Copenhagen, Denmark

Our final stop on our Baltic cruise was in Copenhagen.  By this time we were kind of getting sick of the Baltic area; all the cities were beginning to look alike (and why wouldn't they? They were all passed back and forth between each other and Russia).  However, Copenhagen had a few surprises in store for us!

Posing in Nyhavn.

More painted buildings along a pier. Denmark trying to be St. Petersburg which is trying to be Venice.

While walking along, a bunch of old vehicles drove by. 

There is an Irish pub in every city!

I think we found our embassy!

This is the city's first community telephone centre. Now it is a kiosk.

We had great weather while exploring the city!

Shea liked this little Smart Car.

A trip to Copenhagen is not complete until you find the Little Mermaid.

While walking along the Kastellet, we found a windmill.  Shea had it in his head to become millers.  I don't think so.

Views from the Kastellet.

Swan family!

You would see souvenirs of these soldiers everywhere.  Made me miss London. 

Everything is right in the world with a drink in hand and a nice place to sit and watch the world go by!

The best sight in Copenhagen is a little outside of city centre, called the Viking Ship Museum. Within the museum, they have the remains of 5 different viking ships from the 1020's to 1040's. 

One of the better preserved viking ships.

It's amazing how intact this one still is today!

 The second half of the indoor portion of the museum has some replica ships built for children of all ages to play in.

That's where I'm a viking!

In the outdoor exhibits, you can see the process that it took to make a viking ships.  They have recreated all five ships using tools and techniques that the vikings would have used in the 1000's.  

This ship getting a paint job. 

This ship is having the wood shaped with weights in order to get the shape of a typical viking ship.

Here is a completed one that is sailable.

Enjoying the outdoors!

Someone may have enjoyed the sun a bit much and got burnt...

Shea practising his knot skills.

 The one must-do activity at the museum is to take a ride in one of the replica viking ships. Everyone hops into the boat and learns how to manoeuvre the oars from inside the boat into their rowing position without hitting your neighbour.  Then you learn how to row the boat (some people in our boat were better at this than others).  Finally, the sail is lifted and you coast along the fjord.

Shea deciding which village to sack first.

Enjoying the ride.

A fantastic day for a viking cruise.

Another highlight for Shea was to learn how to make viking bread. Stay tuned Tie Lake, we can now make buns to go with the kielbasa!

Getting the dough ready.

Cooking the bread.

 Interesting fact: Copenhagen has a squatters paradise called Christiania.  In 1971, Christianians established squatters rights near the Danish parliament building. Today, the "free city" has about 700 residents.  You are not allowed to take photos within the commune but all are welcome to explore the area.

There are some unique murals among the shanty buildings and shacks. We even got to see a soccer match being played (complete with uniforms).  Of course, it is also a marijuana haven, many of the businesses specialise in selling a variety of pot to tourists.

In all, the commune was exactly what I expected, a bit unorganised, very dirty and not a place I would spend more than a half hour exploring.

One of the murals outside the commune.

Copenhagen was a great place to visit for a few days.  Like many of the Baltic capitals, there is not much to do beyond that.  I think this trip knocked off most of Scandinavia for us.  The only places in the area that we have left to see would be finishing Stockholm, Sweden, Oslo, Norway and maybe spending more time in the Archipelago.