Day 9 - Oslo

We got up a little late today...had a nice sleep in and headed down for a great breakfast in the hotel.  The breakfast that is included here is great.  Full spread of everything!

After eating breakfast, we packed up our stuff for the day and headed to the metro (T) station.  The transit system here is great.  There are trams, buses and the metro to get you where you need to go.  Although it does get you anywhere...it does take some figuring out and a large section of the metro was shut down while we were there, which made it tricky to naviage around.

Our first stop was Frogner Park and the Vigeland Sculpture Garden.  It was amazing!  An absolutely beautiful park, and the scuplture were incredible. 

Vigeland Sculpture Park covers 80 acres (320,000 m2) and features 212 bronze and granite sculptures all designed by Gustav Vigeland. In 1940 the Bridge was the first part of the Sculpture Park to be opened to the public. 58 of the park's sculptures reside along the Bridge, a 100 metre (328 ft) long, 15 metre (49 ft) wide connection between the Main Gate and the Fountain. All are clad in bronze and contribute to the Human Condition theme of the park.

 

 After the sculpture garden we took the tram downtown and took a stroll along Aker Brygge.  This was a really neat area.  This was our first really warm day and we sat down and had a nice cool drink at the waters edge.  The buildings in this area were really interesting architecturally.

After Aker Brygge, it was time to head to the Opera House.  Erik's flip flops had unfortunately come to the end of their life, so it was a very long walk!  We strolled along the water and had some yummy polish hot dogs wrapped in bacon (the specialty here I gather as you can get them anywhere...they are delicious!).

As we neared the Opera House, it was really awe inspiring.  It is truly an amazing building.  The angles on it are fantastic.  From every vantage point you get a different view of the building and it constantly changes...really cool.  We headed over to get inside and really have a good look.  It was truly impressive and worth the visit for sure.

After the Opera House we had to head back to the restaurant from last night to get Avery's raincoat, then the girl's were getting really sleepy so we had to head back to the hotel to give them a nap.  It was around 5pm by this point, and Dave and I figured that this was now our only opportunity to go get some laundry done.  It was starting to get a bit dire by this point as we have been travelling for sometime now and kids are messy...let's face it!

Online I found what looked like a really neat place to do our bags of laundry.  It was called Cafe Laundromat and it was supposed to be a neat restaurant with books and beer and meals.  So Dave and I loaded up all of our laundry and hopped on the bus in search of the cafe.

When we got there we thought we had made a huge mistake and that maybe it was just a cafe with laundromat in its name.  After some stealth searching, we found a series of machines tucked into the very back of the cafe.

The concept was really awesome. You can eat and drink and read books and surf the net, all while doing your laundry.  Dave and I had a couple of beers, we shared a pizza early on during the wash cycles, and then a delicious turkey burger later during the dryer run.  We just read and surfed the net and chatted, had a really nice time actually, and I just ran back from time to time to check on the cycles, and switch over the loads or fold things.

Cafe Laundromat is open seven days a week (7am to 1am M-F & 10am to 1am SA-SU).  They don't sell soap unfortunately, and the machines only take 10kr coins.  So you don't have to bother the bar too much it would be good to bring both.  We were there on a Sunday and had no soap, so luckily someone had left some behind as stores are closed on Sundays.  Anyways, we would recommend this place whether you have to do laundry or not...the food was great at the atmosphere was really chill...kind of a bit bohemian.





We finished up and were back to the hotel at around 9pm.  As we got there the girls were just finishing dinner outside with grandma and grandpa.  We headed up to our room with them and watched some tv and hung out before heading to bed.

After our full day in Oslo, we've re-evaluated slightly and have decided that its actually a pretty great city overall.  It has some wonderful neighbourhoods that we truly enjoyed exploring.

Day 8 - Kristiansand to Oslo, Norway

It was another early start after our long ship ordeal the night before.  We had stayed at the YESS Hotel in Kristiansand which was perfect because it was more of a hostel than a hotel and it included breakfast...seeing as we were only there for around 6 hours.  It was just a double bed with a single bunk above and a washroom. Very clean and nice.

We had to catch the train at 9:10am to Oslo.  The train station was just across the street it was a beautiful day.  All of us were extremely tired still, but we got up and dressed and fed and strolled over to the train station.  I had booked us into the family car on the Norwegian Train line http://www.nsb.no/.  It was perfect, there was a kids play area which occupied the kids for the 5 hour trip to Oslo. 

Train Kristiansand to Oslo

Upon arrival into Oslo, we headed to the tourist information centre to get directions to our hotel.  Ourinitial impression of the city was perhaps not great, and perhaps not a fair assumption this early on.  The city seemed very dirty, but there was lots under construction near the main train station.  The people also seemed a little rough around the edges....there was an edge to the city and the people for sure.  Our hotel was north of the City by quite a ways at the Radisson Blu Nydalen.  It was a really nice part of town, quiet and easy access to downtown via bus or metro (T).

We arrived at the hotel by 3pm and got settled in and had a nap.  No one really napped on the train up except Dave who has the uncanny ability to sleep anywhere!

We had checked to see if Mom, Bruce and the boys had checked in when we arrived, but they had not.  Just as we were getting up and ready to go for dinner, they gave us a call...they had arrived!

We all headed out for dinner.  We had found a neat restaurant in our Wallpaper Guide and took the metro and then walked quite a ways on the hunt for this neat restaurant.  Unfortunately it was closed, and so we continued walking and walking trying to find someplace that could take all 9 of us.  Finally just off of the pedestrian route we found a restaurant called the Mona Lisa.  It was pasta and pizza etc.  Nothing to exciting...but fine enough.  The food here is extremely expensive...actually the whole trip has been quite expensive. Meals here are between $25-30 per person.  Beer in restaurants is around $10-15 per glass.  So not cheap. 

After dinner we headed back to the hotel.  The boys headed out on the town...and weren't seen again until the wee hours!

Day 7 - Aalborg, Denmark to Kristiansand, Norway (via Sea from hell!)

How does that saying go...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?? Well day 7 was definitely one of those moments...or shall I say hours in life that make you stronger.

The day truly had all the makings to be a wonderful experience.  It was June 24th, Dave and my 6th wedding anniversary...hard to believe that 6 years have flown by.  Anyways...today was not about our anniversary...a travel day is a travel day and we hope to do an anniversary dinner at some point in the near future.  He did buy me some lovely roses for me to enjoy for the 1 hour before we headed out.  Very sweet...I took a picture of them so that they would last longer!

So the day started as any other travel day has, with things that need to be done to get going.  Dave went and returned the rental car that had to be back by 9am.  We then got our things packed up and headed into Aalborg to have a walk around before we headed for the train station.

The girls were referring to this day as the "train, train, boat" day.  We had to take a train from where we were in Aalborg, heading north to Hjorring, and then another to the norther coast of Denmark to a town called Hirtshals.  From there we had reservations on the fast ferry across I guess what is the North Sea to the town of Kristiansand where we would spend the night.

Aalborg turned out to be quite a lovely town...the pedestrian area was great and we had a nice stop in a little coffeed shop where Avery sang the ABC's so loud that we had to sheepishly duck out as soon as we finished our danish.  There was a huge number of bands that were in town from Norway that were playing all over town and overall it was just a pleasant morning.

The trains for Hjorring left every hour, and our ferry left from Hirtshals at 4:45pm, so we decided that we should take the 1:20pm train, which got us into Hjorring at just after 2pm, the train for Hirtshals left about 7 mins later and the transition went great.  We arrived into Hirtshals about 30 mins later.

Hirtshals was where things started to go downhill quite quickly.  When we arrived at the train station, we could see signs for the Fjordline...which is what we were booked on.  So we followed the signs thinking that it would be close as we could see ships and water nearby.  We ended up in a dead end as we lost track of the signage.  After asking for directions, we got back on the right track and started walking towards the ferry terminal.  It ended up being a loooooong walk.  Several kilometers for sure.  Avery was asleep in the stroller, but Cadence was walking because we had the stroller loaded down and we were carrying all our luggage.

It was as I said...a loooong walk.  Poor Dave was schlepping most of the luggage, and as we neared where we thought the terminal would be, the wind really started to pick up.  This would not have been so bad, except for the fact that the fine white sand also was being blown around.  On the final stretch to the terminal, the wind and sand was so bad that I wasn't sure we would make it.  It was like we were in some kind of cartoon.  I had to put my whole back into pushing that stroller...and I had Cadence tucked in front of me and behind the stroller to protect her eyes from the sand.  We were all walking with our eyes partially closed as the sand would get in your eyes and blind you.  We were aslo totally hunched over to try and make progress against the wind....the trouble being that when it gusted, it brought us to a standstill.  It was blowing so hard I literally could not push that stroller an inch further.  Cadence was being an absolute trooper.  She was helping me push that stroller with all her might.  Poor Avery had woken by this point and was screaming as it must have been terrifying under the hood of the stroller.  I covered her face with the blanket and had pulled the hood down all the way so she was as protected as she could be...it was still scary with the wind whistling in around her.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally made it to the terminal.  We were exhausted and there was sand everywhere...all over the stroller, in our ears and in our hair, inside some of the bags...it was like coming out of a desert sand storm.

Of course, having been totally focused on getting to the terminal and out of the wind, it hadn't occured to us that the ferries might have trouble sailing in this kind of weather.  When we arrived at the terminal around 3:30pm (about an hour later....and hour of walking!) the ferry was of course delayed!

At first we weren't sure if it would sail at all, but finally at around 5pm we got word that it was indeed making its way over and should arrive into Hirtshals at approximately 6:45pm.  As I had mentioned before, the ferry was supposed to depart from Hirtshals at 4:45pm and then arrive into Kristiansand at 7pm.  Giving us plenty of time to explore this new city in Norway before heading to bed.  This was now going to put us in later, but it still seemed manageable. 

The ferry arrived, and started to offload, but we then got word through some of the other passengers waiting that they were being told that the crew would need to rest before heading out again as the voyage over had really taken a lot out of them.  I was all for them having a rest...I wanted them to be ready to take us safetly over the sea, that being said, we were now being given a departure time of 8:15pm...getting really late!

They offloaded the ferry and started to bus the foot passenger to the ship...I went and asked if there would be food on board, and wanted to confirm the departure time etc...the guy was great and very friendly, but as we left the terminal to get on the boat, he called to me..."do you have any pills?"...as he shook a bottle.  I gave him a puzzled look, and then realized that he meant motion sickness pills.  I had gravol for the girls, but I didn't have anything for us...well for Dave actually as I don't tend to get motion sickness.  So I went back and he shook 4 of these little white pills into my hand.  I looked at him and said "this will be safe right?", he assured me it would be safe, but that it would be very rocky and that the waves were at minimum 6-7 meters high.

Off we went to board.  As Dave and I chatted, it became apparent that he was most concerned about not getting motion sickness, while I was most afraid of this darn boat capsizing and us all drowning.  He assured me that I was being totaly irrational and that they would not sail if its wasn't safe....that sounded reasonable to me, but still was of little comfort.

We boarded and got settled into some seats near the washrooms and the doors to the outside.  This would prove to be a poor decision later on, but at the time it seemed good.

We had not had any dinner at this point, and the little cafe only had sandwiches which Cadence could not eat, so we went up to the buffet and fed the girls and myself.  Dave decided that he would not eat as he was unsure how he would hold up in the waves.

Before dinner we had all taken a motion sickness pills.  The girls each had a Gravol and Dave and I took one of the little white pills, saving the other two for if the going got tough.

After dinner, we went back to our seats and got settled in.  The boat had really filled up by this point as the car traffic had now boarded.  We had a family of four beside us, a family behind us and a biker gang a little further back.  Just below us where the bathrooms were was another seating areas with several other family groups.

As soon as we got back to our seats, we put Avery into her car seat and she konked out.  Cadence was not far after in Dave's arms.  It was around 9:15pm before we finally left, and the fact that both girls were asleep by the time we finally did pull out...was a blessing in disguise. 

From as soon as we came out of the breakwater, that ship started to sway.  It was not a super large ship, not as big as a BC Ferry, but not super small either. It rocked hard from left to right and there were times when it seemed to sway in every direction.  We would hit waves and the ferry would crack like lightening and shake and shudder.  It was thrilling at first while also being a bit terrifying.  The other passengers were enjoying the excitement for the first little while, but that very quickly turned to carnage...


Within very short order, the little girl from the family of four beside us started to get seasick.  The crew had left sick bags all over the seats for everyone before we boarded, so the mother was prepared, and she was nice enough to take the girl down to the half level below us so we wouldn't have to watch.  The older sister also started to look a little green, but she held strong for most of the trip in the seat beside Avery. 

The scene basically went from bad to worse.  Dave was beside me with his eyes clamped shut tightly. He did not say a word to me the whole trip.  He later told me that he just had to go to his happy place and shut out everything, as that was the only way he was going to get through.

As I mentioned, I don't get motion sickness normally, but I was extremely nervous about the trip, so I coudln't sleep.  I just sat there and watched in awe as every single person around me turned green and started to get sick.  I have never in my life seen so many people be sick repeatedly.  One family below us...there little boy must have been sick 15 times at least.  All you could hear was the sound of people barfing and children crying...it was awful.  The worst came after some children had not made it into a bag, and then the ship started to smell like barf.  That was when my resolve started to fail slightly....that and the sound of one of the biker guys upchucking in deep "huughhhh, hugghhhhh".   I finally  had to take the second little white pill, as I wasn't sure I could stand the smell and the sounds and really didn't want to head down that path if I could avoid it.

I know my words will not do this scene justice, it was carnage...there is not other way to describe it.  I just felt so lucky that my girls were fast asleep.  I could easily have been the mother that was thrown up on several times and having to pacify her screaming child.  The mom behind me was laid out the whole trip and she just kept moaning.  The dad must have been thanking his lucky stars that it was just his wife and not his two children as well.

The father of the family beside us was trying hard to be stoic through the whole thing, but he literally turned GREEN, like actually GREEN in the face and he too finally bolted for the toilet part way through.

The crew were coming around with garbage bags and picking up all the filled puke bags and handing out news ones at an alarming rate.  They were also handing out little cookies to settle peoples stomach's.  It was a terrible nightmare.

All this while the boat continued to rock and shake and roll and dive through the waves. I wish that I could have gotten a picture of the waves around the ship...I just couldn't bring myself to get out of my seat and get tossed around, let along go outside and try to contend with the water and wind.  Memory will have to serve us on this one.

At almost and hour and a half into the sailing, the captain came on and advised us that were were through the worst of it. The trouble was that he had had to veer of course quite a bit in order to steer clear of the worst of the waves, so we would not be getting in until around 12:30am.

The second half of the journey did go much smoother.  The waves were smaller and the rocking was less dramatic.  The touble was that people then started to go out the door behind us and chain smoke...which made our area cold and very very stinky.

I have actually been on a ship this bad before.  We crossed the Red Sea many years ago on our way to Sharm El Sheikh. For years we have talked about that boat trip and how bad it was.  Robert had gotten sick all over the inside deck at one point, but although that trip was bad...it was short.  The worst thing about this sailing was that not only was it bad...as bad as the Red Sea crossing, but it was long, over 3 hours of this was excrutiating to everyone.  Bottom line...if you're thinking of doing this crossing, make sure its a fair day...otherwise fly or drive!

We did finally pull into port at half past 12.  We had to wait quite a while for the bus to come pick us up and take us to the terminal.  We were able to put Cadence in the stroller and Avery in the carrier on my chest.  The girls were too exhausted to walk themselves...but again they were being so good and so brave.  Cadence wanted to burst into tears I know, but I said to her that I needed her to be brave and help us out, and could she do her best...she certainly did.  She has really shown some maturity on this trip.

We then had a horrendous time finding our hotel which turned out to be minutes from the terminal, but we found it and got the girls in bed and us showered and into bed by 1:48am.  It was grim...we were tired and cranky and absolutely drained physically and emotionally.  Sleep came easily for all of us.

It had been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!!

A Brief History of the Moustache

Why this you might ask...well I might have forgotten to mention that Dave is growing a moustache.  He figured that he'd be able to grow this thing and shave it off when he got home without anyone being the wiser....he forgot of course that I'm going to have photographic evidence of it...I actually might even suggest he keep it long term...I don't mind it on him.  A little too early to make a definitive judgement...we'll soon see.

Moustache Beginnings

Moustaches have been theoretically possible since flint razors where first fashioned around 30,000 B.C, although it’s unknown whether or not Stone Age man sported the first ever example of upper-lip topiary.

The moustache is usually a proud signifier of impending pubescent transformation; it is an effective visual marker for the journey from boy to manhood. In the past, the thickness of a man’s moustache denoted military rank and experience, with new recruits making do with wispy whiskers, while seasoned commanders could show off luscious beards.    

   

Notable Moustaches

The last century also saw the strong negative connotations of moustaches come to the fore; Hitler and Stalin will forever associate the ‘tache with callous dictatorship, yet it also worth remembering that these were two intensely charismatic individuals whose striking physical appearances added some weight to their leadership credentials.

Facial hair as an indicator of villianry has been perpetuated in modern fiction and is up there with an English accent as a signpost of immoral intentions; examples include Daniel Day-Lewis's Bill the Butcher from Gangs of New York and Bugs Bunny's nemesis Yosemite Sam.

The 1980s were the last time the moustache was truly fashionable; Tom Selleck’s Magnum P.I. had an iconic chevron moustache, which only added to his sex appeal, while professional wrestler Hulk Hogan defied conventional wisdom and somehow managed to get away with a bleached blond horseshoe 'tache.

      

 Article taken from: http://www.murdocklondon.com/for-men/shaving-facial-har/a-brief-history-of-the-moustache/.

Day 6 - Legoland to Aalborg

Another early start for the girls this morning...6am or so.  We got up and got packed and then headed to grab some breakfast at the buffet.  Much better buffet this morning.  They have a children's play area at the back of the restaurant which we had missed the night before in our hurry to escape.  So this morning we sat near the back and took our time.  We had promised Cadence to finish off some of the rides we had missed the day before, but the park doesn't open until 10am. 

After breakfast, we got the car loaded up and checked out and then headed to the Park.  We knocked off the last few rides...again, Cadence was amazing...we can't believe how brave and adventurous she was.  We did a few small rides for Avery and got some treats for the car, then headed out on the road. 

Today is a big driving day...but we had a nice relaxing morning, and we actually decided to take our time and drive right out to the coast before heading north to Aalborg.  We knew nothing about Aalborg, and had nothing planned for that city, so it seemed to make sense to take the time to drive to the coast.


View Larger Map

We are so glad we did.  It is beautiful.  The area that we went to is called "Ringkobing Fjord".  It is these amazing sand dunes that front onto the Ocean, you actually can't see the Ocean until you climb over the top of them.  We stopped in Hvide Sande for groceries and then headed a little further north and found a pull off to have lunch.  We climbed up over the dunes and ate lunch in the sand.  It was windy...but beautiful and a lovely way to pass some time.  We went down to the Ocean, built some sandcastles and explored some old concrete bunkers that were all along the beach.  So neat...really glad we made the trek out this way. 

This area is a holiday home paradise...and clearly heavily used by Germans going by the license plates that we saw.  We can see the appeal...the cute little summer cottages that line the dunes would make for an unbelievable getaway in the summer months.

The rest of the drive was pretty smooth.  The girls were amazing and sat nicely for the rest of the 2.5 hour drive to Aalborg.  The countryside is really wonderful...beautiful and green. Miles and miles of green crops and large windmills for as far as the eye can see.  The roads are in good shape and easy to drive on.  It was pleasant the whole way.

We arrived into Aalborg and got settled into our hotel.  We are staying at the Radisson here too...good rates at the Radisson...we are staying at them for most of the trip!

We have to drop our car here, so we needed to unload the whole car and get packed up for train and ferry travel tomorrow.

We had dinner at Jensens Bofhous which was a family friendly place...good for the girls...food wasn't that wonderful though. 

This city is quite industrial...it has a lovely watefront park that we can see from our hotel window, and we will check it out in the morning, but the waterfront is lined with industrial buildings and so the whole place is quite stark and "soviet" looking according to Dave.  We did walk along a pretty cool alley/street that was filled with bars and restaurants, and it looks like it would be amazing party zone should you not be travelling with children.

We'll have another look tomorrow before we pass judgement.  We came here because it was as far as we could go with the car, so we'll just take what we can get from this town.  It is the 4th largest town in Denmark...which is hard to believe as its really not that large. 

Hooray, we all slept until 6:30am this morning!  What a breakthrough...but we stilled enjoyed a lazy morning together in the hotel room.  I really wanted to see the HC Andersen museum while we were here and it didn't open until 10am.  Dave hunted us down some coffees from downstairs and discovered that the farmer's market was being held right outside the hotel doors.  We slowly got ready and packed up (I did some emails for work) and headed to the market. 

The market was great, we bought lots of fresh fruit for our next few days of travel.  They had fresh peas...my favourite...I didn't share them!

We wandered over to the museum and spent some time going through it. It was very unfortunate that the Tinderbox Museum for kids was closed, as this museum was really not geared for the kids.  I did find it very interesting to follow Hans Christian Andersen's life from start to finish.  I learned a lot about the various works that he had done beyond the few children's tales that we are all aware of.

After the museum we had to take out some cash, and I only bring this up because the rate that we got from this bank machine was way better than the rate I got from the airport. Something to remember for future.  I thought at the time that the rate at the airport seemed off, but now I know it was, as I can't imagine that the rate would have fluctuated that much over the last 5 days.

All packed up, we headed out of town and off to Billund.  The drive was painless and we only took 1 wrong turn. As you cross from the county of Funen (where we were in Odense) to the county of Jutland, you go over the most spectacular bridgen - The Great Belt Bridge.   It opened in 1998 and is around 22,000 feet long, with its longest span being 1.6km long.  What once was an hour long ferry ride, is now replaced with a 10 mins car ride and an amazing view.

View Larger Map

We arrived at Legoland at around 2pm.  The girls had had a nap and were ready to go, we couldn't yet check into our hotel room, but they gave us our passes to the park and we got started.

Legoland is neat...its no Disneyland...let's be clear...but it is spectacular when you look at all of the amazing structures that have been made by someone, completely out of lego.  The rides were great for the kids, we had a ton of fun, they are at the perfect age for this type of amusement park.  Cadence suprised us both by being totally gung-ho for the rides.  She was so brave and went on a number of rides that I would have guessed would bring on tears.  Even little Avery had fun until we went on a friendly mining train ride that went through a tunnel and terrifed her.  From there on, every ride she would ask...gonna go through a tunnel...don't want to go through a tunnel. Oh...and maybe the canoe over the waterfall ride might have scared her a bit too!

We really had a great afternoon.  The park closes at 6pm at this time of year, so we got a pretty solid 4 hours in, and then went back to check in and get tidied up before dinner.  The front desk staff had advised us the first time we went in that we should pre-reserve for dinner...which we did do for 7pm.

When we got to our room...my goodness...it was awesome.  Not only did the kids LOVE IT, but Dave and I thought it was pretty awesome too.  It made you feel like a kid again. I had made our reservations online, so I wasn't really sure what I had signed us up for, to be honest, I thought we were getting a standard room. I'll be honest, this place was definitely a splurge, but we thought, what the heck, this will likely be the only time we take them here, so let's go for it!  We knew the bill would hurt in the morning...and it did!

Anyways...it turns out that the horrendous price I booked under online gave us a theme room.  I think they have suites too, that have a seperate room for the kids, but this was great for us.  There was a king sized bed, with lego his and hers crowns above it, and then bunk beds for the girls that came out of the wall.  The whole room was a sort of Dragon and Knights in Shining Armour theme.  There was a huge dragon who was half in the bedroom and half in the bathroom.  He was brushing his teeth on the bathroom side and his tail end was over our bed.  The bed side tables were turrets, and there were a number of other really cute touches.  Very cool overall.

After settling in, we headed for dinner.  The kids were wiped out completely by this point, so this was a failed endeavour almost from the moment we walked out the door.  The food at the very expensive buffet was pretty mediocre and meltdown mode was pretty much upon us as we sat down at our table.  We ate what we could and got the girls to get something down, then it was back to the room as fast as we could to get them to bed.

It had been a great day, so I can't blame them for being so tired by the whole experience.  It was a lot for them to both take in.  Overall, we'd give this place a thumbs up...but I think after a kid has been to Disneyland, that this place might lose its appeal.  The lego reproductions of cities is absolutely amazing...again, I'll post photos when I can...I didn't bring the cord to connect my camera...at least I can't find it at the moment.

Day 4 - Copenhagen to Odense (via Roskilde)

Another early start...I think that Avery started babbling to me at 4:30am this morning. At 5:30 I gave up and got her some cereal, Cadence was quick to follow.
We spent the early hours packing up and playing Angry birds (Cadence is getting quite good) as there is little else to do in the early hours of a city that really doesn't get going until 9-10am.
We then packed up the stroller and headed to Europecar to pick up our rental. It was not a far walk and a good way to get some air and exercise. We picked up our brand new four door something or other and headed back to the hotel for our luggage, making a quick stop for some coffee.
We loaded up, I wrote out some directions and off we went. We decided that we would bring our own car seats on this trip. The charge was quite a lot to rent car seats considering the number of days we are going to be driving, and by bringing them we are able to use them on the plane. Apparently our car seats are not rated for Europe, but I figure if they are good enough for home, they should be fine for here...they had better be anyways! Cadence is now heavy enough for a booster, so that saved us having to drag along two huge car seats. The booster fit into our one small bags so it's tucked away when we don't need it.
Directions in hand, we headed towards Odense with a stop at Roskilde to visit the Viking Ship Museum. When we got to Roskilde, Cadence was very pale and not feeling well, we decided to have lunch first at the cafe next to the museum. It was a really nice spot and the food was great. The girls played in the little play area with these cool giant foam toys.
As an aside, I have to say that people here are so friendly and nice. They are quick to smile and helpful, I'm not sure what I was expecting. Having travelled through various parts or Europe quite a bit, and having run into my fair share of rude people, I guess, I was expecting more of the same, but it couldn't be further from what wee have encountered. The service and attitude here have been great.
We figured that Cadence must have been carsick from playing angry birds in the car. She must have Dave's carsickness gene! She was in good spirits after lunch and we headed to the museum.
It was really neat. We really enjoyed looking at all the ships. It is in a picturesque location and it we learned a lot.
We headed back on the road en route to Odense. The girls had a nap, and once we reached Odense they were well rested.
The directions we had got from google brought us into town through some residential areas, which was really neat, as this city has some beautiful and quaint residences. This is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, and we stayed at the Radisson HC Andersen. I can't say I had any expectations of this city. We hadn't originally planned on starting here as we were going to go to Ero. When that was proving to be too rushed, I had cut Ero out and put in a stop here to cut out the driving. In any case, I'm so glad we came here. It is an unbelievable little town. We checked in and unloaded, the rooms here are spacious and a little retro looking. It is an older hotel and a bit tired, but nice overall and in a great location.
We headed out right away as we wanted to try and hit the HC Andersen museum and the children's museum -Tinderbox. Unfortunately both were already closed, we are about a week ahead of the heavy tourist season, so we have encountered some reduced hours here and there. In Odense, they publish working hours on a weekly basis depending on traffic, so just our luck that Tinderbox was closed this week, we would see the HC Museum, but not until tomorrow at 10am when it reopens. There was a rehearsal for a play going on outside the museum with a bunch of children, sort of an outside theatre, from what we could understand it seemed some sort story with all the characters from Andersen's children's novels.
We walked over into the pedestrian only part of town, there are a few of them, and we spent several hours strolling and browsing and stopping for sorbet. Things close up pretty early too, despite opening up late, so we headed back towards the hotel and had dinner at a restaurant in the square out front. It was beautiful and we had the place and the square to ourselves. The girls had a great time running around and playing in the fountain.
After dinner the jet lag and lack of sleep was finally getting to me and so off to bed for us....

Day 3 - Copenhagen

So..today we decided that the best way to see this city is by bike. It is the number. One method of transportation, so we need to get onboard with how the locals do things.
The girls woke up around 5am this morning, and we managed to get them to lie around for another hour or so and then Avery wanted breakfast. Glad we bought the cereal on day 1 for these guys as nothing is open this early. So they happily munched away on that and we just had some nice time together killing time before venturing out.

We took the metro towards the central station and tried the first bike rental place looming for one of those family bikes with the built in trailer. No luck...so we headed to the second one.
This one, the Baisikeli bike shop at Turesensgade 10, was a winner. This is also where the bike with Mike tours depart from at 10 am every morning, but we decided that we wanted to do our own thing and not do a guided tour even though we have heard good things about his tour.


We didn't get the brand of bike that we wanted to try out, but it was neat to have a bike with both girls in a trailer at the front. It was weather protected and the girls loved it!


 We headed to Osterpro first to check out that neighborhood. It was really neat, lots of cafes and great shops, then we looped back towards the city centre along the water, going by the cruise ship terminals and then stopping at the famous little mermaid. We then rode further along the harbor and through Amalienborg and past the palace.

We then rode past the Opera house (on the opposite side of the harbour) and then past the Theatre, which is a stunning building inside and out. My favourite among many so far.

We stopped for lunch back near Nyhavn at Emmery's. A delicious place. We had yummy sandwiches and treats and good coffee...which has been surprisingly hard to find.

After lunch it was time to head across the river to Christianshavn. Definitely a different vibe over here. Very eccentric. We stopped off at Christiania, and althoug Dave and I both have an open mind, the vibe was such that we decided not to take the girls into this alternative living community. Dave took a walk in, but we decided that this was not the place to explore with the girls. So we headed back the other way into the Islands Brygge neighbourhood and promised the girls a playground, which we found along this beautiful waterfront park and seawall.

 

 

 

The girls had a great time here before it was back onto the bikes to hit up Vesterpro. We were unfortunately not able to get to this neighborhood easily from where we were because of the train tracks, so we rode past Tivoli and headed back to return our bikes. We have decided that we are not going to go to Tivoli...patly because it's expensive, but also because we think it will be a lot like Playland and that the girls will be too little to ride anything. It might be the wrong decision, but our days have been pretty full already considering the jet lag we are all suffering from.

By the time we dropped off the bikes, Cadence was asleep and poor Dave had to carry Cadence to the Metro. When we got there the system was down and we ended up waiting quite a while and then cramming into a very full train to get back.

That about did us in for our last day. We covered lots of ground and feel like we really saw all the parts of the city that we wanted to. We really enjoyed the city and got a pretty good sense of it, but we are looking forward to moving on and seeing other things.