The Long Journey Home

This summer we decided to take the long way home, via northern Europe and the Baltic.  We started in Daegu and made our first stop in Copenhagen.  The first thing we noticed about this city is that the train/subway system is very easy to use.  Even though we had been flying and laying over for about 20 hours we figured that since it was still daylight, we would take the rail to Tivoli, an amusement park in downtown Copenhagen. 

This is the front of the central train depot... nice, right?  Also, there is parking for about 10,000 bicycles out front.  And all of them were filled. 



According to the 1000 Places to See Before You Die iPad app, Tivoli Gardens is the 191st place in the world, and the only one in Copenhagen (other than new Nordic cuisine, and Danish design, which I am not sure are specific places), and so, armed with some Kronor, we set off. 

Again, according to that same app, Tivoli Gardens is one of the world's oldest theme parks, said to have inspired Walt Disney.  The park opened in 1843 and it is quite nice. 

The difference here is that you pay as you go, instead of paying one price for all of the rides, you pay admission, and then everything else is a la carte...

The decorations are nice.

Of course the suckers always look good.

There are come cultural attractions.

Of course we only had a few kronor, and you could only use a Danish credit card,  so the kids had to make do with just looking...

The tower of terror...

The main difference with Tivoli and Disney is that these buildings are authentically old, not just sets of old looking new buildings.

The background of the park.

There is a section called Petzi's World,where the kids can meet all of their favorite characters: Petzi, Pingo, Pelle, and Old Salt. 

For 1 kronor you could feed the ducks.  And if you shook the machine, more would come out!  After that strenuous activity we decided to head back to the hotel... with the time change we had been awake for about 23 hours.



The next morning we decided to take a walk around and check out the area around our hotel (the GO Hotel, if you were wondering).   

Across the street was this beautiful church.

With this beautiful vestry house.

Because I was having a problem with my camera, I don't know the name of the church, but it was nice. 

After our walk around we had to head to the pier to get on our cruise.  The best part of the kids getting bigger??? Guess...

Again we took the train (for about $12USD) rather than a taxi (for about $50), and it was so clean, safe, and easy to get around.  They even have special cars for people that want to bring their bikes on (or huge amounts of luggage???).

R-man's favorite sign :)

So on the cruise we are heading out of Copenhagen harbor.  These windmills are the most amazing thing.  They span the length of the harbor and are just slowly spinning.  It was like Rise of the Machines, long after humans are gone, these will still be collecting wind energy... spooky....

Our first stop on the cruise: Warnemunde, Germany.  As part of the day, you could take a train to Berlin, but it was like, 3 hours, EACH WAY!  And so, instead we decided that we would stretch our legs in a long walk around the town. 

On the pier there was a little bit of fun.

We try to take a picture with the name of the place in it so that we can tell where we are. This is the train depot, again clean, safe, and cheap.

The weather was not the greatest, overcast, a heavy mist, and quite chilly. 
In case you were wondering how come it was so cold, take a look at this world map:

 now you might find Germany up there between Poland and the Netherlands.  But now, take your finger and draw the latitude (that's the horizontal one) over to North America.  See how it lines up with somewhere up in Canada?  Like that part that is north of most of Quebec?  Like up in Newfoundland??? That is why it is cold, because we were UP there!  That makes NH look tropical!  And Florida?  Well, that is tropical!

Anyway, back to the story.  Our first two stops were lighthouses. 

At the top, with the Baltic behind us.

Walking down the street, a little alleyway.

Next place, a windmill converted into a restaurant.

More walking, this time past little hippy-dippy shops, veggie marts, jewelry stores.

And a toy store selling these kind of creepy toys.

Another church, where of course I lit some candles for a safe trip (see Aunt Lucille, I have my own hoo-doo voo-doo)!

Across the street was a grocer, where we stocked up on chocolate, lip balm, and wondered at American dressing.  What do you think?

As it started to clear up, we took a walk along the waterfront, and saw these scenic sights.

Of course, no trip would be complete without some smoked fish, which Gary thought was also among the 1000 Places to See Before You Die, but I am not sure.

Back to the boat, to drop the kids off at the kids club (they are done walking).

And back out for some more "sight-seeing".

And a little LOVE from Lisa and Frank, the fabulous vocal duo performing at a little shop outside the pier. 
Coming up... Estonia and Russia.