Little Mermaid Statue

This is one of the pictures I took of the famous little mermaid statue in Copenhagen. Because the sun was behind the statue, the front of the picture came in very dark. I had to use my photo tool so I could change the background and increase the light in the picture so you could see the front of the mermaid.

Concerning the statue, I learned a couple things. First, I was surprised how close to shore the statue is. You can actually step from the shore to the statue's base if you wanted to. I thought it was further out in the harbor. Second, sickos have three times mutilated the statue. Twice the statue's head was cut off. In order to prevent the head from being cut off again, authorities poured concrete inside the statue's head making it impossible for them to ever do it again. I thought it really sad that they had to do that in the first place. Lastly, as you can see, it is a very beautiful statue. It is one of the sights I'd recommend seeing in Copenhagen if you can ever visit there.

Arhus Update

I have to make this quick as the internet connection at the Arhus SAS Hotel costs 40 cents a minute. Serious ouch!

We had our first group meeting Monday evening. I found out we have 43 in our group. We had 44 but the next day, Sherry Jensen fell at Christianborg and broke both her elbows. I felt terribly sorry for this lady. To come all this way and to have an accident just when the tour begins that forces her to return home. What a serious bummer!

Tuesday, we did a city tour of Copenhagen with a local guide. She did a great job. We had a break in which Harvey and I caught a boat tour of the canals. It ended up being really nice. It was fascinating to go through them. I thought they looked a lot nicer though not as old as Amsterdam's.

In the afternoon, I took the optional tour that took us to Fredericsborg, once a royal palace. It was very impressive. After that, we visited Fredensborg which is the Danish royal families summer residence. We got to see the outside and it was nice. Last, we visited Elsinore Castle, the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet. The ramparts were VERY big and VERY impressive. I wish we could've seen the inside of it but, we didn't have the time.

Last, everyone received a ticket to the Tivoli Gardens which is a very famous amusment park. I found it all right and pricey. It turned out all the ticket did was allow us in so we could spend more money at the restaurants and on the rides. I rode some of the rides which was fun. I haven't done that in years. Around 9 p.m., I called it a day as we had to get up early this morning for our trip to Hans Christian Anderson's home. I'll talk about that in my next post. Cheers all!

Arrived

I arrived safely in Copenhagen this morning. My flight on Continental was uneventful. I did think the seats were smaller than usual in economy. Also, the breakfast they served us was totally pathetic. We received one hot croissant and a small bowl of pealed orange slices. I also thought their beer was expensive. It cost $5 for a can of either Foster's, Heineken, Miller's or Miller's Lite. I'm not looking forward to flying back with them when the tour is over.

Danish immigration and customs was very easy to my relief. To my annoyance, our tour guide didn't show up till 10 a.m. It would've been nice if he had been there to meet us.

The hotel (First Vesterbro on Vesterbrogade) I'm staying appears to be good. It's just down the street from the Tivoli Gardens. After I checked in, Harvey and I went exploring. We managed to find the Hard Rock Cafe to my delight. I bought my sister her promised Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. After that, we went to a pizza place that had an all you can eat pizza and salad bar. For the money, it was a good deal. It cost $11 approximately (55 Danish Kronor), and had decent pizza. The salad bar was all right too. After our pizza lunch, we explored down the other end of Vesterbrogade. I was very surprised by how many 7-11 stores they have here. I had no idea they were that popular here. We also visited a Danish supermarket. It was interesting. I couldn't tell you what a number of the items were. I was astonished to find a post office inside the supermarket. I plan to go back there when I want to mail some postcards.

Tonight, the entire group will meet for the first time. Members of the group will be arriving throughout the day. I'm curious to find out how many are in our group. I heard from Joel Mills that the tour was totally booked up but, I have no idea what that means in terms of numbers. Tomorrow, the tour will begin in earnest at 8:30 a.m. when we do a tour of the city. It should be interesting. That's all for now. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers all!