A record of doing a new thing every day in 2011
Yesterday was the final day of stage 2 of our European tour, and we flew back home for a brief rest via Copenhagen Airport - where I hadn’t been before.
We got the metro out to the airport, which was typically efficient and the airport was very nice too - I guess after Heathrow anywhere never seems that busy. Glad to be home for a couple of nights in my own bed before we set off again later in the week!
Another very wet day in Copenhagen, so we took a train 30 minutes up the coast to go the Louisiana Modern Art Gallery in Humlebaek.
It was actually a fantastic place to visit, in particular 2 David Hockney pieces - a massive Grand Canyon picture which is the only thing I’ve ever seen which captures the enormity of the place, and a brilliant exhibition of his iPad/Phone drawings and a video of him actually making one. Very highly recommended.
Another rainy day in Copenhagen, and after doing an epic bus tour around the town to keep dry we ventured off to find some lunch. We found a nice cafe in Christianshavn where I had something completely new - a vegetarian smörgåsbord.
This consisted on one plate:
All pretty nice, and definitely an interesting concept in bringing it out together on one plate!
The day was really overshadowed by the terrorist attacks in Norway. Here in Copenhagen there are quite a few Norwegians around who were obviously worried about people at home - I was talking to one guy and his family in a bar who was desparately trying to contact people at home to check they were all OK. We were in Oslo a couple of years ago and had a great time with very friendly people - a very sad day.
We had a reasonable time doing touristy things around Copenhagen. The best was probably going up the “Round Tower”, an old building that used to hold the University library. It has a ramp inside going up 5 floors that is bizarrely remeiniscent of going up the Mestalla football stadium in Valencia.
The rain finally stopped in the evening, so with all the other tourists we headed down to Nyhavn to sit in the sun with a couple of drinks.
Our European tour continues with my first ever visit to Denmark.
We got the train down from Stockholm to Copenhagen, which was a pleasant enough trip through the Swedish countryside. It was remarkably similar all the way down - trees, the odd farm with red house and many lakes.
We’re staying at the Hotel Kong Arthur in Copenhagen which is quite nice and has a cool name :-)
The real problem so far has been the weather - it’s been pretty much torential rain since we got here. We started to head into town but after 10 minutes we were soaked through, so we turned straight around and headed back to the hotel to dry out before having a decent meal in one of the hotel restaurants. Hopefully it will clear up a bit for the rest of our stay here.
We were hoping to take a boat trip to Birka on Lake Maleren (the lake that connects to Baltic at Stockholm) to see an ancient Viking settlement, but the trip was over subscribed :-(
However instead we went on a relaxing 2 hour cruise around the 1000’s of islands that stand between Stockholm and the open water. The weather here has been fantastic the last 2 days (26C==79F) so it was nice to get out of the heat for a while and enjoy the fantastic scenery here.
Another great day in Stockholm but the absolute highlight was going to the Ice Bar in the hotel.
It’s made by the same people who make the famous Ice Hotel and supposedly there are only 6 bars like this in the world. To state the bleeding obvious it was bloody freezing in there. The glasses were made out of ice, and beforehand we thought it was a bit mean only letting you stay an hour but after 40 minutes and two stiff drinks we’d had enough - and we’d stayed in the longest!
Hilary’s always wanted to go to stay in the Ice Hotel, but I’ve never been keen, and after this - although it was brilliant fun - I’m definitely not going!
Hard to pick the best new thing after a great day in Stockholm, so I’m not going to.
It’s a beautiful place, with some beautiful buildings built in the many islands that make up the city. We did a boat tour around the main waterways which really give you a good sense of the place, and spent a while browsing around Gamla Stan, the original old town.
Probably the most impressive was the Vasamuseet, a museum for a 17th century war ship that was salvaged from the harbour almost intact a few years ago.
More good food and a couple of beers in town rounded off an excellent day.
On holiday for 2 weeks so should make it very easy to do new things - which will be a real break for me as well!
We’re in Sweden for the first 4 days of our European Tour, and flew into Stockholm last night via Heathrow. I’ve not been to Sweden at all before, and luckily the clouds cleared just as we passed over the city before landing, so we got a great view of the surrounding lakes and forests.
We got the Arlanda Express train from the airport and the Nordic Sea Hotel where we’re staying is just a couple of minutes from the station. That was a good job as stupidly I left my rucksack on the train, but was near enough to run back and collect it from the conductor who’d found it. Phew! To be fair I’ve been on 4 planes and flew nearly halfway around the world in the last couple of days so it’s reasonably understandable I was a bit out of it - that’s my excuse anyway.
We went for a brief wander around Stockholm City Centre before heading back to the hotel where we had a really nice meal of pasta with grilled halloumi cheese and a glass of expensive wine in the bar.
I was hoping my last new thing before my hols would be going to a new barber in Hexham, as a new one had opened up. However despite them having staff sitting about doing nothing they were “fully booked up” so I couldn’t go there, and with that attitude they won’t last long.
After getting it cut at my usual place, it was p*ssing down so I took refuge in the Queens Hall and spent a few minutes looking around an exhibition by [Geraldine Pilgrim])http://www.queenshall.co.uk/whats-on/seasons-diary/412). The pictures were quite interesting although what may have been an installation - or was it actually covered by a sheet? - was underwhelming either way.
Onwards to an easy week of new things in Scandanavia!
