When the rain is opportune

The Generator Hostel is certainly not some of the more luxurious hotels we have stayed in,but it does have two special redeeming factors - it has a laundry and it is very central to most of the site we want to see in Copenhagen.


When we were travelling here, we had checked the weather forecast which advised three days of rain / showers.  But we have been very lucky, bringing sunshine everywhere we have travelled thus far 🌞🌞🌞 so much so, that people have commented on the unseasonality of the sunshine - trust the Aussies! 

After a lighter breakfast that we have gotten used to, we got ready and headed out - sans umbrellas into a beautiful autumn day.  Then we stepped outdoors and were greeted by the breeze!
Still, it was sunny and we were out for a stroll.

The streets of Copenhagen house an amazing array of beautiful buildings - residential and commercial.

First we made tracks for Rosenborg Castle, a royal hermitage set in the King’s Garden in the heart of Copenhagen and about four blocks from here.  The Castle features 400 years of splendor, royal art treasures and the Crown Jewels and Royal Regalia.  It was built by one of the most famous Scandinavian kings, Christian IV, and completed in the early 1600s.  


I got excited as the steps to the next floor are quite navigable, until you get to the first landing are are greeted by the dreaded spiral staircase which continues up the next two floors, so Donna gets the photos of the balance of the building.

The main attractions include the Knights’ Hall with the coronation thrones and three life-size silver lions standing  
guard. Tapestries on the walls commemorate battles between Denmark and Sweden.  The Castle was abandoned as a residence in the 1700s and became a place where the precious and the priceless relics of following monarchs were stored.  It opened to the public as a museum in 1838.  Today, it is presented as a timeline of Danish and Scandinavian history from the early 17th century to the present day.  

The attached Treasury holds the greatest riches including the crowns, tiaras and Crown Jewels. They are truly a sight to behold and were only ruined by some pompous American 'guide' imposing his political views not only on the couple he was guiding, but on everyone else within the two chambers that his rasping voice carried across.  After 'bumping' him so we could take photos, he takes his leave, promising his guidees that he would see them tomorrow - bet they are hoping he doesn't!

The Kings Garden that the Castle is set within is a picture of manicured lawns, partierre gardens, espaliered trees, avenues of mature trees and lots of statuary.  There are lots of people enjoying the early autumn sunny weather.

Their are soldiers on guard duty at various points around the Castle and Treasury.  And in a Parade Ground next door, there are two groups of soldiers being put through their paces with the orders(in Danish) barked out loudly enough for anyone watching from the Castle grounds to hear.  Good set of lungs that man had!

From here we head towards the centre of the City and Trinitatis Church, where there are a number of people sheltering from the weather that has now started to turn.  Inside their is an orchestra and choir practising, but we are unable to take photos.  It is sprinkling, but we are not really missing our umbrellas.

At the end of this building is the Round Tower, which we had considered going up to get a birds-eye view of the City.  It is a spiral walkway going up six floors.  No stairs, just a constantly graded brick floorway.  It is when we see people coming back down, almost on their tiptoes trying to stop hurtling forward, that we decide against it.  Too bad, rooftops are always very interesting.

From here we meander through the pedestrianised inner city.  The closure of streets to traffic commenced in 1962, meaning the Copenhagen has favoured pedestrians and bicycles for a long time now. 
We had read about, and Siobán had told us about Strøget, one of the main pedestrian malls with an amazing tiled pattern running across one of the squares.  While it is impressive at any time, anyone who has seen it will tell you that it is at ist most impressive when wet - and so, the gentle rain that we have half dodges for the last half hour or so has become . . . very opportune!

Strøget is one of Europe's longest pedestrian streets with a wealth of shops, from budget-friendly chains to some of the world's most expensive brands. The stretch is 1.1 kms long and runs from City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen) to Kongens Nytorv.  While looking around the amazing architecture here, and photographing one of the stunning buildings, I realise that I am standing in front of none other than the Royal Copenhagen display and outlet centre.  Joy of joys!  After a thorough visit, I even selected a keepsake and had it freighted home - you'll have to come and visit to find out what it is!


We manage a quick glimpse inside the Helligaands Church before all the visitors are ushered out as the church is being closed for the day.  Again, quite austere, although there is a touching memorial to the unknown concentration camp victims in its grounds.


The Lego store isn't too far away, and so this is where we head next, in increasing showers.  Bit disappointed when we get there as this really is nothing more than what the name suggests - a Lego sales store.  Nothing that we can't buy in Australia, or online, so we leave here empty handed but for a photo.


By now the rain has set in and we dodge in and out of doors and dash across squares and the evening peak hour traffic.  We take refuge in the largest department store in Copenhagen - Magasin - and sit for a few minutes at the Coffee and Juice Shop - Joe and the Juice - with a cold drink before heading back to our accommodation.

Another big day of walking with more to come in the next few days.
Copenhagen, it appears, has much to see, find and do, so we are glad that we have a full three days to explore at least some of it.  Perhaps the Little Mermaid and the Fort tomorrow, weather dependent, or if not, perhaps the Guinness World Record Museum!

A tale of many Kings in a Kingdom of Smiles

Finally we have access to the internet again - you can't start to understand how frustrating it is for someone like me to not be 'connected'.  Even in the air it is frustrating 😄 

The flight in to Bangkok from Sydney wasn't too bad - it was not full, so we had a bit of spreading room.  We are on an older 747 without a nose or body camera, so you can only follow your trip via the map - ho hum!  
 
So I take to the movies and watch The Zookeepers Wife and then A Cure for Wellness - two very different, but good movies.  We feast on Chicken in Pa-Nang Curry with rice, and a crab meat salad and carrot cake.  All very nice.
And an hour before we land we are fed again - this time, fruit salad, Stir fried Udon noodles with chicken in Black Bean sauce and Wattle seed cookies.

For some reason, we seem to always arrive on flights that land at the furthermost gate from the airport entry.  In Bangkok, this meant a walk of 1000 metres - measure in 150 m increments from the gate to customs.  Crap!

We arrived in Thailand in the peak of the monsoon season, but it had not rained at all on Saturday.  This meant that the humidity was near 100% the whole eight hours we were there - you could feel it as soon as you stepped off the plane.  That was, until you stepped out in to the carpark - at which point I think I began to perspire in a constant stream.

Our guide Suttira met us as planned and introduced us to our driver Jack who had a late model HIGH SUV.  Very comfortable once I managed to climb up into it backwards.
And off we set to do a whirlwind tour of Bangkok by car.  It is a huge metropolis and much like other big cities, is filled with lots of skyscrapers and in the midst of a growth spurt of numerous more. However the new ones are far more interesting in design with many demonstrating gravity defying shapes - there is one that is almost done that looks like an unfinished 3D jigsaw puzzle.  Not sure how I would feel about working or living in one of the extruded pieces.
What you see in large cities in this part of the world though, is high levels of poverty abutting the wealthy areas.  Some of these areas astound you in the fact that they are still standing - most look like they should have fallen years before.
Suttira was explaining that the 6th King of Siam (don't recall his name) after a visit to Europe came back to the then Siam and told the population that slavery was no more, and that the wealthy who had held power in the ownership of land and slaves, freed their slaves and divided the farmlands with them, encouraging them to stay there and farm with them.  This has resulted in the phenomenon of the wealthy sitting comfortably beside the poor.

We drove through Chinatown which could be transported to Chinatown in any other city, before driving through the flower markets that operate 24 hours a day to provide opportunities for the local population to buy offerings for their Gods.  I have never seen so many flowers - ever.  

There were streets and streets and streets of sellers.  Predominantly orange marigolds, but flowers of every colour and type.

As each new King builds a new palace/s, they are all over the city. Palaces and temples.  And at the moment, everywhere there are photos of the former King, for whom they City is still in mourning - King Bhumibol - the People's King, and his successor - King Maha Vajiralongkornralongkorn, who will be crowned following the funeral of his father in October.

At this time of the day (5 pm onwards), all the tourist attractions are closed, so we can only see them from outside (thankfully in an air conditioned car!) - but it is enough to give us a fairly good idea of the size and bustle of this eastern port.
On the way back into the city centre, we see the street vendors setting up for a nights brisk trade.  Once the shopping areas are closed, the footpaths are given over to this ad hoc trade.  Predominantly food, you see sellers of all varieties of meat and seafood as well as fruits - durians were on every corner and every second stall in between.  Suttira tells us that after eating durian, a 'hot' fruit, you should eat mangosteen, a 'cool' fruit to keep the body balanced. She seemed surprised that we knew of both these fruits!

From here, it was around to a 2000 seat auditorium where we had seats to watch the Siam Niramit show with more than 100 performers and 500 costumes which told the story of the history of Thailand. A true spectacle in every sense of the word!
Suttira had suggested that we eat here at the buffet restaurant, but I had asked her to take us to a local restaurant, rather than one that caters to the tourist palate.  So after waiting 1 1/2 hours for the show to finish, she and Jack drove us around to the Kohl Lanta restaurant - a 'posh' restaurant that locals frequent. It is now almost 10 pm and we four are their last customers - we insist that Suttira and Jack join us.  We feast on fried groper, chicken with cashews and broccoli and mushrooms in oyster sauce, with rice.  I am happy to report that the local Thai restaurants in Maryborough and Hervey Bay offer authentic foods if what we eat here is any comparison!

Then or time in the Venice of the East is at an end and we are driven back to the airport for our 00:50 flight to Munich.  
This flight is fuller than our flight in from Sydney and we are cramped with two others in to the centre seats.  Hopefully, we can sleep.  We now sooner take off than we are pumping zzz's only to be woken and offered a meal in under an hour - and you know how hard it is to get back to sleep after you are woken!  We weren't hungry, just tired, so declined this meal.

Someone near a window opened their shade in the wee hours and at 4:22 am I witnessed the most beautiful dawn looking to the east. Meal time again, and this time we are served, omelette, sausage, tomatoes and hash brown, with brioche rolls and jam.  And coffee.  Had. to. have. coffee!
This morning I began watching Jackie - but the thought of arriving looking like I had bawled for the entire flight put me off, so I turned over to Collateral Beauty - not much better really.  And finished this leg off with Just for Laughs - GAGS - hilarious and laughed myself stupid.

And before long, we were landing in Munich.

Will need to post photos when I work out how to get them from the camera to the laptop!