhagen was nice but truth be told it was a little underwhelming in terms of things to do (which probably explained why the most popular shore excursion was Tivoli Gardens – an amusement park). The meaning behind today’s musical vibe was the fact we got lost going back to the ship and after a brief panic attack got our bearings straight and headed in the right direction (no thanks to the street signs, or lack thereof). After a long day of walking we had dinner and skipped the late show for bed and a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call to catch the train for Berlin.

Musical vibe for the Chapter: U2: “Where the Streets Have No Name”
Towel Fun: Seal