Tuesday, November 19, 2019

July 12, 2019 Odense, Copenhagen

We had another awesome breakfast and took at taxi the train station by noon.  We traveled by train to Odense, about 2 hours west of Copenhagen.  We had lunch near the train station and a park while waiting to be pick up by AnneMarie. 

the Danish like their sandwiches open face
salmon salad

We met AnneMarie 2 years ago when she visited us in the Bahamas with Torben Holm (friends since he was an exchange student at the UofM with me in the 1980’s).  Torben met us at AnneMarie’s home along with his 3 adult children, Maria, Niels and Fia.  We had a wonderful flounder dinner outside in her beautiful yard. 

 
Niels, AnneMarie, Torben, Dave, Maria and Fia (Fifi)

AnneMarie's home


street view from our upstairs room




 Before we left Brunswick Landing Marina, we were talking to friends there about our visit.  Bjarne is from Denmark.  His wife, Deby, has lived there with him many years.  One of her good friends lived only a few blocks from where AnneMarie lived.  So I delivered a hand written note to her friend, actually to her son since she wasn’t home.  Small world. 



July 9-11, 2019 Copenhagen, start of B&B tour

July 9 Tuesday
Today we flew to Copenhagen to start our B&B tour of Europe.  That stands for Bucket list and Budget.  The original plan was to visit our friends in Denmark.  But we decided to extend the vacation/holiday.  We flew on Air Portugal to Lisbon.  They had awesome food.  We had a salmon dinner with free wine.  We had a breakfast sandwich with ham and brie cheese.

breakfast sandwich on the airplane with brie cheese
July 10 Wednesday
We arrived in Lisbon at 1:00am EST which was 6:00am local.  We had about an hour to run through customs and immigration and catch our flight to Copenhagen.  They were very good at moving people through to a short line if you had a connecting flight.
We arrived in Copenhagen at 11:30 am and took a taxi to the Admiral Hotel, which was suggested by our Danish friends.  We walked to the Nyhavn district along the harbor.  We found Dave’s favorite restaurant from about 15 years ago with a herring buffet, Nyhavns Færgekro.  Back to the room for naps.  Then we walked Stroget-the large walking street in Copenhagen.  We had a bite to eat, returned to the hotel for a beer and called it a day.


when the hotel was used for shipping
outside of hotel


some of the original structure

Nyhavn

herring buffet
herring buffet

July 11 Thursday
We made ourselves get up for breakfast to get on the local time.  The breakfast was amazing!!  There were hot and cold meats, cheeses, etc.  All kinds of fruits and breads with a variety of condiments.  There was a couple kinds of yogurts with all the fixings.  There were two dining rooms set up to avoid crowds.  It was very very nice. 
After a nap, we took the subway to a mall to get a SIM card for our phone. We found out it would have been better to get one in the states before we left.  Everyone wanted a local address.  We ended up getting one SIM card that was only good in Denmark.  One interesting thing about their subway:  there were areas marked on the floor on either side of the door for the subway.  The people waiting stood in that area away from the door until everyone exited the subway.  Very efficient.
Back at the hotel, we walked along the harbor.  We saw the Little Mermaid statue from the Hans Christian Andersen tale.  Then we hiked around the Kastellet, the citadel.  It is one of the finest and most well-preserved fortresses in Europe.  It was built in the 17th century as part of the larger fortification ring that surrounded Copenhagen.  It houses Europe’s oldest in-use barracks, but Kastellet is primarily a green oasis and a historical place.   There were beautiful walkways around and within the citadel.  We had a great fish and chips dinner near the water before heading back to our hotel.

Another favorite of Dave's-a hot dog with all the fixings and chocolate milk.  the Pølse med ristet og cacao is sold at a wagon and the toppings include, ketchup, mustard, French fried onions, raw chopped onion, slices of pickled cucumber, and danish remoulade and lots of napkins
opera house in the background

boat on the far side of the dock had a dragon hull

the Little Mermaid
fountain outside the Kastellet

crossing the moat

St Alban's Anglican Church



original design

beautiful walking paths

awesome fish and chips

MERSK the Danish shipping company that owned the ship captured by Captain Phillips-made into movie with Tom Hanks.  Pete was also on one of their ships and passed Somalia shortly after that event while training with the Merchant Marines