Copenhagen

Today was a rest day but again I chose to ride out with the local chapter.  There were only 10 of us brave riders as most thought it was going to rain all day and not be a nice ride.  I am glad I went as the roads were very nice – a little wet – but full of curves and all through the back roads.

We stopped at a Route 66 Diner for a break (I am always amazed at how many Route 66 Diners there are in the world).  The fjord beside the diner was very nice – we had two swans fly by (the national bird for Denmark) but was unable to take a picture as I was too late.  Once everyone else was finished with their coffees we headed back out on the road.

Turning unto the road we were stopped at a draw bridge to allow all the sailboats and one Viking boat that was being rowed by approximately 30 people through the draw bride.  It was very neat to see and was amazed at once they got going how fast they went through.

We then traveled to a small town which had a Viking museum down by the docks.  We walked around a bit, had a wonderful lunch and then headed back to the hotel.  We are very thankful for the two HOG members that took us on our route as it was much appreciated.

After a brief rest I got refreshed as we were supposed to meet down at the lobby for 5:00 in order to take the bus downtown.  Well Mike and I were the only ones that were still at the hotel as the others had left earlier.  We decided to head down anyway and take a look around Copenhagen.

The history of the buildings is amazing the archeticture is truly amazing to see.  Again the canals are very busy.  We could hear some shouting and chanting so we walked towards the noise and were surprised to see two canal boats – one full of people cheering for Portugal and one full of people cheering for France.  This went on for hours as we saw them later on as well.

Copenhagen has a “Green Light District” or the area they call “Christianhavns” which is an area where the hippies took over downtown.  It is essentially a park that once you pass through becomes a whole different world.  You walk through the paths and in the bushes there are some home made homes and later on it opens up and there are old buildings that appear to be apartments and people live there.  There was a band playing, a few bars selling beer and lots of vendors selling hash.  The vendors selling hash looked very sketchy as they were each in a tent with only an opening enough to conduct business and also their heads were covered with black face masks.  It is still very much illegal to sell drugs in Copenhagen and I am not sure how often the police actually go to this area but it appears they do not take any chances.  You are not allowed to take any pictures down in this area but there are a few spots that you can close to the entrance and exit.

Mike and I then left and headed to a more civilized area where we saw more buildings and shopping areas where they sold Prada and other expensive items.  I was able to pick up a little Viking for my desk as a memento and then we looked for a place to eat.  We ordered another beer and some food – the beer was huge!!  The food was delicious.

We were able to find the bus stop but the bus did not go all the way to the destination we wanted and we had to walk about 10 minutes to the hotel.  The humidity is so high here that by the time I was back at the hotel I went right for the shower.  So another rest day in which really wasn’t a rest – but that is okay with me as when will I ever get to see so much in one day again.

Tomorrow we head to Poland by ferry!