2011-06-10 Today we took a train trip to visit the Frederiksborg Castle Gardens. The castle dates from the 1600s, although it was reconstructed in 1859 after a fire. The garden dates from the 1720s. It has several major sections: the four terraces; the monograms (made up of 65,000 box plants) of Frederik IV, Frederik V, Christian VI and Margrethe II; the cascade (waterfall feature); two ponds in addition to the castle lake; and the sculptures. We split a nice roast beef sandwich and potato fries, and had a coffee and a beer (179DKK or about $36) at the Vivaldi Café. Then we walked back through the pedestrian-only street, with shops on each side, to the station. Along the way I bought four AA batteries for DKK 70 or about $14). We were impressed with the quiet efficient train and rail infrastructure. It seems to serve the Danes well, and is a boon to tourists, too. Back in Copenhagen, we were again impressed by the large number of cyclists apparently returning from work. The bike lanes separated from pedestrians and motorists are a real help to encouraging cyclists. For dinner we had "A Taste of Thai": coconut chicken soup, pad thai and two beers (176 DKK or about $36).
Saturday, June 11, 2011
2011-06-09 Copenhagen 3 Christiansborg Slot
2011-06-09 Today we visited the Christiansborg Slot (palace) http://www.ses.dk/da/SlotteOgHaver/Slotte/ChristiansborgSlot.aspx. It's an important government building, serving Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court and has the Royal Reception Rooms. The Reception Rooms were open to the public, and are very impressive. The rooms are spacious, with very high ceilings that are decorated with paintings and chandeliers; the floors are parquet in complicated geometric patterns. The walls are decorated with huge paintings or tapestries, many woven especially for the palace. The rooms are still used by the Royal family for State functions (dinners, receiving ambassadors, etc.). Then we went around the corner to the Thorvaldsen Museum www.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk. Bertel Thorvaldsen was the pre-eminent Danish sculpture, lived 1770-1844. He designed the museum and bequeathed his works to it when he died. It's a very pleasant exhibition of marble sculpture, much like the Roman or Medieval, but the works are complete – not headless or armless. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant, but it was somewhat disappointing. The cooking style was not as sophisticated as we are used to. After lunch we went to the
For dinner we had a Margerita pizza, mixed salad and two 250cc beers for DKK 232 or about $46. Fortunately it was all very good, generous portions and good draft Tuborg. Photo is one of the many elephants, each of which is painted in a unique manner.
2011-06-08 Copenhagen 2 Rosenborg Slot, National Gallery of Art
2011-06-08 After our nice buffet breakfast we walked to the Rosenborg Slot (Chateau) where we saw a retrospective of Royal family life from 1600-1863in furniture, portraits, jewelry, table settings, etc. The Treasury, downstairs in a walk-through vault, was very impressive, with bejeweled swords, gold place settings, royal jewelry, and 3 royal crowns studded with jewels. Outside was a lovely garden we enjoyed walking through on our way to the Statens Museum for Kunst (National Art Gallery) where we were overwhelmed by the quantity of Danish and other art covering 700 years. There were hundreds of works by Danish artists we'd never heard of, plus many works by famous artists like Picasso, Matisse, and Rembrandt. And not only paintings; there were sculptures and wood block prints, and some multimedia items. After the art, we went to the Botanical Garden to enjoy Nature's art. We saw a lot of familiar plants, and some that were new to us. It was warm and sunny, so walking through the garden was quite pleasant. We had dinner at the hotel: Kiyomi had steamed mussels (very fresh and tasty, according to her) and I had a Chocolate "Bomb" with ice cream. It was not the "moelleux chocolat coeur fondant groseille" that I had expected, but was delicious nevertheless, with three kinds of chocolate: frosting, cake and topping.
2011-06-07 Copenhagen 1
2011-06-07 We get a nice buffet breakfast at the Phoenix Hotel, good strong coffee, authentic fresh Danish pastries, cereal, eggs and bacon, fruit, cheese, etc. With the high prices, I try to fill up so I can last to dinner. Even McDonald's, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken are expensive. We have a Copenhagen Card that gives free admission to numerous attractions, and free bus rides around the city. Today after taking a canal tour for an overview of the city, we went to a couple of interesting museums; one that traced Danish design and art over several hundred years; and one that gave a history of the recent Danish kings and queens, with examples of their furnishings of their study or office. In the evening we ended up at Tivoli Gardens, after walking through the main shopping street. At Tivoli we heard a nice concert, admired the flowers, and decided not to try any of the rides. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by for Chinese and Japanese food take-out, which we enjoyed at the hotel.
2011-06-06 Midnight Sun
2011-06-06 I was up several times last night and this morning to take a picture of the view (photo), using the midnight sun. Unfortunately, the sun was not visible due to clouds, but the light was more than sufficient to photograph the scenery. We experienced 24 hours of daylight. After sleeping a few more hours, we awoke to a clear blue sky. So ironic that it was just hours too late for me! We disembarked and were taken to the airport for our flight to Copenhagen via Oslo. We arrived safely in the Phoenix Hotel in downtown Copenhagen. We find the prices quite high here, too.
2011-06-05 furtherst north
2011-06-05 Today we finally see blue skies again. We passed an oil refinery located on an island, burning gas on top of high stacks, we could tell what it was. The strong chill wind was blowing the flames almost horizontally. Later we passed and island dotted with 3-blade wind turbines generating power. It seemed ironic that the waste gas was burned, rather than harnessed for power. All of the islands are splotched with patches of snow. The clouds returned in the afternoon and evening. At about 7 pm we reached the northernmost point of our trip (photo), off the north coast of Norway.
2011-06-04 Tromso
2011-06-04 Yet another chilly windy rainy day. Our port is Tromso at N 69°38'55.5" E 018°57'43.5". We walked into town up to the main street where there was an old car festival, some actually quite old. We stopped by the northernmost brewery in the world and had the local Mack beer in the Ølhallen pub (established 1928)
2011-06-03 Bodo
2011-06-03 Today is another chilly windy rainy day. Our port is Bodǿ, above the Arctic Circle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Circle) at N 67°17'20.1" E 014°23'44.7". We walked around for exercise until it started to rain, then rushed back to the ship. There was not much to do in port anyway, besides get the exercise.
2011-06-02 Trondheim
2011-06-02 Our main port is Trondheim at N 63°26'32.7" E 010°24'16.5". It was windy and cold, but not raining so we decided to go for a walk. We walked past Chinese, Thai, Italian (pizza), French and American (Burger King and McDonald's) restaurants to an old church with nice architecture. As we were returning, it started to drizzle so we stopped into a mall consisting of 5 stories with many kinds of shops. Everything was more expensive than in the US, and the fashions were not to Kiyomi's taste, so it was just looking at the merchandise.
2011-06-01 Norway Fjords
2011-06-01 The morning was clear and sunny, and we saw some spectacular scenery. However, it was too chilly to comfortably stay outside on the deck, so we did most of our watching from the Deck 7 lounge. There is still a lot of snow on the mountains around the fjords, so we see many waterfalls. Some are mere trickles, some pretty large cascades. Some of the mountains seem bare of vegetation, where only a greenish moss or lichen exists; others are covered with trees. Houses and villages are infrequently seen. Apparently the Hurtigruten line is a ferry service between towns, and runs up and down the coast, often passing each other. The ships stop by various towns, often for just 15 to 30 minutes to board or deboard passengers, and load and unload freight. Then one port will be a major stop, where excursions from the ship are started; for example to visit a glacier, see the sled dogs, visit North Cape, etc.
2011-05-31 We depart Bergen
2011-05-31 We departed Bergen today on the Kong Harald for the Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Cruise. We are expecting to see the Midnight Sun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_sun) as we cruise north to Kirkenes. The long days will also give us more time to admire the lovely Norwegian fjords and picturesque little towns that are the highlight of the cruise. Contrary to the brochure, the ship has no reliable Internet service, so I was not able to send and receive email.
