Home Again

Well, after another long flight, this time from LA to Auckland, we were almost home. We had an hour in Auckland to wander around the airport - it was a good way to break up a long journey, but soon enough it was back on the plane and onwards home to Melbourne. We have had such a great time on holiday it is a bit strange being home!

We arrived home at 10:30am, and after unpacking our bags and doing some supermarket shopping had a couple of hours sleep (we did set the alarm so we would only sleep for an hour, but it helps if you turn it on!) and were woken about 8:30pm by the phone ringing (thanks Marylyn).

Hope everyone has enjoyed reading our blog entries. Now we are planning for the next trip - even Andrew is looking forward to the next one!

Longest day ever!

Today is Friday the 13th, and as I sit and write this the day has gone for over 27 hours so far, and its only 7pm! This morning we were up early to make the most of our last few hours in London. After packing the bags, we checked out and headed to Harrods for breakfast – we missed the afternoon tea, so breakfast was substituted instead. To be honest, we originally intended to go to the bakery and get some goodies and a drink then wander down to do some shopping, but although the bakery was open, nothing to drink, so we found the Patisserie and had a wonderful breakfast of rolls and pastries.

After some shopping and photos, we wandered back across Kensington Park, which was still busy with joggers and cyclists, and on recommendation, bought some sandwiches to eat on the plane. The first leg was with American Airlines, and we had been told by a few people that the food was very ordinary and that they recommended to BYO food! We arrived at the airport in plenty of time – the tube is great, even with cancelled services!

After wandering around and finishing our shopping (still had a few pounds left, we just had to get rid of!), it was time to board the plane. We went to the gate, and were randomly selected to have our bags searched. Fortunately, it didn’t take long and soon enough we were on the plane and on our way home. This leg was 10 hours – the short leg – and we spent our time reading, listening to our ipods and watching the movies. Unfortunately, we have now finished our books, and with an 18 hour flight, the deck of cards might come out! We were hoping to purchase a new book or two at the airport, and were expecting, like all other airports we have been to, that after security control, we would be able to wander around the shops. We were wrong! There are only 4 shops, all of which are tiny and none sell books! Oh well, we will have to fill our time with the in-flight magazine – and some sleep! Also, we don’t have any US dollars, so even buying a bottle of water is out of the question, unless we want to pay by VISA…

West end show

Today was our last full day in the UK, and we wanted to make the most of it. We started with a quick breakfast near the hotel and then made our way via the tube and DLR (Docklands Light Rail) to Greenwich. We started by finding the meridian line with our GPS, which indicated it was a little to the east of the site where the line is at the Royal Observatory. We had a quick look through the museum there and at the exhibits there. They were really very interesting and well presented.

From Greenwich we made our way to Harrods for lunch. We hoped to have something similar to High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, but they were not starting that service until later than we could wait. Instead we made our way to the Chocolate Bar (formerly Max Brenner) and had a very healthy Chocolate Fondue! It was delicious.

After lunch we headed to Leicester Square and the Half-Tix office to see if we could catch a show tonight. It took a while to decide from the many available shows but we eventually decided to see Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. It was full price (+2.50 GBP service charge) so we walked to the box office, which was not far away, and purchased the tickets there.

Earlier in the day we had arranged to see Georgia and her partner Miles, friends from Bright. We made our way via Covent Garden, and the street performers, back to Leicester Square where we met at the Half-Tix office. We headed to the National Portrait Museum where we had tea and discussed their recent move to the UK, which was all very exciting. They are certainly set for lots of adventures if they get to go to half the places they plan.

Evening approached quickly, so we took the time to wander through St James Park, and then back to Leicester Square for a quick pizza before the show. The theatre and the show were great – its easy to see why it has been running for so long (since 1951, and in St Martins Theatre since 1974) – such a good story. The ending was … well if you haven’t seen it you’ll have to go and see for yourself.

(Andrew)

Visiting Family

We had a lovely sleep in this morning, with the time difference from Denmark; it felt like it was an hour later! Today we were heading to see my aunty Val, my father’s sister. She lives in Twickenham neat the rugby stadium. Before we headed off we grabbed a quick breakfast in a café up the road from our accommodation, using their wireless Internet to check emails etc.

After breakfast we arranged our tube tickets and then set off from Notting Hill Gate to Waterloo where we caught a train to Twickenham. The trip was quite quick, but we were later than expected. This turned out to be ok as Val had trouble finding a park and arrived a few minutes after us. It was quite strange meeting someone you don’t know for the first time. What do they look like, will they recognise you, etc.

Once Val arrived we headed back to her car then drove past the stadium to her flat in Twickenham. We chatted and looked over some of the photos that we had brought with us before heading to a garden centre that served good food nearby.

From lunch we headed on a tour of the houses that Val and/or my father had lived in at various stages of their childhood. We started at Inveresk Gardens, then on to Craven Close, and lastly to Cavendish Avenue. It was really great to see these places, and to have Val explain what she recalled of them. This took most of the rest of the afternoon, so we said goodbye to Val and headed back to London.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Waterloo and had a “flight” on the London Eye. It was quite fascinating to see the city from that height. It was quite a quick flight, but I think just the right amount of time as the pods are quite small, and there is only so much you can really see from them. We then had a quick walk through Kensington gardens to finish off the day.

(Andrew)

Last day in Denmark

Up early this morning to say goodbye to Ela before she left for work, and make sure everything was packed so we could head out with Robert. We dropped our bags off at Robert’s office, before heading over to Christiania. We took the train near Robert’s office to the Metro station that linked to Christiania. The Metro is an automated underground railway, so you can sit right up the front and look down the track as the train is moving along. We didn’t get front row seats, but were only a few from the front.

Christiania was very different from the rest of Copenhagen. The buildings and fences are covered in graffiti, people sitting around in the street smoking, and everything looked a little run down. It was quite an interesting walk, though you aren’t allowed to take photos so we don’t have much to show for it.

From Christiania we walked to the Christenborg Cathedral (cant remember the real name). You can climb the spire here that has 430 steps, the last 100ish of which wind round the outside. The stairs were tight and two way making for some interesting climbing. You could see many of the sights we had visited from the top.

After climbing the spire we made our way back to Robert’s office for another Sharwarma. It was hotter than I remembered, but great all the same. From lunch we had a quick walk around in the parks near the central square before heading to the airport via train. It was sad saying goodbye to Robert and Ela as we had such a great time.

We arrived in Gatwick airport a little ahead of the schedule we printed, and caught the Gatwick Express to Victoria station where we caught the underground to Notting Hill Gate. After checking in and freshening up we headed out for a quick bite to eat from a nearby pub. Only a few days now before we fly back home.

(Andrew)

Around Copenhagen

We woke up to another lovely morning, and soon headed out to the Rosenborg Palace – home of the Danish Crown Jewels. The palace was very small, and most of the rooms are being renovated, so we could only see about 3 rooms of the palace (no discount on the ticket though), so we quickly moved on to the jewels themselves. They are quite exquisite. We were amazed at the difference in presentation and security of these compared to Scotland and England. We could take as many photos as we liked, there didn’t appear to be the big vault doors or anything!

From here we walked down to Amalienborg Palace, where the Queen currently lives (the flag was flying so she was home!), ready to watch the changing of the guard. Again, much less pomp and ceremony than at Buckingham Palace. We decided to have a look in Amalienborg Palace, and managed to convince the ticket sellers to sell us the ‘combined ticket’ even though we had already bought the Rosenborg ticket – so it only cost an extra kr30 instead of kr100 – good discount!

The Amalienborg Palace has a display of the studies of 5 former kings, along with a collection of dresses from the late Queen Louise (I think), the current Queens mother. It was interesting to see, but we were glad we got the discount!

From here we wandered back to Stroget to meet Robert for lunch, and also meet his business partner,Arek. After lunch, we did some shopping, and then headed for a canal cruise. It was lovely cruising the harbour and canals for an hour in the sunshine. Unfortunately, Alison got a bit burnt, but it was good nonetheless.

After the cruise, we thought we had better see the Little Mermaid – it is such a touristy thing to do in Copenhagen! So off we went, and walked along the water to the mermaid. She was quite popular, and it took a little while to get a good photo, but eventually we did. It was lovely sitting out in the sunshine relaxing while we were waiting.

Eventually, we wandered back to the centre of town, and took the bus back to Robert & Ela’s, but not before walking almost in a circle. We thought we had seen a bus stop earlier in the day, that wasn’t too far away. Unfortunately it was a bit further than we thought and we ended up walking about 3 times as far as we needed to, only to see it leave the bus stop about 100m ahead of us! So we ended up walking back into the centre of town and had very sore feet and legs.

But we weren’t to have too much of a rest! After dinner, Ela and Robert took us on a bike ride to a nearby café. They couldn’t let us leave Denmark without riding somewhere, and it was a lovely evening. Luckily it wasn’t too far, but was a great way to see a bit more of the city. Im sure if we were there longer, we would have ridden a lot further!

(Alison)

Danish Castles and Adventure Parks

This morning we had another sleep in, before a relaxing breakfast and off to the Kronborg Castle (also known as Hamlet Castle). The castle was built by Christian IV, as were many other palaces and castles in Denmark. The castle is known as Hamlet Castle, as the legend of Hamlet, later made famous by Shakespeare, was based on a prince and set in the castle. We toured through the chapel, state rooms and casemates, which were very different from the castles we had seen in UK. Much less ostentatious.

From here we went to Hillerod and tasted another ‘Danish’ meal – pizza sandwich. It is basically a thin pizza base, with cheese and shaved meat (like kebab meat), cooked, then salad added and the whole thing folded in half – sounds strange, but it was delicious! After lunch, we wandered around the gardens of Hillerod Castle. The gardens are beautiful, and it was such a lovely afternoon to be outside, although quite windy.

As it was such a lovely day, we thought it was a good opportunity to visit Tivoli for a drink and to listen to some jazz. The Copenhagen Jazz Festival started today, and there were various bands playing at Tivoli. Tivoli is an amusement park, with lots of thrilling rides, amusement arcades, restaurants etc. We had a lovely time listening to the music, before trying our luck at some of the amusements – Andrew proved better than everyone else, and so we decided to grab something to eat and continue to listen to the jazz while we waited for the Illuminations show! The show is a sound, light and water show in a pond in the park. It was lovely, but soon it was time to head home to bed.

(Alison)

Relaxing Saturday

After a lovely sleep in this morning, we went for a walk around the area in which we are staying. Robert had suggested to walk to the end of the street and walk around the cemetery as ‘Its really lovely, lots of nice flowers…’. We thought this was a little strange but went there anyway, and he was right! The cemetery is more like a park with gravestones, and talking to Ela later, she was saying that people will go and sit on the grass to read etc, basically treating it like a park! It was lovely to be out in the fresh air, without raincoats and umbrellas, and most of all, without getting wet.

After walking around the cemetery, and then the nearby lake, we headed back to Robert & Ela’s for a yummy brunch of fresh bread, ham, cheese, pickled herring, curried pickled herring, honey etc. Very much the ‘continental breakfast’. We tried the herring – both varieties – and were surprised at how sweet the meat was. It didn’t taste very fishy at all. Oh, and Danish ham really is the best ham we have ever tasted.

In the afternoon, Robert had to get some work done, so Ela, Andrew and Alison headed to Roskilde to see the Viking ship museum. Roskilde is about 30km from Copenhagen, so it didn’t take long to get there. The museum complex is quite large, with archaeology rooms, ship building, blacksmith etc actually working to learn more about Viking ship building. They have built a number of boats there, using authentic tools partly to learn about how the tools were used, and partly to learn how the ships were actually built.

They also have 5 Viking boats all found in the harbour of Roskilde. They believe they were sunk to block a sailing channel, as protection from other Vikings, but the find was very unusual, and provided a lot of information about the people and happenings of the period. The ships are a large cargo ship built in Norway, a badly built small war ship built using materials from other boats, a large war ship from Dublin, a fishing boat built locally and a small cargo ship also built locally. We had a guided tour through this part of the museum, which was great – lots of interesting information.

The museum has also recently launched a replica of the large war ship, which is currently on its way to Dublin with a 65 person crew, to see how the Vikings would have sailed, what they would have experienced etc. One of the things they want to find out is how they slept as there is no evidence of having a cabin of any sort on any of the ships.

In the evening we visited another friend of Robert and Elas for a barbeque. This time, it was more of a dinner party with lots of lively discussion about Europe, politics, education etc. It is really interesting to hear about differences in policy of government around the world, and the role of the European Union from real people, not the media. We had a great time

You will never guess what happened today…

We woke up this morning without the sound of rain – amazing! After breakfast, we headed down to the bus stop ourselves, and wandered into the Planetarium. To get in to the Planetarium, you need to buy a ticket to an Imax movie. We missed an English speaking movie by 5 minutes. But it was starting to rain, so we thought we would buy a ticket to the next movie, and have a look around. We had 2 hours to fill, and so looked around for a while, then watched 2 3D movies. The first one was a roller coaster ride, which was a lot of fun, and the second one was a jungle movie – the animals came very close! Each movie was only a couple of minutes long.

Eventually, it was time to go in to Imax and watch Wild Safari. We haven’t been to Imax before, so it was good to see how it all worked, they started with a look at the stars over Denmark, then into the movie. There was a lot of driving around, which after a while got a bit much (a few people had to leave the theatre throughout the movie!). The Imax theatre is pretty cool though – so big.

From here we headed back to the square, and had a hot dog for lunch, before heading to the museum. The Danish Museum has a great exhibition on the history of Denmark, which made the city much more interesting. Before long, though, we were heading back to Robert & Ela’s and from there, we all headed out to some friends of Robert & Ela’s for a barbeque. It was similar to an Australian barbeque (steak and sausages cooked on the Weber, people standing around the garden chatting etc), so this was familiar, and luckily, there were people there from all over the place, so everyone was speaking English!

We had a great time, finishing the night with music and dancing, before heading home in the early hours...

(Alison)

Guess what – its raining!

Waking up to rain has been a daily occurance on this holiday, and Copenhagen was no different. After the lovely evening yesterday, the rain has come tumbling down this morning. The only difference between rain here and in the UK is that the rain here is more constant (didn’t stop at all) but not as heavy.

Robert took us in to the centre of Copenhagen, showing us the public transport system. Robert and Ela have provided bikes for us to peddle our way around Copenhagen, but the rain makes the bus a much more attractive offer! After visiting Roberts office (very nice, in the middle of the city, great views, great space!), we wandered down Stroget, the main shopping street. We were amazed that the shops were selling the same sorts of summer clothes as in Australia – it is so cold here! Quite a few people were wearing gumboots, although they are much more stylish than we had seen in Australia, and by the end of the day, Alison was wanting a pair herself…

Half way down Stroget, we saw the Royal Copenhagen shop, which also has a museum. The store is beautifully presented, and items in the museum were very ornate. They have a couple of people there actually working on pieces. Everything is hand painted, and very expensive. But with customers like Elton John, Imelda Marcos, and the Danish Royal Family, I guess don’t have to cater for everyone!

We continued our way down the end of the street, before returning to Roberts office, so he could show us the only thing he missed about Copenhagen when he was in Australia – Shawarma. A Shawarma is much like a souvlaki, but served in a small pita bread, rather than wrapped. The flavour is also different, with the lamb itself having more flavour. It was delicious.

After lunch, we wound our way through the streets and down to the Royal Library. On the way we saw Christiansborg Palace Church which is used by the Royal Danish Music Conservatory, and for burials in the Royal family. It was a beautiful building, much less ostentatious than the English cathedrals.

The Library is great (particularly with it being so wet), they have built quite a modern building, but incorporated the old library in a tasteful way. There are great facilities – lots of computers, plenty of space in the reading rooms etc, and architecturally, it is really interesting. We spent a bit of time wandering around, and enjoyed sitting at the café to have a hot drink before braving the rain again.

We headed back to Roberts office, and were dripping wet by the time we got there. We had enough time to dry out a little before Ela picked us all up for a quiet evening at home.

(Alison)

Copenhagen

This morning it was up early for the big drive to Gatwick airport and the flight to Denmark. We headed out with plenty of time to spare, to cater for traffic in London and the additional traffic around Gatwick following the terrorist threats and additional security that has been put in place. So, of course, we had no traffic problems, and the trip into the airport was smooth. So we were there about 1.5 hours earlier than we needed to be!

After checking in, the flight was uneventful, although we were a little concerned when 10 minutes after we were supposed to be at the gate, we still didn’t know which gate we were supposed to be at! There is little space to wait at the gate, so I think they leave it till the last minute to provide the information, then make announcements to urgently get to the gate, and board the plane quite quickly!

Copenhagen airport is really little, but clean and modern (particularly after Gatwick!). Passport control was a matter of waiting for 5 minutes then flashing the passport (for EU residents) or a quick look and stamp of passports for non EU, (ie Alison). We are staying with friends in Copenhagen, and Robert was there to meet us at the airport, which was great. Their house is in a lovely quiet area, and has really large rooms (although the bathroom and kitchen are tiny!). The backyard was also lovely, and we were able to spend a lovely evening outside, as it was so sunny!

(Alison)

One more castle

Today was our last day of driving around the UK sightseeing. We had just a single sight on our list, Warwick Castle. The castle was quite large and there were many different exhibits to visit within its buildings. The most interesting part of the castle was the many shows that run at different times outside the castle itself.

We were quite lucky to catch the first show that started just inside the gate as we entered. It was called Warwick Bowman and talked about the history of the English Longbow with a short demonstration where they shot at a shield, then at a “wand” (a one inch stick that stuck out from the target). Then they shot at a rubber duck that they hung down from the “wand”. The show was interesting, and very entertaining.

Following the archery demonstration we walked along around the castle and through the old mill and engine room. The next event of the day was the firing of the Trebuchet, so we wandered around the castle’s gardens, and looked at the birds of prey on their perches. The firing of the Trebuchet was great, though they couldn’t use the man powered winch due to the weather (in case you are wondering, yes it was raining).

After this we watched the start of the Winged Warriors show on falconry before heading into the castles buildings. There was quite a crowd in the castle, mostly school tours I think. The rooms were set out with mannequins dressed in period costume. This created a different atmosphere from the other castles we visited.

After Warwick Castle we had a quick lunch in Warwick itself before heading back and calling it a day. We finished off the day packing and weighing our bags, before we had a lovely dinner with Margaret and Ted.

Last big day in the UK

Looking through our list of things we wanted to see and do, there isn’t much left, which is lucky! We decided to head south, and take in the Avebury Stone Circle, Oxford and Blenheim Palace – our last ‘big day’ here.

We headed off early, in the hope the weather might fine up – and it did for a little while at least. We arrived in Avebury and although it was cool and cloudy, no rain (yay!). We had a bit of a look at the town (very confusing roads) and walked around the circle, which is cut in half by the town and main road. Half way around, it started raining, which was disappointing, as we wanted to spend a bit of time, but not to be.

Instead, we headed off towards Oxford. Along the way, we saw a sign to the Uffington White Horse, and thought we might as well take a look! So it was along some very skinny roads, and eventually made our way to a car park near the horse. It is quite impressive, but difficult to photograph, so when we saw the rain was coming, we headed back to the car and continued along to Oxford.

Oxford is a much more commercial place, with the university almost hidden amongst the shops. It is an industrial town that happens to have a university (rather than the University being the central focus, as it is in Cambridge). The buildings are beautiful, but unfortunately most were closed when we arrived! So after wandering around the town for a bit, we headed off to Blenheim Palace.

Blenheim is the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, and a huge estate! The house was impressive, with an ‘untold story’ of the history of the palace, and a tour through the state rooms. The gardens were also lovely, the rain had stopped, so we were able to spend some time to wandering around. It was a lovely day.

Nothing doing

A quiet day today, phone calls home this morning, and lunch out at the Red Lion (local pub) took up most of the day. The rain cleared for the afternoon, but Andrew was giving Margaret a computer lesson (we have set up her internet, email, VOIP phone etc while we have been here) so didn’t really venture outside as we should have. Margaret is going really well with the computer, and really underestimates her abilities. I think she will enjoy Google Earth and the other bits and pieces Andrew has taught her.

Not long now till we go home, although we are in Denmark for a week between now and then, so that will be good. Tomorrow its off to Oxford and Avebury, then Tuesday to Warwick Castle (last of the English Castles!) and home to pack. Increased terror threat in UK means an early start on Wednesday to get to Gatwick in plenty of time for any extra security measures in place.