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. 

Day 1 - The Trip Begins in Copenhagen

Welcome back to the blog! It's been awhile but I'm on a trip again and I want to share my experiences with you all yet again. This time around I am traveling through Denmark and Sweden with my dad on our first and hopefully not last big trip together. We flew Air Berlin from NYC JfK - a hugely big thank you to Peter and Vicki for picking us up at the airport, putting us up for the night, and ferrying us back to the airport the next afternoon! It was a seriously animal pantry, lobby your Mom kind of thing to do (inside jokes) and we appreciated it.
Air Berlin was typical of the European airlines. Flight attendants with charming accents, plenty of free alcohol, and a good selection of movies and shows to watch. Dad and I both enjoyed Anchorman 2 on our flight over and our meals weren't too bad either. My only gripe is that there is zero leg room on their planes and their seat backs recline pretty far - farther I think than I've ever seen. And of course the lady in front of me kept hers cranked back the whole flight. I couldn't get out of my seat without giving it a good shoulder check - which I delighted in doing everytime. Passive-aggressive airline funtime!
After a short layover in Dusseldorf, we flew on to Copenhagen and landed about an hour later. One checked bag retrieval, one bathroom break, and one train ride later we were disembarking at Copenhagen's central station - a terrifically medieval looking place but with chandeliers. It was still mid morning here so we dropped our bags off at the hotel and went and started exploring the Christianshavn area south of central Copenhagen. We went inside the Christians Church, walked along the river, and stopped for danishes at a bakery before making our way over to the Vor Frelsers Church which had a famous spire that is open to the public that I wanted to go to the top of.
And what a spire! And what a church! Absolutely beautiful and with spiraling spire, it had a touch of the fantastic. the spiral on the outside of the spire was actually the top portion of the stairs and let me tell you, climbing the ladders up through the belfry past bells that tolled the quarter hours up to the roof and the walking up that spiralling, narrowing stair up to the sky was pretty crazy. Very fun experience. Dad sat that one out, as 400 stairs was quite a lot.
After that we walked over to Christiana, the hippie commune that lives off the grid and has its own way of doing things. It was mostly a lot of food trucks repurposed as mobile head shops and old warehouses repurposed as hash and pot bars. Interesting but not really our scene. However, the rain intensified there so we spent a lot of time standing under tents avoiding getting soaked until we at last got ourselves to a bar for a couple Carlsbergs.
Eventually we left Christiana, and Christianshavn via the roads along the canals and back up to central Copenhagen. We explored the Slotshomen area (Danish government seat) and took an elevator to the top of the parliamentary building for another bird's eye view of Copenhagen. This time Dad joined me. Checked into our tiny, tiny hotel room at Cabinn City Hotel and got ourselves situated before heading back out for a hell of a meal at Frk. Barners Kaelder (Mrs. Barner's Cellar).
Whew! Ready to call it a night!

Germany Day 10 & 11: Going, Going, Gone

After going to bed late we slept in again this morning and took our time getting ready. Once we were up at put together we all decided to go out for a walk. Doris took us into the nature preserve again near her place although this time we walked a different route and came upon a large enclosed pasture full of deer. They looked like caribou or reindeer in the way that they were small but had impressive, fuzzy antlers. Doris said that they weren't reindeer but something else that she didn't know the name of in english.

Anyway we watched the deer for awhile before heading back to the apartment but rather than go straight in we decided to take a walk around in her neighborhood. We found a little corner ice cream shop. Feeling adventurous I tried a double scoop of Zitron and Waldmeister. Zitron was lemon and was delicious - I love lemon ice cream and I don't understand why it isn't popular in the states. Waldmeister was unidentifiable. It may have been vanilla and lime or it may have been vanilla and irish cream, whatever it was the flavor got lost in the lemon. It looked pretty though.

After our walk and ice cream we all piled into Doris' car and headed out to meet her son Norbert and her sister Renate for dinner at a Turkish restaurant. It was a pretty good meal although there was a snafu with the ordering and I think the waiter got confused and put a plate of calamari in front of me when I thought I had ordered the curried chicken. I asked if there was some sort of mixup but no one seemed to know so I started eating it thinking it was my dinner. It turned out that Norbert had ordered the calamari in addition to his dish but wasn't sure if I had ordered it too. Stupid language barrier! I felt bad but everyone else thought it was pretty funny. Luckily I didn't eat ALL of it.

After dinner we spent a quiet evening at Doris' place because Kirsten and I had to be up the next morning at 4 to catch our flight home.

Fast forward to the next morning. Up with the sun. We sleepily say our goodbyes to Hedda and Kendra who were leaving on Wednesday and sleepily make our way to the airport. Many thank yous to Doris for driving us. I slept for the flight to Amsterdam and we made our connection to Newark there without any problems. I was surprised to see that they are still doing the additional screening and containment of passengers at the gates for all flights to the US. They have TSA agents manning metal detectors and xray machines and asking each passenger questions about their carry ons. Yes it's as inefficient and annoying as it sounds. But we did make a stop at the duty free shop to purchase a bottle to declare to customs and this time we thought Aquavit would be a good choice since we drank so much at the wedding reception and before with Roland and Susi at their place.

Our Continental flight to Newark was just as bad as it was coming. No delays this time but we did get split up again - I don't know if it's because we keep using the site like travelocity or because it was a codeshare with Lufthansa but getting split up keeps happening to us and for some reason we aren't given the opportunity to switch our seats around. I got an aisle seat with a broken tv monitor a restless infant next to me and a restless leg behind me an overactive bladder next to me and a headrest all the way down in front of me. Fortunately I had a book to read, sudoku and crosswords to do and sleep to catch up on or it would have been a completely miserable flight.

We arrived in New Jersey about 11:30, survived the severe scrutiny by our customs officials, and caught the train into the city. Since the train took me to Penn Station, I just went upstairs to work for five hours while Kirsten went home.

So that was our awesome trip to Germany! We had a great time traveling around with Hedda and Kendra as well as with Ingrid and Doris in Berlin. Also extra special thanks to Doris and Roland and Susi and their kids for putting us up, feeding us, and taking us around Hamburg, out to Heide Park, the soccer game, and to the Hofbrauhaus. Hopefully we can return the favor to you someday soon. And of course best wishes to the newlyweds, Volker and Christine who probably are not reading this since they're on their honeymoon but we hope we'll see you again soon too.

Until our next adventure. . . Prost!

Germany Day 9: White Wedding Part Zwei

Okay, so obviously we're back home now and getting caught up with our normal lives but that doesn't mean that I've forgotten about the conclusion of our German trip! Nope, far from it! So now to relate our last two days in the Hanseatic State of Hamburg:

We all slept in after our night out with Susi and Roland and then spent most of the day packing up and getting ourselves ready for the reception. After the reception, Roland and Susi along with their kids were heading off on an international journey of their own to Denmark so Kendra, Kirsten, and I would be spending our last two nights in Doris' living room.

So by three we were all dressed and loaded into the car and went over to Doris' place, dropped off our luggage and picked up Hedda and Doris and headed to the reception, which was being held at a nice banquet hall overlooking a pond somewhere south of Hamburg. The first half of the reception was standard fare. There were drinks and mingling out on the terrace before hand and then we all went inside for the dinner. Kirsten and I were seated at a table with some of Volker and Christine's english speaking friends which was nice of them, their friends were also very nice and mostly spoke in English so we could follow along even though they were not completely confident in their abilities in the language. And as the night went on our table seemed to become party central with our new German friends ordering round after round of schnapps. Mostly a liquor called Aquavit which is actually Scandanavian and has a very odd aging process. The load it up onto boats and ship it to Australia and then back. Apparently the length of time at sea and the motion of the ocean help give the liquor it's unusual flavor.

The dinner was very nice, we started with a white tomato soup with truffles followed by a main course of steak, potatoes, and vegetables in a red wine sauce, and a hazelnut mousse type dessert. One thing that was interesting was that before and after each course was served a representative from one of the tables would stand up and give a speech or toast to bride and groom and room at large.

After dinner the DJ put on her music and there was dancing and more mingling out on the terrace. At one point the Hamburger SV soccer mascot came by so everyone could get a photo with him and everyone sang the HSV Forever and Ever song. Volker and Christine also did this thing where they sat back to back with one of their shoes and one of the other person's shoes in their hands and were asked questions that they had to respond to by raising the corresponding shoe. Questions like, who is the jealous one? Who does the dishes? Who is good with money? Who is messy? Etc. If they agreed most of the time it was said that their marriage would last. Volker and Christine got a 75% so pretty good odds.

They served cake and currywurst at midnight and we finally left to go back to Hamburg at about 1:30 while the party was still going strong and got back to Doris' place an hour later. Another late night for us!

And I'm sure you're wondering, "Currywurst? What's that?" Well we've been told by quite a few people that it's the junkfood of choice in northern Germany and we had tried it in Berlin and prior to the soccer game with mixed results. The stuff in the crock pot at the reception was quite good though. Essentially it seems that it is summer sausage (or whatever the equivalent is) is cut up and stewed in hot cocktail sauce with curry powder mixed in. Now obviously there are some nuances to making good currywurst and it seems to be similar to getting a coney dog in Detroit or a slice of pizza here in New York - there are lots of places out there selling it and most aren't very good, but when you find a good place you don't go anywhere else.

Germany Day 8: White Wedding

Today was Volker and Christine's wedding day so we got all dressed up and drove into the city.  The ceremony was being held at the Town Hall or Rathaus which was built in the late 1800s and is very ornate - equivalent to many state capitol buildings and more richly decorated than even some of those.  The ceremony itself was held in a special room upstairs which has to be reserved a year in advance.  Although the ceremony was in German and was fairly brief, Hedda, Doris, and Susi all explained the gist of what was said and it was all fairly standard although the officiant did take a little bit of time to explain some of the artifacts in the room.  Of interest was an unexploded bomb that would have destroyed the Rathaus if it had gone off.

After the wedding and all the photos were taken, there was a champagne toast out on the plaza in front of the Rathaus followed by a brief reception at Volker and Christine's apartment.  The official reception will be tomorrow.

The rest of the afternoon was spent being lazy.  Roland, Kendra, and I watched Shoot Em Up - a ridiculous, over the top, action movie while Kirsten napped.  Roland tried to teach me how to juggle - not successful, at least not yet, and in general we just putzed around.

Later, Roland, Susi, Kendra, Kirsten, and I went out to the Beach Club on the Elbe while Chrissi, Caro, and Karden went to stay with Susi's parents for the night.  It was a nice little beach area with cabanas and a large deck with tiki torches, a bonfire, and lots of chairs and benches from which to watch the big container ships cruise up and down the river while drinking beer and eating pizza.  So we did that for awhile.  Then we left to go back downtown for a bit but not before I took a trip down a giant slide we found just outside the parking lot.

The drive back into the city took us through the Reeperbahn - the red light district which mostly looked touristy and a little predatory.  However Roland did point out this back alley that was all walled off with a lot of neon red light coming from the other side and a huge pack of people surrounding that was for men only.  The fact that it was walled off was rather creepy and disturbing.  But eventually we settled for having drinks at the Hofbrauhaus - an outpost of the Munich original.  Aside from Susi - who was our driver for the evening - we all ordered giant liters of beer that came in enormous mugs that at first we wanted to buy but then realized it would take a lot of bottles of beer to fill.  We also ordered some sort of delicious dessert that was sort of like a coffee cake but was cut up and jumbled with some nuts and other things.  So we ate our dessert, drank our beer, listened to the band play German folk music (with a few American songs thrown in) and watched some of the people around us - making up stories for them and just generally having a great time.

After our liters of beer we were feeling quite full so we drove back to the house and sat around for a bit trading stories and laughs until we finally went to bed after 2am.