An entry in The TFS Travel Journal
Ahhh, very nice sleep at last! Finally left bed around 10:45am. Milton went to the Post Office to buy the largest box they had and some packing tape, but we won’t go into that now. Left the hotel and walked to get Wendy’s Ferragamo shoes repaired. Found nice little Danish Deli and got a kalkun w/ementhaler and avocado sandwich and a skinke w/the same all on yummy crunchy warm roll. Sat in the park eating , then concluded lunch with a Grand Marnier crepe. Then toured the amber museum — totally rad! saw lots of preserved life forms and much intricate carving and amber jewelry. And much Japanese tourists mowing down all in their way.
Had another stroll down the Stroget, but this time with about a 100,000 others. Found the Royal Copenhagen and the Illum Borgihus stores/galleries. Beautiful glasswork and art work. Saw some fun housewares — dustbins, etc. Bought the Lego watch, and a box of Chamomile tea to qualify for the tax refund. Walked to the plaza where Bill Clinton just weeks ago became the first President to visit Denmark and, consequently, addressed 80,000 Danes. Sorry we missed it. . .Ate an apple from a stand in the plaza, while assembling the Lego watch band, and had a glass of water from a cart-like place actually served in a glass!
Went to the Radhus (Copenhagen Town Hall) for the 3pm english tour. Took 1/2 hour tour for 1 hour, but saw quite an impressive building (built from 1894-1902) with notable frescoes, many gifts given to the city in 1967 to celebrate its 800th anniversary as a city. Lots of portraits, some nice porcelain, carved wooden bannisters, wood flooring (now all Swedish Oak) and some sideboards. Quirky tourguide with mystifying speech pattern (it seemed like almost everything he said should be followed by a wink), but in keeping with this city! One particularly amusing feature was the fact that amongst the myriad portraits and busts of all the previous Mayors and City Council Presidents (and seemingly everyone who ever wore a suit in that building) was a hyper-modern Lictenstein-looking work of Elvis! I astutely asked if it was a gift from the city of Memphis, but that went right over our guide’s wacky little head.
Took cab back to the Nyhavn to get our canal cruise. Really lovely! Saw the little mermaid (little, alright), many colorful old buildings, lots of low bridges, (though the gently rocking water almost put us to sleep), Maersk Line’s world headquarters in the building with blue eyes, many large ferries and a cruise ship (no surprise since C is Europe’s largest port of call with over 200 cruise ships docking annually) and got to hear an impressive young blond Dane female tourguide point out all the sites in English, German, and what we assume was Danish.
Back to the Hotel for some power napping and pleasure reading. Decided to drag our asses out for some dinner, and opted for Flyvefisken, an “experimental Thai” according to Fodors. Fantastic!! Even though it seemed like one guy was host, chef and waiter, the food was superb — chicken satay, mussels in very Thai broth, chicken with green curry sauce (spicy, but not as spicy as it sounds) and a stir fry vegetable, shrimp and chicken dish, all accompanied by a perfect Carlsberg classic, on the waiter’s recommendation.
We had a lovely walk home, thanks to the 10:30 sunset, through some new streets for us. Saw some familiar sights –DK shop, etc.– and some Euro-looking shops, also some enticing outdoor restaurants and bars.
Came home to type and sleep!