Copenhagen Delights

Last year one of our blogs was about some of the things we had observed and loved about Italy so on the same note, here are some of the things we love about Copenhagen (which may or may not be true of Denmark generally).

1. People ride bicycles. All people, from all walks of life and social classes ride bicycles. They will often be dressed in smart clothes, whether on their way to work or on their way to a cocktail party (the ladies may well be even wearing skyscraper heels). The handlebars are often set very high so that the rider sits very handsomely upright with wonderful posture, looking as elegant as though they are walking down a fashion runway. It appears to not be compulsory to wear a helmet, consequently gorgeous hairdos are not ruined by the time the destination is reached.

2. People transport their children (sometimes three, four or more) in a sort of large metal bucket contraption at the front of their bikes. It's very very cute. Children are likewise often transported in large numbers in prams by parents or child-minders.

3. It is far more common to see fathers in charge of their babies and small children for the day. They play with their children, read to them, laugh with them, feed them, cuddle them, console them and generally act publicly in a way which appears to me to be so much more openly affectionate than we are used to in Australia. Their role is much closer to what we might consider a maternal one. I'm sure some male readers will say, "What?? I do all those things with my kids!" but please don't be indignant - it's just my observation, and I'm sure there are lots of Australian fathers who fit that role.

4. In the supermarket you can buy 10 pieces of fruit for the equivalent of $AUD4. There are baskets laid out and you can choose any ten - bananas, pears, varieties of apples, etc. Good value!

5. The trains are very quiet inside, making travel quite peaceful. The windows are double-glazed, which helps. The seats are not ripped and there are no graffiti markings or scratchings adorning the walls, either. The seating upholstery is velvety and looks brand new. It's not, it's just looked-after.

6. If you take your dog or your bicycle on the train, you'll need a ticket for it. These are available from the ticket machine.

7. If you live in Copenhagen you are never more than about 45 minutes away from a walk in the countryside. It's very pretty here and the air is clear and clean, whether you are walking down the main shopping street or through a country paddock scattered with wandering sheep (I know, because we did that yesterday).

8. On the train there are two carriages just for bicycles, one at the front of the train and one at the end. You board with your bike, leave it in that specially-fitted carriage, then go and sit down.

9. Pretty much no matter where you're headed, the trains come every few minutes to take you there. The train system is very efficient.

10. We went to an antiques and bric-a-brac market on the weekend and guess what? The stalls were selling genuine antiques and really awesome bric-a-brac! Therefore I conclude that Danish junk is heaps better than Australian junk.

11. Babies drink water - a lot of water. They like it, too! Bottles are filled with water; I've yet to see one filled with juice or milk (presumably most babes are breastfed).

12. Shop assistants are genuinely attentive, helpful and knowledgeable.

13. There are dozens of varieties of bread in the bakeries and supermarkets and none of them appears to be made with white (bleached, overly refined) flour.

14. Organic milk, cheese, eggs, yoghurt and other dairy products are widely available alongside non-organic products at about the same price. Why wouldn't you choose to eat the stuff that's (allegedly) good for you?

15. Clothing and other goods are unlikely to be made in China - they are far more likely to be made closer to home. It seems to me that the quality is much better and the designs much more interesting.

What's not to like? I don't know. I haven't seen anything yet.

D1

Copenhagen Adventures

We arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday morning and went directly by train from the airport to the apartment we have rented for our stay, in the suburb of Amagerbro. When you make all of the arrangements through a website and by email, you never really know what you've signed up for until you walk across the threshold of the place you booked, but thankfully our experiences of making reservations for overseas stays have all been good ones, including on this occasion. This apartment is in an excellent neighbourhood, 500 metres from the subway, a strip shopping centre and a small shopping mall. It is very clean, bright and airy and what I would call "typically Danish" in style - polished floorboards, muted tones in the furnishings, white walls and very tastefully decorated. We're lucky to have found such a nice place to stay.

We didn't waste any time sitting around admiring the apartment, though, because of course it was nearly time for "elevenses" when we had unpacked, so we took ourselves down to one of the many local cafes for good coffee and even better Danish pastries. We then went to the supermarket to buy food: sandwich fixings, bread, butter, fruit and vegetables. As has been typical in the places we have rented in Europe in the past, there are always some items in the pantry which have been put there for renters to use - fresh packets of sugar, flour, salt, a variety of herbs and spices, honey, balsamic, tea, coffee and packets of cereal are typically provided, just to get you started. The rest is up to you. It makes things easy when you don't have to purchase every single ingredient to put together a simple meal. We eat out often, but it's nice to know you have the makings of a light picnic lunch to take out for a day when you're on the move, or a quick supper when you come home exhausted from a big day.

We visited the Danish Jewish Museum on Thursday afternoon. Designed by the internationally highly-regarded architect Daniel Libeskind, its unusual layout forms the shape of the Hebrew word mitzvah (good deed) to capture the essence of Danish-Jewish history. For 400 years Jews have lived peacefully in Denmark - during the Holocaust the Danes embraced and protected their Jewish people in a completely selfless way, after the Nazi occupation of Denmark, risking their lives to aid the escape of almost the entire Jewish population across the water in fishing boats to neutral Sweden. After the war the Danes then organised for the Jews to return to their homes here, where gardens had been tended for them in their absence, houses had been maintained in the same condition as when they'd had to be abandoned and so on - it was absolutely expected and anticipated that the forced migration was temporary. The altruism shown by the Danish people was a statement to the world that they saw no difference between Danes of one religion and another and they were utterly opposed to the persecution of the Jews. The Museum is fascinating and a must-see, not just because of this more recent story, but because of the comprehensive way it acknowledges the centuries' old Jewish immigration to Denmark from Spain, Germany, Poland and Russia and the significant and beautiful artefacts which have been preserved from those times. Visit www.jewmus.dk for more information if you're interested.

Later in the day we lucked upon a wonderful experience when we were visiting a beautiful church in the main street of the city and the choir was rehearsing for a concert this weekend. Due to the acoustics and their magnificent voices we enjoyed an absolutely fantastic personal musical treat.

Choir rehearsal

Yesterday we visited the Danish Design Centre; currently there's a hands-on exhibition focused on recycling which was absolutely fascinating. The Danes are at the forefront in world innovation in this field - there's virtually nothing these folks are NOT recycling. We can learn valuable lessons from the Danish attitude to making the world a better place environmentally for future generations.

Today I was treated to a very special day, courtesy of C who works for the multi-national iconic French cosmetics company Sephora, here in Copenhagen. She had organised a day of pampering for me which started with a luxurious facial using the most fabulous products, followed by a full make-up makeover, OPI gel manicure then a massage. What a treat! To top it all off, C organised a gift for me of skin-care and makeup products the value of which I couldn't even estimate, but is certainly more than I would ever spend in a lifetime of such purchases. Pictured below is today's haul - how I will fit this lot in my suitcase I have absolutely no idea.

Several kilos of makeup and skincare products!

OK, enough for this post - we have done other things, but will save them for other posts.

D1

Singapore - The Merlion City

Singapore never ceases to amaze us with architecture and attractions. We had a one day stopover on this occasion en route to Copenhagen, and we wanted to add to our experience of last year when we were dazzled by the new Marina Bay Sands building with its very upmarket shopping centre. Needless to say the views from the top deck were stunning, including a bird's eye view of the Gardens on the Bay project that opened in June 2012.

Marina Bay Sands

View from Singapore Flyer

The Gardens on the Bay are divided into numerous sections and cover a total area of 250 acres. The gigantic "trees", planted all around and from bottom to top with flowering bromeliads dominate the skyline and two of them are connected by an elevated skyway - you can walk across this from tree to tree, stopping along the way to admire the amazing view. It was not to D1's liking as it moved and swayed in the breeze. We were lucky to arrive at around 8:00pm in time to see the last of the day's sound and light shows, a spectacular display during which the trees light up with different coloured sparkling lights.

The following day started with an extravagant buffet breakfast at the Ritz Carlton hotel. It's a beautiful hotel, specifically because of the magnificent artwork and glass sculptures in the lobby - it's as beautiful as any fancy art gallery. We then wandered 500 metres down the road to the Singapore Flyer; this is a huge ferris wheel which resembles a giant bicycle wheel with capsules capable of taking 28 people at a time on the circular journey taking about 35 minutes - as we arrived early in the day, we were lucky enough to score our own capsule, so we could wander about the space and enjoy the experience independently of other people. The views across Singapore and the harbour are absolutely breathtaking. Some of the capsules are fitted out with restaurant tables where different courses are served on each circuit of the wheel. Others are painted and decorated to suit kids' parties, which is a cool idea.

Ritz Carlton

Singapore Flyer

The day also included a short river cruise on a "bum boat", a walk down Orchard Road with the (for us) compulsory visit to the fabulous Japanese department store Takashimaya , several trips on the MRT which is a very simple-to-navigate subway system, a nanna nap in the afternoon, dinner at the Raffles shopping centre and a bus ride back to the airport to catch our flight to Denmark.

D2

Up next...

On 4 September we will be embarking on our next travel adventure. This year we will be visiting Copenhagen, Assens and Aarhus in Denmark, then going across to Norway to take a trip by boat down the scenic west coast from Kirkenes in the far north to the southerly port of Bergen and on to Oslo.

We then travel on to Bruges and Brussels in Belgium, on to Lausanne in Switzerland before boarding the Glacier Express to travel through the Alps to Chur and Lucerne.

The trip will take 6 weeks - I hope you will come along for the ride.

D1 and D2

Home again.

We have arrived back home in Melbourne, Australia.  This blog has been great fun to write and we thank you for reading it.  We may write again, on a future trip, but for now - farewell and happy trails!

D1 and D2

Arrivederci, Roma

As we prepare to depart Rome tomorrow morning, we offer these final images of one of the great cities of the world, as it prepares for Christmas.  Today was a Public Holiday for Immacolata Concezione, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception when churches across Italy unveil their nativity scenes, Rome is festooned with floral wreaths, live music is performed throughout the city and there is much excitement. 

Of course, being a Public Holiday so close to the gift-giving season, many Italians headed to the shops, which were all open for trade.  The streets were absolutely thronging with people today and the vast majority were carrying crisp shopping bags with new purchases, regardless of Italy's economic woes.  The atmosphere today was wonderful.  We wandered around, taking one last look at the Fontana di Trevi, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, via Condotti, the Colosseum, Roman Ruins and just a few more beautiful churches.  Late in the afternoon we found ourselves at a cafe in front of the Pantheon, enjoying a cold glass of white wine, cheese platter and bruschetta.

Arrivederci, Roma.  Thanks for being eternally wonderful.

D1

House and Garden

A couple of years ago a TV gardening programme at home in Australia featured a segment on the Villa d'Este,  a huge villa in Tivoli, about an hour and a half from the centre of Rome.  The villa itself was not the focus of the show, rather it was the magnificent multi-level water gardens.  Despite not really being a "gardening person" I was fascinated and made a mental note to see them for myself one day.  On previous visits to Rome, I didn't have the opportunity to go out to Tivoli (read: I couldn't be bothered travelling on public transport in the middle of summer to see a couple of fountains).

Yesterday, we caught a bus to the train station, then a train to another bus stop, then a bus to the outskirts of Rome, all in the hope that it would be worthwhile and that what I recalled seeing a couple of years ago in a 10-minute TV show segment would be worth seeing in "real life". 

I'm a big-picture person, while David is more focused on details.  Consequently, I didn't know exactly how to get to Tivoli (David worked it out), where to buy tickets for the various forms of public transport (thank you Google - but more on that in a moment), specifically how long it would take point-to-point, how we would know we had arrived at Villa d'Este, whether we could see Hadrian's Villa on the same trip (not really, no) or how to get back to Rome afterwards (thanks, David).

After the bus ride to Colosseo, to catch the train to Ponte Mammolo, you have to exit the station by going downstairs and then upstairs on the other side, where you will find a pizza shop selling (obviously) bus tickets to Tivoli.  You'll thank me one day for this valuable piece of information, when you want to go there yourself.  The pizza shop is the key to it all. Google probably won't tell you that.  Prego.  You're welcome.

We missed the stop for Villa d'Este, but not by tooooo much, and only had to walk back about 500 metres (uphill...).  I shouldn't have expected the driver to announce the stop - what was I thinking?  Thank goodness I didn't wait any longer to shuffle down to the front of the bus and broach the all-important question of the driver, or we would still be walking back (probably from Florence).

The villa itself is huge and has lovely painted frescoes on the ceilings, but there isn't a stick of furniture in any of the rooms (and there are a LOT of rooms).  To be blunt, it was a bit boring.  Then we went outside.

It was spectacular.  You should go there.  These photos only show a few aspects of the gardens, which are very extensive and afford a magnificent view over the countryside beyond the villa.

If the Palace of Versailles near Paris had these gardens, it would be the perfect combination of fabulousness.  Perhaps you can't have everything.  Oh, wait!  Yes, you can.  You can have Schloss Belvedere in Vienna.

D1

A Visit to the Past

In the mid-1500s, Pope Paul IV decreed that Jewish people living in Rome must be segregated from the rest of the community because of their non-Christian beliefs.  A ghetto was to be constructed of four blocks housing 1000 people and surrounded by tall walls and gates which were to be locked at night.  Those who lived within the walls were subjected to many cruel laws and regulations governing every aspect of their lives and although some in the community originally welcomed the concept as a means of following their beliefs in a safe environment, the ghetto was built in a seedy area of Rome near a section of the Tiber river which was subject to flooding and soon became severely overcrowded, disease and poverty-ravaged. 

A great deal has been written about these terrible times, and this is not the place to dwell on that subject, but I recommend further reading if you are interested (and you should be...).

This morning we walked to the area formerly known as the Jewish ghetto, which still contains many kosher restaurants, a synagogue and shops catering to members of the community wishing to buy religious items.  Although it has not been "a ghetto" for a long time, the area still has a distinctly Jewish flavour and there is quite a vigorous community still in residence there.

After coffee, we walked on to the back of what remains of the nearby Teatro di Marcello which in its heyday had been a performance site for song and theatre in Ancient Rome.  Built in 13 BC to hold 13,000 spectators, it was a very significant structure, but only a shadow's evidence of this remains today.  Amazingly, there are a number of small apartments built on the upper portion of the walls.  I couldn't help wondering what the inhabitants of those apartments give as their mailing address.

D1

Rome - So Far, So Great

After visiting Rome for the first time in 2009, I recall coming away thinking, "OK, that's Rome off my list of places to see."  I genuinely believed that having spent five days here and walked (and walked and walked) around to the main tourist sites, I had seen everything.  Last year I came back to Rome (twice, actually, but that's another story for another time), vowing to see other and different sites.  Mission accomplished, I left saying, "That's really it, now."

When we planned this trip, we talked about the need to ultimately fly out of either Rome or Milan, as we were travelling with Singapore Airlines and those are the departure points in Italy.  I begrudgingly agreed that Rome was the more sensible choice, as we would be in Orvieto for the final month of our trip and could travel to Rome in just over an hour from there.  For various practical reasons, we would need to spend five nights here, so we decided to book a nice hotel in a good location, so that we could finish our Italian sojourn on a high note, having fended for ourselves for over two months in apartments (not that there was anything one bit wrong with that).

I made up my mind to give Rome one more chance to surprise me, and so far I have not been disappointed.  David and I agree that this visit has overwhelmingly been the best of all.

We chose this dear little hotel called Campo de' Fiore, continuing our pattern of staying close to marketplaces, which is one thing we really do enjoy.  The pulse and colour, the sounds and spectacle of Italian markets is one of my favourite things in the whole world.  The open air market in the campo is surrounded by delicatessens, cheese shops, pasta and olive oil merchants, as well as butchers, boutiques and restaurants. There is always something happening and it's invariably something interesting to watch.  This hotel has the added benefit of a beautifully furnished rooftop garden, which provides a superb day and night vantage point.

We arrived here on Sunday afternoon and headed straight out for a walk to get our bearings.  Before we knew it, we were at the magnificent Trevi fountain, marvelling yet again at its glory.  One thing I love about the fountain is that unlike so many other grand fountains, monuments, parks and buildings, you come across the Trevi almost accidentally in a back street of Rome - in fact it is at the meeting point of three small back streets (tre vie) - it is not located in a focal point of the city in a wide open space devoted to it, it's just smack-bang in the middle of shops and buildings. 

We were very surprised at how many tourists were visiting the site, given that it is (after all) December and the main season is well and truly over by September.  I guess some things have year-round appeal; certainly for me, the Trevi has that gobsmacking WOW! factor every time I see it.

Despite my previous visits to Rome, I had never been to St Peter's Basilica or to the Sistine Chapel.  In 2009 the queues were so daunting and it was SO hot, that after shuffling along the road to the Sistine, eight-abreast across the footpath, making no progress, I surrendered and decided it was all too much.  Although I thought at the time that I might never have another opportunity, I couldn't cope with the combination of the heat and the crowd.

Yesterday we wandered along to St Peter's after breakfast and waited only about 15 minutes to enter the church after going through security (which was the sole reason for the 15 minute wait, as it turned out).  It was truly spectacular and photos cannot possibly do it justice, but here's a few, anyway.

After St Peter's, we walked around to the Sistine Chapel.  It was quite interesting to note the point at which we had surrendered in 2009 was still about 700 metres from the entrance to the chapel.  We hadn't realised that at the time - I had been worried that we might be only minutes away from getting in and that it was foolhardy to quit the queue.  Given that it was probably over 30 degrees that day, in retrospect I am SO glad we didn't wait any longer.

At the Sistine we didn't have to wait at all, we just went straight to the ticket office and directly in. It wasn't even necessary to have pre-booked, despite the dire warnings of lots of people we spoke to, who said we should have purchased them online before we left home back in September.

Although we were not allowed to take photos in the Chapel itself, it was OK in the magnificent museum and gallery in which it is located (in fact, the Pope's residence in Vatican City).  I could include 10 or 20 photos at this point, but I think the following one of just one section of one hallway says it all.

D1