Aero

Last night we were a bit later than usual getting out for dinner, and it took us a while to find somewhere that wasn't a)full and b)too expensive/trendy. The meat market area, with the food trucks, tables, benches packed with young Danes, and thumping party music, was a bit dismal, sort of like a film set for a gritty European movie. The darkening sky as rain approached didn't help.

So we were glad to find a table in a restaurant we had eaten at before, and get a reasonable dinner inside as the skies opened. But we felt a bit frazzled by the time we got home, and not sorry to be having a break from big city Copenhagen.

This morning we caught two trains, then a ferry, to get to Aeroe, each step a bit more relaxed than the last, till we stepped off onto the wonderfully picturesque island village of AeroSkobing. After checking in, we went for a shuffle round the village, and could not help but be charmed by the quaint cottages, lovely gardens, and little cobbled streets - it really is picture postcard.

Our hotel is old fashioned and a bit funky, but the couple who bought it a year ago are working away rennovating it. The restaurant is a key thing they have focused on, and it is a big hit, excellent food, and clearly the word has got out, for it was packed. What a difference 24 hours makes - sitting at dinner here looking out over the water we felt about 1000 percent better than last night.

After dinner we went for a walk around the dock area, with a smattering of cruising yachts and some larger boats that look like they run cruises for teenagers - guessing by the groups of teenagers sitting rather mournfully on the decks. The harbour is set up very nicely for visiting yachts though, with a very solid building with woodfired  barbeques, plenty of power hookups, nice facilities block, and even a second hand book shop. I think this would be grand sailing territory, with lots of little islands and lots of anchorages. A fair bit of wind too I suspect.

We are very happy to be somewhere so beautiful, and so relaxed. This is a sort of holiday from travelling, and I think we have chosen the right place for it. 

Roskilde

This morning we got down to the station reasonably early, bought a couple of all day tickets, and caught the train to Roskilde, site if the World Heritage listed Domkirke, and of the Viking ship museum. We got there before 10, and it was lovely to be somewhere a bit quieter. We enjoyed the stroll down the main Street, looking in the shop windows, without the feeling that you were getting in the way of a crowd of pedestrians behind.

In the pavement outside the church was the familiar Camino St

Ymbol  a of the shell. A long walk to Santiago de Compostela from here. I wonder if people actually do it.

The Domkirke itself is built of brick, with details picked out in colourful paint, and as the burial place of royalty and of the rich and powerful, it is packed with over the top marble monuments. Some of the tombstones on the floor were both creepy and incomprehensible.

But there was also some great woodcarving, in the stalls lining the main altar. I really liked this lecture, representing Luke the evangelist.

After a while, someone started up the organ, playing churchy music, which drove us out soon after. We walked down the hill to the museum through a solid rain shower, and got there in time to find out that the boat tours were all booked up till 2.30. I had rather fancied the idea of rowing a Viking boat, but it was not to be. My advice for visiting Roskilde is get down to the museum early and first, and visit Domkirke second.

Notwithstanding, the Viking museum was fantastic. The whole enterprise of raising, documenting, preserving and presenting what is left of the five Skuldelev Viking boats is impressive, and is vividly recorded through videos, photos, the boats themselves and models, replicas, and the ongoing activity of boat building. The way they have made building replicas of the boats part of the museum, and the effort they go to get school kids to engage with this part of their heritage is really fantastic. There were groups of teenagers rowing and sailing, clearly having a great time.

While we were having lunch we watched two teachers with a group of tiny kids, maybe 5 or 6 Years old. With one of the people from the museum, the teachers and the kids all donned mediaeval looking hoods, then set off carrying swords, barrels and fur hides in a procession round to one of the boats. The kids were totally serious about it, as if they were loading up for a raiding party. I can't think of another museum I have seen that engaged kids so much.

By the time we were leaving it started to rain again and we had a long wet stump back up the hill. One can see why the Vikings chose this place for a fortified town - any attacking force would be totally stuffed by the time they got up the hill. We were anyway. We caught the train back to town, and headed home for a nice cup of tea and a lie down.

We are going to Aero tomorrow, which I am sure will be nice, but we are feeling a bit weary of packing. Anne is on strike packing wise. But I guess the adrenaline will kick in and that will get us out the door.

Copenhagen laundromat and museum

According to the mythology of the local bronze age people, a horse pulled the sun in a chariot up into  a the sky. Horse did a good job  a this morning, a beautiful sunny Sunday morning here, and after breakfast Anne was for a quiet morning, and I was good for a bit more exploration, so I volunteered to take our washing to the nearest laundromat, a couple of kilometres away. I unboxed the Brompton, and set off with washing loaded into its wonderful front T bag, joining the sedate flow of morning cyclists. I found the laundromat no worries, but once again dismally failed the laundromat IQ test.

First mistake, which cost me 24 DKK, was to select and pay for an out of order machine. Second mistake was to assume that the machine did both wash and spin - in fact there is a separate centrifuge machine for that. Third mistake was failing to grasp how the drier worked. It said 1 kroner for 48 seconds, but you had to press the button for each 48 seconds you wanted. Put in 10 DKK, press 10 times. Luckily nice Danish people in the laundromat helped me at each conceptual hurdle I floundered on, but I was a bit addled by the end of it all. Getting lost when I went for a ride while the washing cycle was in progress didn't help my confidence.

But, I made it back home with a bag of warm clean clothes, so it was overall a successful outing. After lunch we decided to have a look at the Nationalmuseet. I must confess we chose it because it was close by, but it turned out to be excellent. Those Danish bogs are terrific at preserving elements of the material culture of Bronze Age people's, and there are things like the clothes of the Egtved Girl 1370 BC - if you saw a teenager in the street today wearing them, it would not be too unusual - wooden shields, axe handles still with flint axe embedded, cauldrons, and even a finely detailed cart - the Dejbjerg Wagon - complete with much of it original decoration. And a fantastic model of a horse pulling the sun - the Sun Chariot. And some seriously good hoards. Really wonderful stuff, and well presented. A great Museum highly recommended.

We liked the curation style here, and enjoyed the more contemporary exhibits too, including the last hash stall from Pusher Street in Christiania Free Town. It is strange though to see clothes and artifacts in an exhibition context that we remember people wearing and using.

We also collected our tickets for the trip to Aero, so all in all a good, quiet day. Just as well as we are a bit travel weary at the moment.

Copenhagen Walk

This morning we enjoyed the very welcome luxury of a sleep in. The hotel puts breakfast supplies, like yoghurt and cheese, in the fridge, stocks up the coffee machine, and in the morning, a nice paper bag appears on hooks attached to the door, filled with some fresh rolls and pastry. And a weird Danish English language newspaper that seems oblivious of anything happening in the world.

We had a leisurely breakfast and slowly got ourselves organised and out the door. A beautiful morning in Copenhagen. We strolled along, beside the canal that runs round Castle Island, filled with kayakers, very sleek clinker built rowing boats - descendents of Viking boats for sure - and huge tour boats so long it seemed impossible that they could navigate the bends and low bridges. We sat in the sun admiring the statue of St Absolom, clad in armour, the legendary founder of the city. 

We  perused the offerings of an "antique market" which looked more like a car boot trash and treasure, the found our way over to Nyhaven canal, a stretch of canal lined with picturesque wooden sailing boats, flanked by outdoor restaurants, and packed this Sunny Saturday, with tourists and locals out to enjoy the day.

After lunch we walked back along a pedestrian only street which was also thronged with people out and about. Must be good for business, and the stores lining the street looked shiny, and high end. No trod two dollar shops. With plenty of impressive and what was to us new architecture and monuments. We liked the stork fountain, complete with a live pigeon on top - a nice addition.

A big walk by the time we got home we felt like we had a better idea of the city. We rested up for a few hours, booked our next train tickets for Tuesday, then headed out for dinner into our local neighbourhood, Vesterbro. We tried BOB, which was friendly and was in a great spot for watching the local Danes sailing by on their bicycles. Hundreds of people, and not one in Lycra. Plenty of high heels though. Our scientific sample (ok we got sick of counting after 12) confirmed our impression that there are more female than male cyclists.

We hit the supermarket, and I realised how tired I was yesterday and how much better I feel after a good night's sleep and a low key day.  We walked home via what is shown on the map as a "Food Market" - lots of stalls and tents and food trucks, with benches packed with young Danes and a thumping sound system. They sure know how to have a good time.

We are settling into our neighbourhood, described as "little Paris" in a brochure we picked up today. There sure is a lot going on here.

Copenhagen

We were up early and after a disorganised breakfast service - I thought Germans were supposed to be good at organising things - we were glad to get down onto the train platform in the early morning sun. Once again, I stood where the minutely detailed diagram said our carriage would stop, and once again it turned out to be 100 metres off. But we got our luggage stowed, and settled in for another 5 and a half hour trip.

One thing we hadn't picked up on was that a section of the journey was by ferry. The train pulled up at a very sea side sort of place. There was a mother seagull who had three small seagull chicks running round on the track next to the train. From the rust on the rails I guess no train has gone along there for a while, but it looked like an exposed spot to raise a family.

We all had to pile out for the 45 minute ferry trip across, but it was a nice change of pace, and a chance to have some lunch.

We decided to spring for a first class ticket way back when we booked, and as more and more people squashed into the second class carriages as we went along, it proved to be a good idea. We arrived at Copenhagen central station in reasonably good shape, though I managed to get ten times more Krona from the cash machine than I meant to, so obviously my brain wasn't working too well by that time. I unfolded the Brompton, loaded up our luggage, and wheeled us to our hotel, not too far from the station without too much navigational embarrassment. The hotel is nice- Anne says it is very hygge (a word which I am determined to learn how to pronounce before I leave Denmark) - and there are lots of cool looking places to eat nearby. I liked the look of Chicky Bar, Anne liked BOB - Biodynamic Organic Bar. We can try both out before we go.

Copenhagen seems like a very relaxed sort of city, with a young and seemingly well heeled population. It is eye wateringly expensive though. Basic glass of wine A$15, basic main $30+ - I will be drinking beer while I am here. I suspect the wodge of Krona I accidentally extracted will not last us too long.

But we are very glad to be here - a totally new place to explore.

Hamburg

Last night, in the long Twilight, we heard a huge racket of music and raucous singing coming from the canal below. The source was a party boat, all young Dutch women. The boat tied up at the little dock, and a trio of girls leapt off. The remaining contingent belted out a selection of Madonna songs and other hits that were popular probably round the time they were born.  General high spirited conversation and singing continued for the next ten minutes until the shore party returned bearing multiple boxes of pizza. It was as if a switch had been flicked as the crew fell to earnest pizza consumption, and the boat slipped away down the canal, almost in silence.

We went for a last walk around the canals, which become very peaceful in the late evening. We really enjoyed Amsterdam and are sorry to be leaving.

This morning we were packed, breakfasted and out the door by 7.45, and thanks to the efficient Amsterdam tram service, we were on the platform waiting for our train about twenty minutes later. There is a diagram which purports to show where on the platform your carriage will arrive. Either it was seriously wrong or I misinterpreted it, as we had to sprint along about four carriages to get to ours. Lots of other people made the same mistake, so we managed to get on and stash the box and the bags before the crowd dragging huge bags arrived.

There was a nice young American couple sitting next to us. Their first trip to Europe. They were booking travel and hotels as they went - we were impressed by their youthful energy and optimism, they were impressed and a bit envious of Anne's organisation when we showed them our red book with all our bookings.

The next leg of the journey was a little less pleasant. The train was crowded, the German lady in the seat next to Anne seemed to resent someone in what she clearly thought was her space. And a lot of the view out the window was just a green blue as the train belts along at up to 200 kilometres an hour. 

 Hamburg station is, like most busy railway stations anywhere, a rather confronting place and very German as well. It was a struggle to dredge up a few words to get through the simple transaction of buying lunch.

But we found our way to our hotel ok, and laid low for a couple of hours, watching by pure chance ex FBI Director Comey's testimony. I have a feeling this might be footage we are going to see a lot of, something pivotal and historic.

We shuffled down for dinner in the bar next door, good German food. I got the small snitzel, but it still covered the plate. Just as well I did not go for large. I went out to find a supermarket to get a few supplies, encountering a few of the colourful locals en route - probably just as well I don't understand much German - then went for a walk down to the nearby water way to commune with the local feathered population. They seem pretty chilled.

Tomorrow, up early and onto Copenhagen.

Amsterdam Rijksmuseum

Despite the heavy rain, there seemed to be some sort of street party outside last night. But we were up and on our way to Rijksmuseum, and got there just as it opened.

In some ways it was what I expected - large rooms full of shiny paintings of chaps in dark clothes wearing ruff collars, other large rooms with large shiny paintings of chaps in breeches in dramatic poses, interspersed with paintings of ladies  desporting  themselves, allegedly illustrations of classical themes.  Not only these attractions, there are also plenty of things that are well worth coming half way round the world to see. I've always loved the Rembrandt painting The Jewish Bride, and I was very pleased to see it and spend a while contemplating it.

But one great thing about great museums is that they can surprise you with things or arrangements of things that you never knew existed. The room with the Dolls House of Petronella Oortman was like nothing I've seen before -a  dolls house standing about 3 metres high with a finely detailed interior reflecting the houses of the 17th century when this was apparently a popular pastime for well to do ladies. Thanks to a contemporary painting hanging  beside the dolls house, you can see that the interiors are much as they were when made.

Another surprise was the library tucked away inside the building - a waft of slowly decaying paper hits you as you open the door, and there are the soothingly ordered stack upon stack of books. Not sure how often their six kilometres of books circulates, but it makes an impressive spectacle.

Anne really liked the painting of Mary Magdalene, by Carlo Crivelli, c1480. The painting has extraordinary texture, with the pearls almost round, and Mary's hair almost like you could brush it.

And there was plenty more to amaze. One cabinet held a collection of 9 Aquamaniles. I have to confess, being an uncultured peasant, that I was not familiar with the Aquamanile. It is , I now understand, a vessel used widely in the middle ages, for hand washing is secular and religious ceremonies, and is often shaped like an animal.  These were splendid examples, from the 12th to 14th centuries.

And plenty more besides. Fine ship models, an eye popping collection of 18th century magic lantern slides, fantastic parquetry furniture. But after seeing too many things the brain starts to reel, and we staggered back to the hotel to gnaw on a tasty roll from the nice baguette shop and to spend the afternoon recovering and getting ready for departure early tomorrow.