Part of Your World (Copenhagen, Denmark, part 3)

The day commenced as they tend to do in Denmark, with beautiful sunshine. Sadly, dear reader, it is often short lived. Today the drizzle was forecast from around 3pm. Our day kicked off at Buka, of course, for pastries and coffee and to purchase a baguette. It would be another 'French' dinner tonight to exhaust our supplies prior to our next transit day.

Our café was already out of baguette so we walked the 200 metres towards the Square to the other store to make our purchase there.

Today we decided upon a canal cruise so, after depositing our baguette back home, we grabbed the camera and the bags containing the lenses. The cruise promised many photo opportunities. We left home at 10:30am to arrive at 10:45 for an 11am cruise, as is recommended in the company information.

Below is my Tripadvisor review.

Stromma Canal Cruise

This canal cruise promised so much and delivered so little. The only accurate part of the 'sightseeing' description was we were in a boat on the canal and it lasted for an hour. Oh, yes, and there was an English speaking guide. Did that really matter when you couldn't see what he was speaking about?

A quick snap before anyone stood up.

Unless you were fortunate enough to get a seat on the side, or outside, you saw very little apart from other passengers. Most seats were taken when we arrived at 10:45 for the 11am cruise. Soon after we left the dock, passengers were invited to stand up, thereby obscuring any view those seated closest to aisle might have hoped to have.

The windmill in the Kastellet area.

As for seeing anything through the roof. The perspex had ceased to be transparent long, long ago. This appears to be purely a money making venture and you will see far more on foot creating your own personalised tour. It will also be more enjoyable. We walked to the Little Mermaid once we were off the boat. A much more pleasurable experience and we saw so much more of Copenhagen.

A garbage incinerator that doubles as a ski slope.

Don't waste your money.

I was just reviewing the blog and noticed the nice white outline for the cut and paste of the above review. I'm not sure why it also includes the next two paragraphs, they were definitely not part of the review. Nor was this, but hey, computers and stuff.

What I didn't put into the review was the absolute disregard for other passengers displayed by many people on board. There were two large family groups in front of us on both sides of the boat. While they could have probably occupied two rows of seats each they placed two members of their family on the side of the boat in three rows each. Some then spread out and turned their back on the aisle to ensure no-one else could sit there

A similarly crowded boat.

The two people to my immediate left, closest to the outside, stood up as soon as we reached the harbour, not only preventing me from taking photos, but completing obscuring any view. We, on the aisle seats, were prevented from standing up by the discoloured, dirty perspex canopy.

The commentary was in Danish and English. This meant the guide raced through the pre-prepared script in both languages. I was uncertain at times as to what language the guide was speaking, let alone what he was saying.

New apartments on the water. Asking beetween $2m and $30m AUD.

Some people occupying the aisle seats gave up trying to see anything and unsurprisingly resorted to doom scrolling on their phones.

As an experience, I couldn't rate it lowly enough. I received an email from the company this morning asking me to rate my experience. That should be fun.

Marmorkirken

Following such a scintillating experience, we needed to walk off some frustration. This would require taking on the weather forecasters and the afternoon drizzle.

HCA lived in both of these houses. Not at the same time.

Back through Nyhavn past Hans Christian Andersen's many abodes, apparently he really liked the area, we turned toward the harbour and then Marmorkirken. The dome is breathtaking and dominates the skyline of Copenhagen. If you forget it exists, you can round a bend and there it is, floating above the landscape. I'm quite fascinated by it.

HCA also lived here. It's the opposite side of the canal.

To get to the dome, we had pass through the Amalienborg Slot square where the changing of the guard was once again continuing at its glacial pace. Many people had lost interest in watching two rows of tin soldiers standing staring at each other and the crowd had thinned, so I got the photo I missed out on the other day.

A serious staring competition.

Through the Square and across the street to the Marmorkirken. There was a constant stream of people moving in and out of the church. It was quite crowded inside, people sitting in quiet contemplation. Good Friday influence I imagine. It was not possible to photograph the entire dome without changing lenses and lying on the floor. Probably not appropriate behaviour. I snapped a couple of quick photos and another of a stained glass pane in the ceiling of the foyer that Jayne pointed out. 

The dome.

The ceiling in the foyer.

The Little Mermaid

Outside the church, the clouds had become heavier and the wind a little stronger. The drizzle might be arriving earlier than expected. Undeterred, we commenced the 1km walk to the much maligned statue.

Although the story is loved, as is the original Disney animated film, the good people of Denmark do not share that love. All types of heinous acts have been perpetrated upon poor Ariel. She has been graffitied and defaced. In one act of violence she was beheaded.

The "English" church.

Today she sits upon her rock, bereft of the love of her prince and of her native people. A statue that is the backdrop for innumerable selfies, a canvas for mindless morons who feel the need to document their travels by sticking their face into every photo taken. Aside from that, birds shit on her head.

A swan making good use of the castle moat.

The walk down and back passes through the Kastellet precinct. It houses the Museum of Resistance, several churches of different faiths, a castle, the launching point for the royal yacht and finally the statue of the Little Mermaid.

There was no time for deviation from our plan as the drizzle had commenced. We followed the crowd to the mermaid. It would not be easy obtaining a clear photo given the number of people clambering over the slippery rocks around her. One vacuous girl was being photographed on the beach twirling an umbrella and turning to look coquettishly at the camera. Or her girlfriend. Whatever.

Look at me when I'm speaking to you.

We paused momentarily for a change of camera lens and swapped in the 300mm lens, meaning I could shoot from a distance. Obligatory photos taken, none of which included our visages, we left the crowds clamouring for position as they muttered "just one more picture". It was said as an apology but lacked sincerity.

I'm not looking at you. A bird has shit on my face.

It was officially raining as we reached home. Excellent timing. The rain was going to hang around all day so we decided to call it quits and adjourned to our warm abode to crack a bottle of chablis and discuss the day's events. And hate on Stromma.

Ah, yes. I'd be unhappy too.

Of course the title today Part of Your World is from the 1989 Disney animated movie The Little Mermaid.

A shop window on the way home. Interesting.

And that's about it from Copenhagen.

Until next time.

Under the Sea (Sydney to Vanuatu)

Who'd have thought it dear reader? Sydney has 5 consecutive days of sunshine and we decide to pack up and head for a country that has thunderstorms predicted every day for the duration of our stay. I guess my spirit is longing for rain, that old Sydney weather. We are heading for Vanuatu. A trip that was booked three years ago before the plague descended on the earth. No, not Scott Morrison, the other plague. The Corona, as it was tagged in Europe, or Covid, if you're Australian. 

And yes, my astute reader, I am avoiding celebrating another birthday at home. Facebook reminded me this morning that 13 years ago I was sitting on a rock in the Tasmanian wilderness about to climb Cradle Mountain and walk the Overland Track. An adults only resort, The Havannah, in Vanuatu is much more in keeping with my age and ability (and Jayne's taste) these days. Although I will be back bushwalking in Tassie in February, so stay tuned.

I have finally cashed in my Pacific francs three years after the New Caledonia holiday. Covid has seen the closure of many of the money exchange store fronts that used to dot the city and when in Europe, my attempts to exchange them for Euro proved fruitless. Now I am the proud holder of 10,000 vatu and I'm pretty certain that won't be coming home.

Duty free is not what it used to be in a GST world and an attempt to purchase an Apple watch was unsuccessful. Given the saving was about $30 I'm not overly disappointed. I'll order one when we return. 

Breakfast was in the Qantas First Class Lounge thanks to the continual extension of my platinum frequent flyer status.  I can't say I've been a happy Qantas flyer of late, but the disappointment fades when the glass of Pommery is poured - after breakfast, of course. The Neil Perry menu is as good as you'd find in any top end Sydney café. Fresh fruit, muesli, omelettes and the ubiquitous BLT. Time to sit and relax, pre-flight.

Celebrity spotting has never really been my thing. I'm not sure whether it is just disinterest on my part or the inability to recognise the rich and famous. Today was different. As Dan dropped us off, the car in front of us disgorged Manu Feildel and his family. Then as we were finishing our champagne, Dr Brian Cox was being escorted to ... well, I assume his flight, although one would have thought that someone with so much education could find his own way to the gate. I did.

A coral atoll somewhere east of Coffs Harbour

The flight was a code share. Tagged Qantas but owned and operated by Air Vanuatu. I booked Business because, well, lots of vouchers from Covid days but also my back gets twingey around the 3 hour mark. Business class on an aged Air Vanuatu 737. No individual screen, just radio channels and a shared screen that showed the map. And the food was truly airline food of days gone by. It was all pretty average and dated by modern standards - except the staff, they were delightful. Fortunately we both had a book to read. Jayne and I, not the staff, they had other things to do.

Coming in to Port Vila

The flight was not all smooth going. About two hours in we were met with "convected air". Looking out my window convected air translated into a mass of storm clouds. Inside the plane, it translated into severe turbulence until the pilot decided to go around the storm. Good news. Clear air again.

The storm prior to landing

We arrived at Port Vila airport just as another storm front passed through. No air bridge. Down the stairs and across the sodden tarmac to the shed. Sorry, I mean terminal building. For those old enough think Coolangatta in the 60s, or Hobart in the 90s (snigger). We were through customs, collected our bag and we were safely inside our air conditioned transport inside 15 minutes. It was very humid and the 30 minute trip to the resort proved to be interesting. The road was severely pot-holed and our driver reported that this was generally how the roads were. It wasn't uncommon to meet a car driving on your side of the road to avoid the wash-aways and potholes.

The drive took us up and over the spine of Efate and down the other side to Havannah Harbour and our resort. It is truly stunning and the cloud cleared to provide us with a beautiful, if incredibly humid, afternoon. Our accommodation looks directly onto the water and has its own plunge pool on the deck, something we have already put to good use. As we were relaxing there prior to dinner, we noticed a crab edging along the deck toward the door. At dinner, John, one of the staff, asked if we had named him. Clearly Sebastian is the only name for a crab. Hence today's title from the The Little Mermaid.

At some stage, Sebastian made it inside and his fruitless attempts at escape during the night were very loud and sleep disturbing. As I write this he is ensconced beneath the day bed in the lower level of our room. Every attempt will be made to evict him before bed this evening.

The view from the restaurant

Dinner was delightful. Three courses plus an amuse bouche and while it is a set menu, there were three choices for each course. They have resisted the tendency to overfeed their guests despite catering for three meals a day. The serving sizes are just right. Last night in a defiant show of independence, I ordered exactly what Jayne did. The amuse bouche was Vietnamese prawn paper rolls, followed by spicy prawns with chilli and chocolate. Yum. The main was veal topped by a scallop and bernaise sauce. Accompanied by a beaujolais and followed with Tiramisu. I'm very much looking forward to our other meals.

Aside from Sebastian doing his best to disturb our slumber, we also had to contend with thunderstorms and rain. Living in an apartment as we now do, we have been insulated from the sounds of thunder and rain for the last eight years. There is something mesmeric about the sound of the waves lapping on the beach with the rain pattering on the roof and windows. It's not really the weather we had hoped for but The Havannah is a beautiful place and if it rains all week, it rains all week and we'll sit in our room with the doors open and look out over the harbour.

The rainy skies the next morning

I make no promises about the frequency of my posts this holiday. We are here for five nights only. As usual I will post them on Facebook and Twitter (if the clown prince billionaire allows it). There will be photos of the accommodation - I'm just waiting for some sunshine to show it off in all its glory.

Until next time.