Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen

Thursday, May 13, 2010


The rain stopped and the temperature improved and we got a lot of sightseeing done today. It remained cloudy however.
We got on the Hop On -Hop Off bus and our first stop was Ameliaborg Palace to see the changing of the guard and tour the palace. We got to see the guards, but the line was really long to go in the palace. We decided to keep on going and went to Nyhaven, the historic district for lunch and pictures. We really took a lot today. We also went to Tivoli, the amusement park that really has such beautiful gardens, restaurants and entertainment as well as rides for the young and daring.We also shopped on the Stroget, a shopping street closed to traffic.




Tivoli













Can't believe I ate the whole thing!



The new opera house


Nyhaven








Ameliaborg Palace

Copenhagen, Denmark

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Copenhagen, Denmark

It is a rainy cold day and we have only explored in the hotel area since checking in. We arrived at the Royal Hotel about 10:00 this morning and our room was ready. We are on the 12th floor overlooking the entertainment venue, Tivoli. We will go there tomorrow evening since they promise us the rain will be gone by then.
The hotel is in a very convenient location and a throw back to the 60s Danish Modern. Some of what we want to do is within walking distance. Tomorrow we will use the Hop On bus for a visit to the Royal Palace and to see some of the city away from the hotel.
Everyone here speaks English and it is easy to tour the city. They are very welcoming and friendly. After being on shore excursions for 3 weeks, it is nice to have the freedom to do it on our own. It is expensive here as in most major cities. The pastries are worth it though. The Danes know how to do pastry.:)

City Hall Square



Scala- Opera house and entertainment center

Tivoli

Gothenburg, Sweden

Gothenburg, Sweden

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Today was sunny and cool and our tour was in the afternoon. We visited the west coast islands of Gothenburg. Spring is just about beginning there, so the scenery was not very green. The coastline is mostly rock and the little towns remind us of Alaska.
We just finished packing...the cruise is over for us tomorrow when we arrive in Copenhagen. We will be staying in Copenhagen till Friday.

We have had a wonderful cruise, great seas and weather, great food, great entertainment and we met many nice people from all over the world. We especially loved Paris, London and Brugge(Belgium) and hope to go back for another visit.


A Swedish seaport




Boat houses




A floating hotel

Oslo, Norway

Monday, May 10, 2010

Oslo, Norway


We arrived to rainy, cold weather( it was freezing...the high was 40)and started our tour for the day with a bus tour of the city. Joe took video from the bus window, but I didn't take any pics until we got to the Maritime museum. We toured a replica of the Fram, a ship that went to both the North and South poles in the early 1900s. We then went on a tour of the fiord onboard a sailing vessel.
Oslo is located 60 miles up the fiord from the North Sea. It is a modern city and yet the oldest city in Norway. Most of Oslo was destroyed in a fire in 1624. The King of Denmark rebuilt the city and renamed it Christiana. In 1925, 300 years later, the name was changed back to Oslo.

We would have liked a little more time and warmer weather to visit more of the city.
We had a lovely afternoon of sunshine as we left Oslo and traveled through the fiord on our way to the North Sea.




The Opera House



The harbor



The ship Joanna




Fram

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. We needed umbrellas at times today. Cold, drizzly and only in the 50s...Brr....Most of our tour was by bus, covered boats and at a restaurant for lunch. After, lunch we had time to wander around and shop on our own and thankfully, the drizzle stopped.

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands (Holland) and is a city of canals, bike lanes and narrow streets. We were in more danger crossing bike lanes than with cars because we don't usually have to watch for bicyle traffic to cross streets in the US. The bike lanes are along every road in Amsterdam which makes travel by bike rather easy and an excellent way to get around the city. it is also easier to find parking spaces.
As a matter of fact, the city was preparing for a bike race later in the afternoon.

Besides the crummy weather, the city is enduring a garbage strike and was not a pretty sight. However, we saw some amazing architecture, gained a lot of historical information and marveled at the red light district! LOL We traveled the canals for about an hour by boat and our tour guide was very informative.

The ship was docked in Rotterdam and our tour guide also took us through the city on our way to Amsterdam. Rotterdam is much cleaner (no garbage strike) and much more modern because most of it was destroyed in WWII. It also is a city of canals.

The Netherlands and Belgium are both countries on marshy, reclaimed land below sea level. Without the dikes, the countries would be lakes.

Today, we are at sea on our way to Oslo, Norway. The North Sea is calm today and a lovely blue green color.


This cracked us up! :)


Anne Frank House



Houseboats are all around the canals



The diamond capital of the world :)




What is Holland without tulips? :)

Belgium

Friday, May 7, 2010

Belgium


We took a tour today of two medieval towns dating from the 15th century, Bruges and Ghent. Bruges is referred to as the Venice of the north. It has many canals winding through the town with spectacular mansions and churches. Ghent has over 200 bridges crossing it's canals and we toured St. Bavo's Cathedral which was built in 941.
We saw windmills and had a lovely lunch in a 15th century hotel.
This tour was a delightful way to get to know Belgium and its history.

Bruges



Market Square


Hotel we visited for lunch


Ghent

Paris, France

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Paris, France

We docked in Le Havre early this morning and we were on our way to Paris by 7:30 AM. It was overcast for awhile, but the sun was out by the time we arrived in Paris.
It took 3 hours to get there but it was worth the trip. We had another great tour guide and we covered a lot of territory in a short time.

We saw the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Paris Opera House, Notre Dame,and shopped in the Lafayette Galleries. We also took a River Seine cruise for lunch. It was 2 hours and would have been wonderful if not for the food (blech) and the difficulty taking pictures from the boat. There was very little deck space and the barge was completely covered in glass. I missed my chance to get a pic of Notre Dame as the boat went by too fast. Joe got as much video as he could. Oh well, we would love to go back to Paris on our own. We just got a taste for it.

I am a day behind on my posts due to internet satellite problems. I will post another blog tomorrow.


Arc de Triomphe

Along the Champs-Elysees


Le Grand Hotel


The Louvre


Paris Opera House


Pretty building