Our main destination is Switzerland, but we intentionally selected a flight that has a long stop over so we can still take advantage of seeing the country even for a couple of hours.
The adventure began here.
First, we could hardly operate the machine that dispenses train tickets because it's in Danish and couldn't find the English translation. When Mark managed to figure it out, the next challenge was which train to take. We took the metro based on guts - only to back out in the last minute - when it was a minute too late. Doors were closed and train went on. So we stepped out right on the next stop.
- Only to realize, we were actually on the right train. Thank you map! We waited for the next train with hopes to get to the center of Copenhagen.
Because of limited knowledge and time to research, we thought Christianshavn was quite the center. I was surprised to see that Christianhavn looked like Amsterdam. There were canals, a square, and lots of terraces where you can dine or have a drink. It was less busy than Amsterdam though. Apparently, this neighborhood was Dutch city inspired. The canals were quite bigger than those in Amsterdam. We had lunch at some terrace close by the train station.
Our first refreshment in Copenhagen, plus complimentary bread. I didn't know Carlsberg is Danish.
This is my lunch. Fried fish.
This risotto of some sort wasn't Marks but we took photo of it anyway. It was mistakenly put in our table but since we didn't know what he ordered for would look like, it took us about a few minutes to realize it wasn't his.
After lunch, we took off to our first and only destination in this city, the last place you think Mark would ever visit - the Church of Our Savior.
This is the church from an angle on the other side of the street.
The church up close.
The Church of Our Savior is about 90 meters high and is open to public viewing. I forgot how much we paid for the entrance fee, but it's extremely worth it. There's an external winding staircase that visitors can climb up to, as long as you are not afraid of heights. It overlooks the beautiful city and the canals. The chilly wind get stronger as you climb up the top. The staircase is also a little bit narrow, so people have to take turns to go up/down. It was quite scary in the beginning specially when you lean on the staircase bar so people going on the opposite direction can pass through. In my opinion, climbing down was more difficult than going up. Aside from I'm wearing the most unfriendly shoes for walking, my thighs and legs aren't used to long walks nor climbs, so on the way down my legs and thighs kinda feel like jelly. I did a few nice shots overlooking the city.
Christianhavn canal view from the top of the church.
Copenhagen's magnificent windmills situated in the ocean.
Inside the church, you'll find an interesting altar piece that was a masterpiece of an artist named Nicodemus Tessins. You'll also find a huge organ which was built in 1698 (obviously engraved on the organ). Unfortunately, I didn't get to take photo of the entire organ to show you how huge it is because I only have my 50mm with me. The Canon S90 is not very good on low lights so pardon my close up photo.
The church's organ that was said to be built in 1698.
After visiting the church, we went towards (what we believed) the next train station and walked by the canals. We walked for about 20 minutes, only to find out that the next train station is farther. The closest was the train station were we got off to Christianshavn. Walking back would take us another 20 minutes which means we will not have enough time to walk around the next neighborhood. So we just decided to ride the train back to the airport and say goodbye to Copenhagen.
The real adventure wasn't in Christianshavn after all. It was inside the train.
We were under the impression that the ticket we bought in the airport to get to Christianshavn was 2 way. The ticket inspectors came, and told us that our ticket was only good for an hour and that it was expired. Mark explained that we thought it was 2 way and not hourly based, and that the machines were all in Danish and we couldn't find an English translation anywhere. However, the lady inspector insisted that we should have known about it. Obviously we're tourist, but too unfortunate that the tourist excuse didn't work. To make the story short, we were fined 600 Danish Kronings, which is about 80 Euros, and about 4000PHP. OUCH! I was quite embarrassed that we were approached by another inspector to issue the ticket, all eyes on us, while Mark tried his best to get away with it. They took my passport number and home address where they can send the bill since I told them I'm leaving Denmark. Mark wasn't so affected, but I was upset so bad that I cried out of frustration. I was super exhausted from all the climbing of staircases and walking 40 mins for nothing, and embarrassed that we got fined for not paying transportation. I left Denmark with a violation. It sucks.
I thought we would wrap up that day filled with frustration. But here comes the Yinyang factor. One bad thing means one good thing coming your way. We were upgraded to a 4 star hotel! The story behind it will be in my next entry.
Extremely exhausted, but happy with the hotel upgrade!
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