Baltic Cruise: Day 11 – Copenhagen
Rather than return to the US right after the cruise we booked a few days in Copenhagen for a several reasons. We wanted the vacation to be close to a full two weeks, we wanted to relax after the pressure of being in a different city/country every day and we wanted to see the city itself since it’s not actually included on the cruise. We disembarked for the final time around a little after 8am, sooner than we’d expected due to the annoying announcements in every stateroom on who could leave the ship. We gathered our luggage from the dock and after some initial confusion, found the driver hired to transport us to the hotel. It should be noted that he had a 20 person minibus, with small enclosed trailer, because my parents we afraid their entire lot of luggage wasn’t going to fit. (Melissa and I had 5 bags total for two people; they had ~17 for four plus a one year old.)
Note: This post is part of a series about a recent cruise in the Baltic Sea. They are [being] published in chronological order and if you haven’t read the introduction post I encourage you to do so. (I moved this piece here in case you feed some of the content.)
My parents also booked the hotel for the night prior to our arrival, so we could get in as soon as we got there. The hotel, however, thought differently of it as they gave our rooms away when we didn’t show that night. After some arguing, complementary breakfast at the hotel’s buffet and twenty minutes of waiting in the lobby we got into our rooms. After seeing the rooms, it seemed fairly evident that the reason a lot of Danes bike around town is because they care about the environment. (Edit: We later found out that there's a 200% tax on buying a car.) The hotel has motion activated lights in common areas, compact fluorescent lights in the rooms and even the electronic room keycards are made from recyclable birch. Not only that but you have to drop your keycard into a panel just inside the room for any of the lights in the room to work. The way I see it, this serves two basic functions. It’s unlikely you’d ever forget your keycard on the way out and perhaps more importantly, all the lights are off when you’re not there. It made me realize how the simplest things can add up and just how little we Americans do. If an upscale, expensive downtown hotel can implement these measures easily and without inconvenience, why can’t we?
After our group settled into our rooms and washed up, we set out in search of lunch and something to do. The hotel concierge informed us that there was a McDonalds within walking distance and the “longest pedestrian street in the world” with a lot of shopping not much farther than that. We chose McDonald’s because we needed something quick and simple for my niece the rest of us were pretty hungry as well. The McDonald’s wasn’t that far from what you’d find the States, it’s just anything that doesn’t have a trademarked name was in Danish. I had a Big Mac and fries, both of which tasted identical to their original versions. The fries came with ketchup packets and “french fry sauce” which tasted a lot like tartar sauce. The pedestrian street wasn’t unlike Grafton Street in Dublin; closed to cars, shops lining both sides and people everywhere. The shops themselves, while not the same companies in the US, were all peddling the same wares. I think we spent two hours walking down and back the street and the most I even considered buying was a Ducati branded pen.
For dinner we were recommended an Italian restaurant in Tivoli Garden. Tivoli is a bit like Central Park, an amusement park and a trendy restaurant row all rolled into one. The park in located in the city but it’s designed in such a way that you really can’t tell you’re in the city. That’s Central Park. Add to that an admission fee, a ton of rides, games and all your favorite carnival foods and you have an amusement park. Then add to that at least half dozen restaurants that cater to a bevy of tastes. Most of the major ethnicities were represented and there was even a Hard Rock café. The place we went to was relatively nice and everyone, except me with my dried out tuna, enjoyed their meals. We elected not to go on any rides (I think they cost extra) but we did walk around the park. Most of the park is landscaped extremely well and at night all the trees, flowers are fountains are lit like those you might find at a palace. The ages of people there covered the entire spectrum. There were young children running about, enjoying the theme park, teenagers undoubtedly rebelling against their parents or the man and older folks enjoying a nice meal at a good restaurant. All in all, it seemed well designed to attract pretty much everyone for very different reasons.
Note: This post is part of a series about a recent cruise in the Baltic Sea. They are [being] published in chronological order and if you haven’t read the introduction post I encourage you to do so. (I moved this piece here in case you feed some of the content.)
My parents also booked the hotel for the night prior to our arrival, so we could get in as soon as we got there. The hotel, however, thought differently of it as they gave our rooms away when we didn’t show that night. After some arguing, complementary breakfast at the hotel’s buffet and twenty minutes of waiting in the lobby we got into our rooms. After seeing the rooms, it seemed fairly evident that the reason a lot of Danes bike around town is because they care about the environment. (Edit: We later found out that there's a 200% tax on buying a car.) The hotel has motion activated lights in common areas, compact fluorescent lights in the rooms and even the electronic room keycards are made from recyclable birch. Not only that but you have to drop your keycard into a panel just inside the room for any of the lights in the room to work. The way I see it, this serves two basic functions. It’s unlikely you’d ever forget your keycard on the way out and perhaps more importantly, all the lights are off when you’re not there. It made me realize how the simplest things can add up and just how little we Americans do. If an upscale, expensive downtown hotel can implement these measures easily and without inconvenience, why can’t we?
After our group settled into our rooms and washed up, we set out in search of lunch and something to do. The hotel concierge informed us that there was a McDonalds within walking distance and the “longest pedestrian street in the world” with a lot of shopping not much farther than that. We chose McDonald’s because we needed something quick and simple for my niece the rest of us were pretty hungry as well. The McDonald’s wasn’t that far from what you’d find the States, it’s just anything that doesn’t have a trademarked name was in Danish. I had a Big Mac and fries, both of which tasted identical to their original versions. The fries came with ketchup packets and “french fry sauce” which tasted a lot like tartar sauce. The pedestrian street wasn’t unlike Grafton Street in Dublin; closed to cars, shops lining both sides and people everywhere. The shops themselves, while not the same companies in the US, were all peddling the same wares. I think we spent two hours walking down and back the street and the most I even considered buying was a Ducati branded pen.
For dinner we were recommended an Italian restaurant in Tivoli Garden. Tivoli is a bit like Central Park, an amusement park and a trendy restaurant row all rolled into one. The park in located in the city but it’s designed in such a way that you really can’t tell you’re in the city. That’s Central Park. Add to that an admission fee, a ton of rides, games and all your favorite carnival foods and you have an amusement park. Then add to that at least half dozen restaurants that cater to a bevy of tastes. Most of the major ethnicities were represented and there was even a Hard Rock café. The place we went to was relatively nice and everyone, except me with my dried out tuna, enjoyed their meals. We elected not to go on any rides (I think they cost extra) but we did walk around the park. Most of the park is landscaped extremely well and at night all the trees, flowers are fountains are lit like those you might find at a palace. The ages of people there covered the entire spectrum. There were young children running about, enjoying the theme park, teenagers undoubtedly rebelling against their parents or the man and older folks enjoying a nice meal at a good restaurant. All in all, it seemed well designed to attract pretty much everyone for very different reasons.
1 Comments:
Post a Comment