Tag: Copenhagen

The Seventh Happiest Place on Earth – Day 4 “Bork, bork, bork!”

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Bruce

Wednesday: Walked 8.24 miles

Today we had decided to take the train to Malmo, Sweden. Copenhagen is close and I had never been to the land of 50% of my ancestors. It started off a bit drizzly, but a little rain didn’t stop my Viking ancestors, so why should it stop me? As I have have said before caching and Adventure Labs are a nice way to discover an area. Besides it also allows Sue to color in another country on her geocaching map 🙄. Trying to figure things out in another language can be “fun” and by “fun” I mean stressful. Fortunately our hotel was across the street from the train station and the train went directly into Malmo. So once we were on the train, my fretting over did I mess this up and we are now going someplace else vanished.

We emerged from the station and checked the geocaching app to see what was around us. There were a few adventure lab stages to get us going and then we headed into the older part of town. One thing Sue and I have noticed is the amount of space dedicated to pedestrians. Yes, there are cars, but so much is pretty much for people walking or cyclists. We stopped into the Form/Design Center a museum focused on design in its many forms had a quick snack and then viewed a few exhibits…one focused on open spaces and how cities over the centuries have planned for it and are still planning for it. I hope that the Monument Circle area of Indianapolis becomes something like this.

One thing we try to do every trip abroad is to pick up one thing for the house. Sweden is known for Dala horses. Sue, having spent time in Sweden has a few, they are wooden and have a traditional painted pattern on them. I bring this up because in GUSTUS, the adjacent gallery, an artist had made their’s in clay and had glazed them in unique patterns. We decided to go ahead and buy one. (Sue has since named him “Mo”) I also bought a ceramic dragon… these are our first purchases of the trip outside of snacks. The drizzling stopped and we walked around a bit more this time around the old castle that had been turned into a prison, and now the art museum. Yes, this was part of an adventure lab. We then headed to the science and maritime museum. I discovered something interesting… I had no desire to go in. Yes, I love science & STEM stuff, it’s been a major part of my life for over 30 years but not being a teacher and having an overwhelming feeling that if I bought anything for anyone it would just get thrown in a box. So the majority of the day was just taking in Malmo, which was a great way to spend the day.

The view from our Hotel in Osterport. Yes, we were near the tracks
Bikes everywhere… What would happen in the U.S. if people actually could ride bikes everywhere, safely?
Cecil with his train ticket, ready to head into Sweden
The Author across from the train station getting a virtual geocache
Cecil enjoying the public art around Malmo.
Building renovation or are they just covering up a modern building and showing it they it used to look using “art”?
Public Art on the way from the Station
Cecil is wondering what a T.G.I> Fridays is doing here… he also was curious about the number of 7-Elevens,
Intersting at the lack of cars in most areas throughout our trip.
One of the squares in old town Malmo
THe view from our snack break.
Yes, I missed my cats.
Art at the Gustus Gallery. This one didn’t make it home with us.
Some of the other Ceramic options at the gallery,
Yes, it was a stage for an Adventure Lab.
The Science and Maritime Technology Museum (another Adventure Lab
Wandering around the old Castle/Prison/Art Museum
At the Art Museum,not wondering why Sweden is the seventh happiest place on earth.

We went back into the old town area for lunch, this has a bit of anxiety with it even though it really hasn’t play out poorly. We could have gone to the T.G.I. Fridays but instead ended up in a nice little place called “Ruth’s” you look at a menu in a foreign language that you have little or no experience with and I know I freeze. Fortunately I have discovered that most places everyone speaks a little English – because American’s haven’t, until recently felt the need to learn another language. Some still won’t 🙄 back to lunch- Sue had a wonderful salad and I decided to go with braised ox cheek with carrots, lentils and horseradish sauce. According to my last physical only half of what I ate will kill me, but as Ian Fleming would say “You only live twice.” I also had a local IPA since I’m on vacation, I’m an adult, and I’m no longer a teacher therefore needing to be a “moral exemplar.”

We heading back in the mid to late afternoon and decided to stop at the central train station to wander around the city center of Copenhagen a bit while it was still light out. One of the big tourist attractions is Tivoli Gardens which doesn’t open for about a month…. Sue had done more research on this area and knew near one of the entrances to Tivoli was… a LEGO Store. It wasn’t massive like some I’ve seen, but it did have a Mini Figure Factory, so I made a custom Mini Figure. When you do this you get to design the torso of a LEGO Mini Figure. It seems that most stores that have one also have some unique design exclusive to their store. Not all LEGO Stores have one, but this was a way for LEGO Stores to deal with “Kidult” Fans of LEGO who complained about going to stores in other cities and having nothing special to show for it except a stamp in their LEGO Passport. So I made one (and got a stamp or two in my LEGO Passport too). We then walked over to the city center. Took some pictures and picked up a few AL stages.

No Rollercoasters for Cecil! Tivoli was closed.
Still Trying to figure out exactly what kind of creature this is…
I call this “Social Media in America”
The author with H.C. Andersen, maybe someone lost in my family tree?
A bull fighting a seamster? I guess I have some research to do on what the story is behind this fountain.
People in Copenhagen have really long legs.
I think climate change is having an extreme impact on countries like Iceland…

One thing we decided while wandering was the need to return to Copenhagen for more than our brief stay. There was a lot we missed. I think Sue and I both decided while visiting Kronborg castle was nice, perhaps spending that time in Copenhagen would have been better… then again with it being the off season, it might have been for the best. Yes, we didn’t see “The Little Mermaid” and other iconic Copenhagen sites… which is why we want to return. “We headed back to the hotel and discussed the day, and what tomorrow might bring… basically What were we going to do tomorrow on our way back to Billund?

Note: Sue has decided that for long days of walking she isn’t enamored with cobblestones.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 3 “Alas Poor Yorick”

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Bruce

Tuesday: Walked 5.48 miles

We did a lot today starting with a Troll hunt. There is an artist who makes giant trolls around the world. A bunch are in Denmark, one was on our way to Helsingor (Elsinore) and the castle Shakespeare used as inspiration for Hamlet. Also on the way were a number of caches and adventure lab stages. I dropped off the first of my travel bugs- let’s see what happens. Geocachers know that in the U.S. travel bugs and geocoins tend to go missing. I even did a comic about Cecil’s collection. In Europe, that is not the case, While not the general rule I have found (anecdotal evidence) that even when the attached object goes missing the tag will still travel from cache to cache or event to event and be logged. I brought two Trackables with me- A MINI Cooper Hot Wheels , and a Geocoin that I had picked up at a local Leap Day event. I decided more than that would be overkill and add stress to the trip. (Update: the Trackable MINI was picked up while we were still in Denmark🤞that it will get moved around)

Sue on the path to see a troll!
Our First Troll!
The Campfire
The view from the campfire
Look! A bridge! a big bridge!
Sue and I ready to play the role of Hamely and Ophelia?!? I hope not.
The role of Elsinor will be played by Kronborg tonight,
Cecil wondering if something really is rotten in the state of Denmark… he doesn’t smell anything.
The Kronborg Courtyard.
They had a exhibit about monsters! (SEL focus for those in the Ed Biz) in the foundation of the original castle
What else would you expect in Denmark but a statue highlighting that great Danish hero Hercules and his battle with the hydra (Hail HYDRA)
Cecil chats with one of the guardians on the way to Denmark’s oldest cache!
Cecil at Demark’s oldest Cache in the middle of a bog.
Yes, it was cold, but flowers were starting to peek through.

There were some caches and an Adventure Lab around Krønborg before and after we toured the castle we were able to get the AL completed. Remember: a lot of things don’t open until April so a number of the things that would be open were just starting to get ready. If you’ve toured a large historic house in the U.S. or another castle in Europe you might understand the way things go- it’s a big house with history. There is a reason why this spot was picked. Who the heroes and who are the villains change and what time period they want showcase can determine that. All this does is make me realize how much I don’t know when it comes to other country’s history. By the law of Tourists in Europe we had now completed the requirements by visisting a cathedral and now a castle, the tourist police cannot arrest us- one less anxiety I have to deal with.

After handling the cold (it’s next to the ocean- sea breezes bring about cold.) we headed for the hotel with a minor detour to Denmark’s oldest geocache located near one of Sue’s favorite places, a bog. We walked the geopath and signed the log. Cecil dropped off the last of the trackables he had and we headed to Copenhagen and the hotel to defrost, rest up and get ready for whatever tomorrow will bring.