Early in the morning, we boarded our Swedish train to Copenhagen, Denmark. The trip was generally uneventful but once we got to the Copenhagen station, I was surprised at the appearance of the neighborhood. Most areas surrounding train stations in Europe are not the best in the city, but Copenhagen's was particulary trashy. Prostitution was an obvious trade there and one got the feeling drugs were never far away. It did not bother me too much but if I was traveling with a family I would be disappointed. Ditto for the regular, free channel of porn in the hotel. Walking around the western part of the city made me wonder what all the hype was about as it was mostly industrial and sad looking with a few exceptions. One of these exceptions was the Carlsburg brewery. During the last hours of our stay in Denmark we arrived at the brewery's tour entrance just as they were about to close. The gate guard sympathized with our disappointment and told us if we took two of his beer coupons we could rush to the end of the tour lounge and still get to taste some brews. Thanks Carlsburg gate guy! The lounge still contained lots of information and exhibits about the Carlsburg beers including a smelling tour of its ingredients.
Eventually we found our way over to the east side of town which made me realized why people liked to visit Copenhagen. We found an area which looked like a smaller version of Amsterdam there with canals and boats. We also noticed a number of creppy jellyfish paddling along like big umbrellas. There was a very old fortress and palace patrolled by period-dressed (but still on duty) guards, modern museums and architecturally interesting buildings and a great stone and earth fortification. After watching horses slog through the mud with their wagons, we headed for the picturesque (to describe a military installation?!) fortress. It consisted of some functional but cared for stone buildings, grassy flats and knolls and great hilltop views of the river and sea.
While walking back to the train we were asked by a local where the famous mermaid statue was. Not having been there ourselves, we told her in English where it was on our map before discovering her male friend was from Chicago. What a coincidence.
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