Copenhagen, May 31 and June 1

May 31

I had a lovely tour of the city this afternoon. In addition to seeing a lot of most interesting buildings many with wonderful towers and spires in the city, I got to spend about two and a half hours at Tivoli Gardens which I have always wanted to visit. What a great place! I could spend several days there! Fountains, flowers, concert halls, restaurants, even rides! It was established in 1843 and refurbished to the period of the early 1900s. Walt Disney spent a lot of time there getting inspiration before building Disneyland. I love amusement parks, and this is my new favorite!

Since it took me a good while to walk anywhere, I got in a lot of people watching along the way. There was one darling little boy in a kind of light weight bright blue snow suit (yes, it was rather chilly). He was just learning to toddle and was using a brightly colored pinwheel as a balance pole. He would get going across the grass then his mother would catch him and turn him around when he reached the sidewalk.

I also got to see a dress rehearsal of the ballet/pantomime at the Peacock Pavilion. You can see why it is called that. I did get to see the famous statue of "The Little Mermaid," but there was such a crowd of us tourists, many of whom climbed down the rocks to photograph and be photographed with her, that I wasn't able to get a really good shot of her. Nevertheless, I got to see the two things that I have always wanted to see in Copenhagen.

I was not on the morning tours that got held up by the arrival of Hilary Clinton to visit the Queen, but Jill was. Now to find the Tylenol for my aching muscles...

June 1

Still in Copenhagen. I don't have any tours today, so I'm going to just take it easy. I did manage to figure out where the battery charger for my camera is. Unfortunately, it is on my desk at home along with the spare battery. Sheesh! That's about the stupidest thing I've ever forgotten when packing for a trip. Well, either I can find a new charger or I can buy a new camera.

Every so often I step out on our balcony to watch the various construction projects going on. On the pier next to us they are driving a number of long i-beams into the ground in what appears to be the foundation of a new building with backhoes and one of those large hammer machines. Across the way they are noisily demolishing a former shopping center which went out of business. Off the other side of the ship is a nice view of a wind farm with about 30 huge windmills which are quite pretty with the sun shining on their blades.

It is, however, quite cold and very windy outside. At 2:00 pm the air temperature is 61 degrees, but with the 26 knot winds, it feels a lot colder. Jill has gone off to tour a reconstructed ancient Viking village and will probably be frozen stiff by the time she gets back.