Day 8 - The Long Road Home

After a not very good night's sleep I think I can say that at this time of year the sun does not ever really go away in Stockholm. I don't think it ever got darker than just a deep blue.  Just enough to get the street lights on but not full dark.  Eventually though it was time to get out on the road.  At 4:45 there were still lots of people out coming home from their late nights out.  We caught the express train (normal trains weren't running yet) out to Arlanda airport which was a zoo.  You'd think Stockholm would have a nice, efficient airport but no, things were moving so slowly they had to hold the plane for us and a couple other passengers who were trying to get through security after dropping off their bags.  Crazy!

Once on the plane I promptly passed out and woke up in Copenhagen which has an incredibly efficient airport - except for where people come out of the baggage claim, that is a nasty bottleneck.  But their security area I think is the biggest I've ever seen, it seems to occupy an entire floor of the main terminal building.  But anyway, after a snack we boarded flight number two to Dusseldorf via Air Berlin again.  And again I managed to sleep through the flight.

Our layover in Dusseldorf was about 5 hours so we decided to catch the train into the city and find a place to have lunch.  The area around the train station wasn't too nice and it was pretty dead on a Sunday so we ended up walking maybe a bit over a mile over to the old town area before we found any action.  It seemed to us that on our walk the canal that runs north/south through central Dusseldorf separates the nice and touristy side from the less nice, dead-on-a-Sunday area.  The old town area was very nice and crowded due to some festival going on.  We found a place that seemed alright if not a little seedy and the food was okay.  But the trip out was worth it to see what was going on in Dusseldorf.

Heading back to the train we got caught in a sudden and intense rain storm so we were a little bedraggled getting back into the airport.  This one was another efficient one and we had no issues boarding our flight back to the states.  Naturally I got stuck behind a full time seat recline person and naturally I gave it a few good shoulder checks.  I watch Desolation of Smaug and The Lego Movie, both were enjoyable.  We spent the night with Peter and Vicki again and tomorrow we are flying back to our respective homes.  Trip over!  What a great one!  Hope you enjoyed reading.

Day 7 - Our Last Day in Scandinavia

We slept in as late as we could and still make it to breakfast which was a pretty good spread.  Nothing as fancy as what was served in Gothenburg but still plenty to eat with eggs, bacon, sausage, and the usual Scandinavian breads, jams, meats, cheeses, and yogurts, as well as some pickled herring - which I tried, and caviar in a tube - which I did not try.  The pickled herring was something that I decided I didn't want in my mouth again.  And since we had a fridge up in the room we were able to make ourselves a little breakfast for tomorrow.  Score!

After breakfast we rode the metro down to Gamla Stan to see the changing  of the guard at the royal palace. We got there a little early so we walked around a bit, tried one of the famous Swedish cinnamon buns with salt - okay but the tartlets are crazy better, and took some pictures.  Dad was given a firm hand up, "Halt!" from one of the guards when he got too close to a cannon so we parked ourselves behind some barricades while we waited for the day's relief guards to arrive.  And they arrived with much pomp and banners and barking of orders.  It reminded me of the changing of the guard at Arlington cemetery only with a band.

We then went out and wandered Gamla Stan which is really beautiful and old world. Lots of narrow twisting cobblestone lanes and unfortunately lots of tourists.  It was a relief to find a lane that didn't have any shops so you could spread out a bit and enjoy the ambiance.  We both bought some souvenirs for family members and then stopped for a beer at the very cool Medusa Rock Bar which had an enormous underground space that was probably pretty awesome  during the peak bar going hours.

After our beer we walked up to the central city again, past Swedish Parliament, and through their formal gardens to ride the metro over to the western island.  I mainly wanted to see the stations along the blue line which were just blasted out of the ock, fireproofed, and turned over to local artists to decorate on a grand scale and boy were they cool.  The first one looked like an underground grotto with ruins and streams and plants (probably fake since we were so far down) and another was painted a deep red and had these huge columns flanking the escalator portal.

We then walked around the very sleepy western island down to the waterfront to sit a spell and watch the city before heading back.  We dropped off our things and went down the street to a steak place for our last dinner.  Except neither of us had steak.  Dad had a burger - which he ate with a fork and knife like everyone else, and I had the lamb.  Both were good, not great.  We then left, got some dessert next door.  Ice cream and cake and headed back to our hotel to pack and go to bed, we have another long day tomorrow.

I feel I should also mention here that Stockholm is beautiful.  The city was built on a vast archipelago and is actually a series of islands, small and large, all connected.  There is so much waterfront that you really can't escape it.  Some of the islands are also quite hilly like Sodermalm with dramatic bedrock cliffs rising straight up from the water's edge.  The only real disappointment was the central city which had a lot of brutalist and uninspired modern buildings occupying entire blocks.  You could still find beautiful spots here and there but it was not as stunning as when you got out and into the surrounding neighborhoods and islands.

Day 6 - There's Lots to Do in Stockholm

We left Gothenburg very early this morning via train and headed over to Stockholm.  The journey took us about three hours and I spent most of it updating the blog - I was behind a day or so. I also managed to slip in a quick nap as well.  The scenery was similar to Denmark, rolling hills, a few lakes, and farms as well as a few cities that we passed through.  It was very pretty but nothing exotic.  There was a notable absence of wind turbines though, perhaps that area we travelled through didn't get the same wind as Denmark did.

We arrived in Stockholm at about 10am and lugged our bags up to the hotel Scandic Norra which was very nice.  It had the most spacious room out of the three we stayed in and a partitioned off shower, which was something we didn't have in Gothenburg or Copenhagen.  Forturnately they had a room available when we checked in so we didn't have to store our bags anywhere.  So we dropped them off, freshened up, and sallied forth on our way to the last of the amusement parks on the itinerary, Grona Lund.

Grona Lund is located in Djursgarden, sort of Stockholm's version of Central Park.  We decided to walk over to the tram that would take us there rather than do the maze of transfers that the trip would require with the metro.  It was a bit of a hike though and we stopped along the way at a hot dog cart to have a French hot dog.  Which is sort of like a bagel dog where they slip the weiner into a roll that has a hole at one end which the vendor has lubed up with various condiments of your choosing.  Totally how the French would eat a hot dog. We also were amused by the posters that we encountered here of a man named Steve Aoki and another man named Afrojack who were promoting something called Big Slap.

The tram took us along a canal and over a very decorative bridge and into the garden and along to Grona Lund.  Along with hundreds of other people.  This would be the most crowded park on the trip and after Dad and I rode Twister, which was so twisted he could do no mas, I had to switch over to professional amusement park patron Kyle.

I then rode Broom, a witch themed suspended coaster that, while short, had some great near-misses with surrounding brooms, a random fire explosion and a tunnel through the upper floors of the witch's house.  Then I rode their Wild Mouse, which was the most free form, custom wild mouse I had ever been on.  It was so convoluted that  I had no idea which way I was going.

Grona Lund occupies a very small amount of real estate right on Stockholm Harbor and so their rides tend to be stacked up on top of other rides and intertwined with other rides.  Four of their five coasters are built on pretty much the same little corner of the park going in and out and around and over each other while maintaining space below for park walkways, midway games, restaurants and a huge spookhouse.

After Wild Mouse I noticed that Jetline was down - probably because it was a hot day and it was overshooting its brakes.  So I had to suck it up and tackle Insane next.  Insane is the only coaster there that stands off on it's own and as a ride it's sort of difficult to explain.  The track travels only in a two dimensional vertical plane.  The lift takes you straight to the top level and you twist and turn your way down from there.  The cars are mounted on the side of the track and hold four riders on a side, two facing each direction if the car is level.  Which it isn't.  As it travels through the track the car spins randomly like a tilt a whirl according to its momentum flipping riders end over end in sometimes as many as three somersaults in a row.  It is incredibly dizzying and you can't see where you are going and as the ride drops suddenly down to each level it is completely unnerving.  It was a crazy terrific ride but a little bit gimmicky.  And I only had the fortitude to do it once, despite only having a ten minute line.

After Insane I noticed that Jetline had reopened so I hopped on that.  This was another thoroughly enjoyable and twisted ride and as the older coaster in the park, it formed the basis for which all the other coasters were designed.  

I met up with Dad having conquered the coasters and we decided to do their massive fun house.  It probably took  us twenty minutes to get through it and featured shifting stairs - three flights just to get in, moving walkways, spinning barrels, a mirror maze, and an enormous wooden slide that you go down on a rug.  We both came out of there with big smiles and I was proud to get through the spinning barrel without losing any skin (see my Australian trip report on Sydney's Luna Park).

Dad then went to go hang out in one of the park's beer gardens while I finished up.  I took a ride on their two dark rides.  One themed to fairies forming a civilization.  At least that's what I think was going on until the last scene where the fairy queen leaned out of her royal carriage and vomited.  Then I got a bit confused.  The other dark ride was the Ghost Train spook house which was pretty awesome.  It had some great gags and even made me jump a few times.

I then rode their Star Flyer, a four hundred foot tall beast that was erected on the roof of the park arcade.  I didn't get hassled by any Scotsmen this time and was a paired up with a fellow wearing an OKC Thunder shirt.  I asked him if he was from the US and he said no, he had studied abroad at Florida State and took a cross country road trip and stopped for an NBA game in Oklahoma City.  We continued talking and he pointed out a lot of sights and sites from our vantage point.  Or tried to, as we got up to top speed it became a little hard to get a fix on distant objects.

I took one more spin on Jetline and called it good, happy to end my coaster riding for the trip at the hands of my favorite designer, Anton Schwarzkopf.  Then Dad and I walked up to the Vasa Museum which I wasn't too keen on because my guidebook, while saying it was good, wasn't terribly convincing.  But it ended up being a very cool facility and exhibit.

The Vasa was a huge ship - a Titanic of it's time that sank in mild winds twenty minutes after its maiden launch in Stockholm harbor several hundred years ago.  They found it in the middle of last century and were able to raise it up more or less in one piece and spent the next twenty some years preserving it and constructing a huge climate controlled exhibit hall to house it.  The ship itself was amazing but what made the visit worth it was all the cultural stuff they discovered as they uncovered it and were able to piece together a very thorough account of what life was like back then as a sailor.  The story about how much effort was spent in preserving it was also pretty humbling as well as it has taken decades of work since its location was first discovered.  It's worth a visit.

After that we took the tram back into the central city and hopped the metro over to Sodermalm - a large island to the south where we first made our way through the streets up the hills to a lovely park overlooking the harbor and the city on the other side.  It was a terrific view and seemed to be enjoyed only by the locals.  From there we walked back down the hill and almost to the south end of Sodermalm and settled on a dinner at Hosteria Tre Conti, an Italian place in a slightly run down neighborhood.  The food was good although Dad won with his cheese stuffed, prosciutto-wrapped, chicken breasts over my seafood pasta that required some final preparation on my part.  There were a few dead eyes that stared forlornly up at me from my plate.

From there we walked back north up Gotgatan, Sodermalm's main drag up to Gamla Stan - the old town on it's own island in the middle of the city.  We were looking for a metro station back to our hotel but got distracted by a tasty smelling bakery.  So we parked ourselves there and had a chocolate mousse pie, a chocolate canoli, and a lime tartlet.  The lime tartlet was something else, I think it was a sponge cake with a large amount of whipped cream on top of it all wrapped up in a thick layer of lime flavored marscapone.  I would very much like to have this again so I will now be on the lookout for Swedish bakeries wherever I go.

After that we caught the metro back up to our hotel and I had a beer and watched soccer in the lobby while Dad did some emailing next to me.  Then up to our room where we somehow found the energy to skype with our family before going to bed.  Crazy long day but loads of fun.  Tomorrow is our last day and there's still so much to see!

Day 5 - A Day in Gothenburg

This morning we woke up for a only full day in Gothenburg.  We started off with a very nice breakfast in the top floor of the hotel which was the attic and had lots of little nooks and crannies and was crammed full of interesting things.  Breakfast was also Parisian themed with omelette and fancy cheeses and fruits and baguettes.  After breakfast we caught our street car down to Liseberg and spent the next four hours there.  Liseberg was another really old park but they had made quite an effort to keep things more modern so it felt a lot like an urbanized Hersheypark - lots of history and charm alongside some very modern rides.  After Tivoli and Bakken it was a bit of an adjustment and once I had adjusted the crowds had arrived in force.  Where I had ten minutes waits for rides I now had an hour and ten minutes so we left at that point.  But during those four hours we had a very good time.  Dad took advantage of the pay-per-ride program they have there and only rode Balder with me - their wooden coaster, which is considered to be the best in Europe.  It was an outstanding ride and will also probably crack my top ten as well.  Dad also went on the Hotel Gasten spook house with me which was an additional fee but featured live actors and was easily the best walk-through spookhouse I've ever done.  The sets were amazing and the actors all did a very good job.

I also rode the log flume which had a cool triple drop down the hill, the gigantic ferris wheel, and the very bizarre fairy tale dark ride which was similar to the Hans Christian Andersen one at Tivoli but even more abbreviated.  The other three coasters beside Balder that I rode were Cannon which was a small hydraulic launch coaster with a loop and barrel roll.  It was fun but rough and blessedly short.  And their two hillside coasters.  Liseberg Railroad which was one of my favorite coaster designers last projects and also one of his biggest. It was very fast and wove through the woods and over rock outcroppings and around other rides - probably a top twenty ride for me.  And their newest coaster, Helix, which opened this year.  Helix was very fast and very loopy but seemed to lack any focus, it just sped around the side of the hill from one end to the other and just sort of felt like it was going in random directions.  I knew the layout of the ride but I was still confused while riding it about just what was going on.  It was one of the crazier coasters I've ridden and may ALSO be a top ten for me!  So for those keeping track, Liseberg has three insanely good coasters.

And to top that off, Gothenburg is a very beautiful city.  Out of the now five northern European cities I've been to (London, Hamburg, Berlin, and Copenhagen{Paris doesn't count because it feels so different from those other cities}) I would put Gothenburg at the top.  It's hilly, beautiful buildings, tree-lined streets, lots of large parks, canals, plus the ever present streetcar.  It was a really nice place and I wished I had a more time to explore.  Which is what Dad and I did after we left Gothenburg.

We walked back to the hotel taking a meandering route through the neighborhoods south of downtown oohing and ahhing as we turned each corner and saw another cool sight open up.  We also saw an enormous tournament being played in a park of a game that was unfamiliar to us.  It seemed similar to Australian rules Football but the turf court was only a bit bigger than a basketball court.  The players had to dribble the ball but not as frequently as in basketball in the middle of the court but once they passed what looked like a 3-point arc in basketball they switched to rugby and they could run with the ball but the defense could tackle them as well.  It appeared that the object of the game was to throw the ball into a net minded by a goalie similar to water polo.  It looked like a fun sport one that would have been fun to play with the kids in the neighborhood growing up.

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel.  We freshened up, made dinner reservations, and went up to the hotel bar on the roof for a beer.  Now for this trip it was about this time where time seems to get a bit wonky.  Up until about four in the afternoon time seems to go by normally but right at about four the sun seems to stop moving and the light just does not change, at all, for the next six hours.  Our dinner reservations were for 7:30 and when we went in it felt like it was about 6.  When we left an hour and a half later it still felt like 6.  And when we got back to our hotel after doing some more wandering around in downtown Gothenburg at about 10:15 - it still felt like 6. The sun sets around 11 and goes down fast.  It only takes about 15 to 20 minutes to go to full dark.  It's very weird.

Anyway, dinner was at a place called Smaka which was a Swedish place south of downtown near the university and it was very tasty.  We both had meatballs with lingonberries and mashed potatoes.  Dad also had a salad and I had a little salmon tartare.  It was good and also came with a little caviar which I hadn't had before.  My unsophisticated palate thought they tasted like little jelly beans filled with salty goo.  Good when mixed in with something but not so great by themselves.

We leave for Stockholm early tomorrow morning so a packing I will go.

Day 4 - Road Trip!

We left Copenhagen early this morning via rental car (Ford Fiesta) and headed for the mainland.  It seems that automatics are still considered a luxury in this country as the price to rent one was very high.  So we didn't.  Once we got out of the city we stopped for breakfast at a McDonalds along the way although this particular McDonalds was more like a Panera Bread with danishes and throw pillows.  Dad went for a couple cinnamon rolls and I had a sausage mcmuffin (on whole wheat)!

After that we proceeded along to our park for the day, Djurs Sommerland.  The landscape along the drive seemed similar to the midwest, rolling hills with lots of farms and some forests here and there. They like their wind turbines though as you couldn't look anywhere at any time at all along the drive without seeing at least one.  They weren't really in big wind farms they were just sort of plopped down wherever.  Some where in a straight line for awhile but otherwise it seemed pretty random.  We also drove across two suspension bridges,

one being the Great Belt Bridge which has the third longest main span of any bridge and is the longest span of any bridge outside of Asia. It's a biiiiiiiig bridge.

Djurs Sommerland was a very nice park sort of out in the country and it was a bit on the crowded side.  Nothing too bad but since we were on a tight schedule it did cramp our style a bit.  Well, it cramped my style. The park felt like a big park with rides and it was laid out that the themed areas (Pirates, Central American jungle, American West, African Jungle, etc.) formed a ring around an enormous open area with play structures, hundreds of trampolines both for individuals or large groups, swings of varying size, pedal powered cars, slides, and lots of other things that would have been tremendously fun if I was ten years old.  I did jump on a trampoline or two though. As for the rides I only had time for a couple laps on each of the four coasters before we had to move on.  Thor's Hammer was a fun freeform wil mouse type ride that had some rough spots.  Treasure Island was a water coaster that had some steeps twisting dives before splashing down into a big lagoon.  Dad rode this one with me and enjoyed it.  Jewel was a launched coaster themed to riding in an ATV and Dad rode this one with me too.  It was a very surprising ride as I didn't expect it to go as fast as it did but it really gained a lot of power coming out of the second launch and you really haul tail through the second half of the ride.  Dad loved it but was done for the day after that.  Fortunately he rode Pirate first, the park's standout coaster and my main reason for hitting this park.  It's only 100 feet high but it packs a crazy punch into those hills and turns.  It was easily a top ten ride for me and may even end up in my top three and being that at the time I rode it I was at 310 roller coasters ridden, it was a very good ride indeed!

After we left Djurs Sommerland we were going to attempt to get to Farup Sommerland which was supposed to be a little under two hours away but a combination of google maps drive time estimates being too optimistic, and an apparent language barrier in Frederikshavn where we would be dropping the rental off, taking a cab into town, and catching the ferry made me decide that we just wouldn't have enough time at the park if we wanted to actually be on the ferry and we should just get to Frederikshavn and play it safe.  And as predicted Frederikshavn was not very English friendly despite being a major port town.  We had a very tough time finding the rental place even though I had mapped it out we still had to circle a few times before we found it - it was in a Volvo dealership - and the man had left for the day.  So we left our keys with a salesman who we also had to have arrange a taxi come pick us up and take us to the ferry. And then began a series of "coulda had a V8" blunders where we were forgetting things or losing things so we figured we must be very hungry and tired so we walked from the ferry terminal into the downtown which was pretty deserted and our options seemed to be Italian or Mexican - there were three Italian-Mexican places doing business.  So we found one and had a pizza each and felt a lot better. Every trip has its nadir and hopefully Frederikshavn was ours.

The ferry to Sweden was enormous!  I have never been on a ship that big.  As we were walking back we were astounded by how many trucks and cars were lined up to drive on, I still have no idea how they all fit.  The top three decks were for passengers with the topmost one being open air.  There were restaurants, bars, a game room with ping pong and foosball, a small movie theater, cabins, a large duty free shop where people were purchasing huge amounts of alcohol so much so that when we were disembarking we saw one family carrying their two sleeping children while they used the stroller to carry out at least twenty cases of beer.  We figured perhaps they were selling itor were stocking up for a couple years but with how much people were buying, perhaps alcohol in Sweden is taxed at a very high rate.  It does appear from our receipts that sales tax on general merchandise and food is 25%.  Yes, twenty-five.  But that it also is included in the price so there isn't an awful shock when you get rung up.

We found a couple chairs by the window and promptly fell asleep.  I woke up before Dad and decided to go explore a bit and get a snack.  The top deck was very slippery and my feet went out from under me and I landed on my back.  Fortunately I had my backpack on so that cushioned the blow a bit but it hurt.  I sat up with a lot of eyes on me so I gave them a friendly wave and got back up on my feet.

We pulled into Gotherburg at about 11:20 and caught a street car into the downtown area where our hotel was.  The Hotel Robinson which was part of a 1920s Parisian themed complex.  The Hotel Robinson rooms were the ones that hadn't been renovated or were more bare bones than the Palace Hotel and Hotel Pigalle but they all shared the same common areas that were all very nice.  Our room was a good size as well so we laid in our beds and to sleep we went. 

Day 3 - Copenhagen By Bike

Today was our last day in Copenhagen so after a hotel breakfast we walked over to the Vesterbro area west of the central station to rent a pair of bicycles for the day.  Copenhagen seems to have the nicest network of bicycle lanes I've ever seen, every road with any pavement markings and even a few without had bicycle lanes - which were separated from the road and the sidewalk by curbs and at intersections, bicyclists have their own signals.  They also have a LOT of cyclists here as well so some roads were quite heavily trafficked.  We managed though and I also found a place that sold memory sticks that fit my camera.  So while I can't download them yet, I can still take pictures!  And that's the imporant thing!

So among our stops were the Marble Church - a beautiful domed church, the Palace, which was surprisingly sleepy, the New Haven canal which was hopping, we rode along the lakes north of the central city, cruised through the Sondermarken park, and made a stop at the Carlsberg Brewery.

Well it was their old brewery.  It seemed that the old man and his son didn't see eye to eye on how to brew Carlsberg so his son opened the New Carlsberg brewery and they competed for many years until the two were consolidated.  The museum was fun and the tasting at the end of the tour was in a very nice courtyard.

After returning the bikes, Dad and I went for a long walk back to the New Haven Canal stopping for dinner at the Cock's and Cows restaurant which I had seen a couple nights ago with a very long line to get in.  It was a burger place and the Danish interpretation of a burger was quite good, however we looked around and saw that everyone was eating them with a knife and fork.  I followed their lead and it sucked, Dad did it American style and had a much better burger experience.  A knife and fork is a lame way to eat a burger, Copenhagen!

We returned via the pedestrian shopping street, Stroget, and got ready for our car trip through Denmark tomorrow.  Until then!

Day 2 - Bakken and Tivoli

This morning we took advantage of a late opening time at Bakken amusement park and slept in and got ourselves a little caught up in sleep.  And after getting ourselves out the door and over to the train station and had a quick fast food brunch at a place called Sunset Blvd we caught the C line over to Klampenborg to check out the park.

It was a very cool park with lots of charm.  It was set in the woods along a river.  We walked around a bit then I got to riding.  I hit up the Wild Mouse first and it was one of the fastest, if not THE fastest I've ridden, it was crazy!  I did the fun house with lots of tilting floors and stairs and a blast of air to end with.  Then I did their flitzer coaster, Racing, which was also fun.  I checked out their spook house which was quite nice and their hunting themed dark ride which wasn't.  Then dad and I did their surprisingly very fast mine train coaster and their big old side friction coaster - which had recently gotten new trains and a computerized ride system so it no longer had brakemen who rode along the ride but it was still a peppy, fast ride with a lot of fun moments.  Then I rode the old wooden coaster and the mine train one more time each and then steeled myself up for a ride on Tornado - their spinning, launched, indoor coaster.

Tornado was awesome!  Once you go over the top you start spinning like mad and the track is so twisted you can't tell where you're going or which way is up!  It was a crazy, crazy ride.  And as soon as it was over I wanted to do it again.  Dad met me at the exit and I was so pumped that he decided he wanted to give it a try too, so off we went.  I chose a seat across from him and it was a riot watching his expressions at the beginning parts of the ride.  But once he got over his initial alarm he had a great time as well!  Go Dad!  After that we sat for a beer in a cafe next to the wooden coaster and people watched.  Finally we caught the train back to the city and took a little break at the hotel.  Well Dad did, I ran out to an electronics store to try to find a means to get my photos downloaded.  No go.  

After I returned we headed out to dinner at Wagamama.  A high end Asian food chain that's all over Europe and it appears they may have opened a place in Boston!  It was very, very good.  We both had delicious chicken curries and I would definitely hit it up again if I find myself near one again.  Very recommended.  Next up was Tivoli Gardens!  An amusement park right in the center of Copenhagen.

It's been said that the park was the inspiration for Disneyland and it is clear that they spared no expense in making things appear as fantastic and fanciful as possible and after the sun starts going down (at about 10:00pm) all the lights start coming on and the lights are all just as fantastic and fanciful as well.  I probably took 100 photos here it was so wonderful.  And as soon as I figure out how to get my pictures off the camera I'll share them with you all. 

The rides at Tivoli didn't disappoint either!  Demon was a nice, twisted looping coaster with a cool helix before the first drop, The Flying Trunk was a nutty rid where you ride in a twisting and turning steamer trunk through a serpentine series of dioramas based on Hans Christian Andersen stories while a recorded monologue gave a VERY condensed version of each story.  It was almost all in Danish but I did recognize The Emporer's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, and the Little Mermaid.  Maybe a few more.  Odin Express was a zippy little mine train that ran it's course three times per ride without stopping in the station.  It was cool but I got some painful high fives from the operator as I went flying by at full speed!

 Starflyer was next and is sort of the new emblem of the park as it's visible from just about anywhere in central Copenhagen.  Imagine your typical amusement park chair swings on a 225 foot tall tower going 40mph and you've got the Starflyer.  I've ridden one before so I knew what was coming, but it's still a rush and you're spinning fast enough up there that you can barely get a fix on the view.  I love them!  And can't wait to try the 400' version in Stockholm!  They were a little over the top with their safety regulations on this ride though as we had to empty our pockets and were individually patted down to ake sure we had everything out of our pockets.  I was a little hesitant to part with my wallet but the ride operator (in a Scottish accent to rival Fat Bastard's) gave me a light sock in the arm and said, "Whut?  Ya wanna kill a wee baybah?  Jus' put it in da bax!"  So I did and all was well.

I did a round on their float through dark ride themed to mining and dragons which was well done and their fun house which was really not.  And then finally Dad and I took a spin on their sCENIC Railroad coaster, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year!  It's an old side friction coaster and has a brakeman who keeps the train from derailing.  It's probably a nutty job because the ride was surprisingly very thrilling and had some great drops and tunnels through a fake Alpine mountain range.  Dad said it was his favorite of the day and I was also quite surprised by it and immediately rode again.  After that we spent the last hour walking around the park enjoying the ambience of the place and caught a closing time light/laser/fire show on the park's pond.  As we walked out we stoped for a beer at the German beer hall across from the train station and technically still in the park.  It was a nice end to a very fun day.  The weather was great (aside from a 20 minute shower while we were at Tivoli), Wagamama was delicious, and the parks were absolutely terrific.