Copenhagen, Part Two

Yesterday it was raining.

Luckily I came prepared and packed my umbrella. Peter and Jules were not so organised. I felt guilty for a while, but after they passed up countless opportunities to buy an umbrella, the guilt passed.

The first stop of the day was Rosenborg slot. We took our time getting there so we could see more of the city. It really is quite a lovely city to be honest. There are plenty of parks and funky buildings. I was nice to be walking around (and not getting wet!).

The castle was built as a summer palace for one of the Danish Kings (even though it was not that far from the normal palace). It was small but interesting. They also had part of the crown jewels to look at which was pretty cool.

Once we were done we headed over to Nyhavn for lunch. There were heaps of places to choose from so we used Peter's logic and chose a place that was yellow (apparently he likes places painted yellow). It turned out to be pretty good! I had a burger which was great! Although that may have been the drinks we had as well.

The rain had not stopped so we headed over to Christiansborg Slot to have a gander. This is where the Danish government lives and they made us put these covers on our shoes so we would not ruin anything. The tour was only in English, but I think they had Danish ones at other times.

Anyway we got to find out quite a bit about the Danish Royal Family. It turns out that none of the thrones or jewels or anything are used anymore. The Danes (and the Royal Family) decided that by using them they would be raising one person above another which is not right. So the Queen has to sit in a normal chair just like you and me!

We got a tour of the state rooms which were the right kind of fancy (as these places all are). Although almost every palace or posh house I have toured has some form of contemporary art in it. Christiansborg was no different. I am not a big fan of contemporary art. It always seems like the artist was hallucinating or something when they painted it. Again, Christiansborg was no different.

It was still raining when we left (and I was still dry), so we headed to a funky little bakery for a coffee and then went to Tivoli Gardens to look around.

We managed to convince Peter to ride the roller coaster with us, although he almost chickened out once it started raining! It was fun, although it could have been longer. Jules went on another ride that went around in circles and then we just wandered around the park. It was in a great location (right in the city centre) and they seemed to have heaps of events scheduled, but not while we were there.

We had dinner at Peder Oxe which was great. They had a system where you switched on a small light above your table to indicate to the waiter that you wanted service. It was a great idea! Oh, the food was nice as well.

A movie followed dinner (Lucky Number Sleven) before heading back to the hotel. Luckily we had no trouble getting in.

Today was our last day in the city and we started at the design museum. I was expecting it to be full of funky Danish design pieces, and while they did have some funky stuff, a lot of it was rubbish. It was a bit of a disappointment.

We then headed over to the Vor Frue Kirke (the cathedral) which is where Our Mary got married back in 2004. It had this scary gold statue of Jesus at the front - enough to scare anyone away from Christianity!

For lunch we headed to Ida Davidsen (a cafe) to have some traditional Danish smørrebrød. These are open sandwiches and they are delicious. We had a choice of so many interesting toppings and everyone that I tried was fantastic! I can highly recommend it.

After lunch it was time to head out to the airport. Jules and Peter had an earlier flight then me (by about 30 mins) so I busied myself by looking around. Like almost everything else in Copenhagen, the airport oozed style. It was cool and a nice finish to the weekend. Everyone should go to Copenhagen some time!


Park views.


City views.


Christiansborg Slot


Christiansborg Slot


Tivoli Gardens


More Tivoli.


More city views.

Copenhagen, Part One

So it has been an interesting twenty-four hours!

It started yesterday with a mad dash to the airport. Dash is probably the incorrect word actually. I think everyone else in the south of England was also trying to get to Heathrow. Anyway, I just made check-in and had to push my way though security to make the flight.

I met Jules and Peter once I landed in Copenhagen (they flew from Birmingham) and we caught the train into the city. It was about 11:30pm by the time we arrived at central station and we headed straight to the hotel.

Here is where we had some more fun. Despite advertising 24 hour reception, the hotel was closed. It seems they should have said 24 hour access, as reception was only open between 7am and 11pm. We tried to phone the other two branches of the chain in the city. They had 24 hour reception, but could not help us. They could not check us in and they did not have any rooms for the night (in fact they told us that we would have difficulty in finding anything).

So for the next couple of hours we walked around the city trying to find a room. Nothing at all was available. Not even at one of the most expensive hotels in the city. So we decided to hole up in the train station while we could (it was closing at 4am). We then decided to move to one of the Cab-Inn's that was open and sit in their entrance. Luckily they had a no show and considering it was 3am they decided to let us use the room. So we finally found somewhere to sleep!

We got up the next (well the same actually) morning and went over to our reserved hotel and checked in. We were lucky that they had kept the room open for us. We dumped our bags and then hit the city!

We headed to the central square (the Radhuspladsen) to have a look around. A lot of the buildings were quite old, but a lot of the newer ones oozed the style and sophistication that the Danes (and Scandinavians in general) are known for. We had a look at the Georg Jensen shop as Jules wanted to buy some wedding jewellery. Everything in the store was pretty cool.

By this time we were hungry so we started looking for a nice lunch place. We ended up stumbling across Cafe Norden, which was in a great spot and looked pretty cool inside. Unfortunately they service was not that great and the food was pretty uninspiring, but I would still recommend the place. Its location and interior are fantastic!

We then headed over to check out Amalienborg Slot. This was where the royal family live. Unlike Buckingham Palace, you can get pretty close to the entrance of the palace. They still had soldiers on guard, but it felt like you were closer to the action!

We then headed over to the Marmorkirken and then to Kongens Have (one of the parks). We walked past the Rosenborg Slot (another castle/palace) and finally over to the Little Mermaid. I know it is a Copenhagen landmark, but it was pretty disappointing. We then headed into the Churchillparken and walked around. We finally ended up at St Alban's Church which had a fantastic fountain out the front!

By this time we were exhausted and pretty tired. Jules was also not feeling very well. We decided to take the easy route for dinner and went to Jensen's Bofhus - a chain restaurant all over Denmark. The food was actually quite good! It was a nice surprise.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel. After the fun of last night we just wanted an early night. We were to be thwarted again however. A couple of streets from the hotel we were stopped by the police. They told us there was a stabbing in the area and the streets were blocked off while they look for evidence. We could not get to the hotel at all!

We could feel the call of the SAS Radisson bar, so we headed there. The bar was very funky, a nice place to be. So we sat back and consoled ourselves with expensive drinks. It was just what we needed!

After a couple of hours we headed back to the hotel without trouble! It was nice to jump into bed.


Views of the city.


Someone didn't want their bike!


Town Hall.


Views from the Radhuspladsen


Nyhavn.


The funky new music hall.


Amalienborg Slot.


Marmorkirken.


Rosenborg Slot.


In the park.


Street views.


More street views.


More park!


Me trying to be a windmill!


More park.


Funky pidgeon holes.


St. Alban's Church.


The cool fountain out the front.


Radhuspladsen at night.

Woburn Abbey

We spent yesterday in and around Birmingham just taking it easy. Saw Mission Impossible Three (it was not the best movie!).

Today we decided to head out for the day. Peter was coming back to Southampton with me so that he could look at a couple of houses with Suzie, so we all decided to head out and Jules was going to get the train back to Birmingham from wherever we ended up.

We decided to head down towards Woburn Abbey and grab some lunch along the way. We ended up in some uninspiring pub with food that I cant really remember, so it must not have been that great!

We then headed down to check out the Abbey. We arrived quite late so we could not go around the Safari Park. In fact we just had enough time to check out the house. As with similar places it was grand and full of expensive furniture, but not really a place that you would like to live.

We then went for a bit of a walk around the grounds which were lovely, but it was cold so we decided to head off.

We dropped Jules off in Milton Keynes (which was unlike any place I have seen in England) and then headed back to Southampton.


A pond in the grounds.


The House


The grounds


The house and grounds.

My Birthday

So today is my birthday (time for everyone to celebrate!). If I follow the rule that once you turn 21 you get to start counting again, then I have just turned 6!

I decided to take the day off work (no one really likes to work on their birthday do they?). I slept in, talked to family and friends back in Oz (it was really nice to hear from them) and generally took it easy around the house.

I then drove up to Birmingham to spend the weekend with Jules and Peter. They were going to take me out for a fancy dinner and generally feel pity for me turning one year older (it is nice to have great friends like that!).

Anyway, Jules decided to take the afternoon off as well, so once I arrived we headed over to the Gourmet Burger Company for lunch. I have decided they don't really know how to make proper burgers here in the UK. I think it is related to their problem with making sandwiches as well (although the sandwich part is over all of Europe). People here seem afraid to put too many ingredients on a sandwich or a burger. You get strange looks if you ask for more then three items on a sandwich. Its just not cricket! So while lunch was nice, I really do miss Australian style burgers (and it is not just the beetroot!).

We then walked around the city for a bit before heading back to the apartment and taking it easy. Jules and Peter also gave me my birthday presents. They were a plant that cannot be killed (no, it is not a plastic plant) and a learn to sing book (they obviously have not heard me sing properly). I think the book was just in case I make good on my threat to sing at their wedding!

They also took me out for dinner. But it was not just any dinner. We were heading to Jessica's, a Michelin starred restaurant in Birmingham. Being such a fancy place we had to all dress up (but everyone likes to go formal every now and again, right?). We caught a taxi over to the restaurant and had one of the most amazing meals I have ever eaten. I cant remember what I had for starters or dessert, but for my main I had:

Roast Saddle of Lamb with Aubergine tart, Tomato butter, Black Olives, Courgette puree & Cumin roasted Tongue.

It was fantastic! I could see why they had won so many awards!

So feeling full and slightly tipsy we decided to see what the nightlife of Birmingham could offer us. We got dropped off in Broad Street and went to a couple of bars, but it was pretty quiet in the city for a Friday night. In the end we headed back to the apartment and chatted while listening to music and drinking! It was a great way to finish off a really good birthday!


Jules, Peter and I before going out.


Jules after dinner (and a couple of drinks)


Me, feeling happy


Peter - very drunk!

Cotswolds, Part Two

So we basically spent yesterday lazing around the cottage and taking it easy. Tamsin cooked us a fantastic breakfast and then we played Articulate and Cranium for most of the afternoon (and drank of course!). Oh, I got a birthday present as well! While in town yesterday Tamsin grabbed me a red and green solar powered plant. It is plastic and its leaves rock up and down when there is sunlight around! It is probably to make up for the fact I have killed most of her live plants here!

Today we packed up the cottage and headed over to Berkeley Castle to look around. They were filming some history documentary in part of the grounds which was pretty cool! The castle itself was interesting although you could not see much of the interior.

It turns out that the Berkeley family (it is pronounced Barkeley in case you were wondering) was quite famous and that is who the Berkshire County (pronounced Barkshire naturally) and the city of Berkeley in California are named after!

Anyway after we finished at the castle and checked out the attached butterfly enclosure (boring!) we headed over to Rose & Crown in a little village called Nympsfield for lunch. It seemed like everyone else in the area had the same idea as we could not get a seat inside. We decided to sit outside but it was too cold for Suzie so she sat in the car while we ate.

We then drove over to Woodchester Mansion. The car park was about a mile from the house itself and Suzie and Tamsin did not feel like walking down. So we left them in the car while we went to look.

The house itself was never finished. The owner ran out of money, but what he had done was pretty impressive. It was supposed to be a religious place, but he ended up going broke....

The tour took ages, so it took us a while to get back to the car. I don't think Suzie and Tamsin were too impressed!

In the end though I think we all had a great time. It was a fantastic break and was nice to have the others around!


The documentary being filmed.


Castle protection (they made sure we paid to get in!)


The castle


More of the castle.


Woodchester Mansion


The grounds around the mansion.