Baltic Cruise June 2011

Copenhagen, Denmark June 20-22
Well we finally left Canada on Sunday after a 90 minute delay in Ottawa. We were concerned about our connection in Toronto but there was no need as we got to the gate and on the plane for an on time departure. The flight to Copenhagen went smoothly and we arrived tire3d with no sleep on the flight. There was a shuttle to the hotel from the airport and we were soon catching a few winks after checking in. We are at the Crown Plaza. The location is great. There is a metro station 2 minutes from the hotel and about 10 minutes and we are in the center of the old part of Copenhagen. Yesterday afternoon we walked along a pedestrian only street called the Strojet. This was an experimental shopping mal which links a string of individually named streets and squares through the old town from City Hall to the Nyhaven quarter. It was all that Gale could do to contain herself with this unbelievable selection of shopping opportunities. We wandered for about 3 hours experiencing the sites of this area. We had dinner at one of the oldest restaurants in Denmark, dating back over 200 years. The Det lille Apotek (The little Pharmacy) is reported to have been a rendezvous for all the towns artists, among them Hans Christian Anderson and Peter Faber. We had a traditional meal of Danish pork with the crackling skin still attached.
This morning we slept in to ward off some of the jet lag and after breakfast headed down town for a full day of sight seeing. The day started with a cruise tour of the canals and harbour area of the city. This certainly gives a different perspective when viewing the sites from the water. The cruise lasted over one hour and when it finished we got on the Hop on and off double decker bus and got a taste of the city from the dry side. We crossed paths on many occasions, seeing sights that we saw on the boat but from a different perspective. Seems like a great way to see the old city and we have lots of great picture from the day. In the evening we went to a neighbourhood of the city called Christianshaven and had dinner in a restaurant called Bastioned & Loven. It is located in a classic old mansion. The meal was excellent and we rolled back to the hotel with our bellies rather enlarged. Tomorrow we will repack after breakfast and transfer to the cruise ship around noon and get settled in what will be home for the next 10 days. First stop will be in Germany on Thursday and then after a day of cruising we will be in Tallin Estonia on Saturday June 25. I hope to be able to update the blog at that time.
Bye for now,
Eric & Gale