28th April 2017. Copenhagen, Denmark.

This morning we had planned to cycle into Copenhagen, do the boat trip and get off at the Little Mermaid stop to look around that area then return to the van and drive down to our last overnight stop.  As usual our plans didn’t work out quite as expected.  We woke up to rain hitting the roof of the van.  D’oh!  That slowed us down quite a lot and instead of catching the 9 a.m. boat we were only just leaving the van at 10.30 a.m.

The weather had started to improve and we were hurtling along the cycle path feeling pleased that we’d chosen to cycle when suddenly the heavens opened and we were absolutely soaked.  We got to the first boat stop and the lady behind the desk informed us that the next boat would be arriving in 20 minutes but unfortunately it was an open top boat, the next COVERED boat wouldn’t be arriving for another hour!  We ‘uumed and ahed’ about whether to wait for the first boat or go for coffee….. coffee won!

We thought we might as well cycle to the next stop which was at Nyhavn so we cycled along beside the sea and went in search of the boat stop to see what time they arrived there.  We couldn’t find any information at all and the ice cream shop was calling to Darren so we dragged our bedraggled bodies into the lovely warm shop where we dried out a bit while we drank our coffee and ate our goodies, I had the long awaited waffle with cream and jam and Darren had ice cream, the only dampener, apart from the rain, was the price, it came to the equivalent of about £20.

The rain had subsided a lot since we’d been inside, thank goodness, so we went off in search of the boat, we had no luck so cycled up to the Little Mermaid.  It was very nice to see the little statue but sad to hear that she’d had her head cut off three times, this was her forth head replacement, she’d had her arm replaced when someone cut it off, a bikini painted on her and a burka painted on her, she’s really had a rough time, poor thing.

We had a great time around that area.  The cherry trees that were planted beneath the statue of an angel were in full bloom and they looked like clouds, it was so pretty.  Whilst I was photographing them  we saw the Royal yacht come in with the crew all standing to attention on board, they looked very smart, we watched a small boat push the yacht round so that it could moor up and minutes later we had the pleasure of watching a sea plane taxi in, our timing couldn’t have been better.

I didn’t know there was so much to see around near the Little Mermaid statue but we spent ages walking around the ramparts and inside the fortress, there were some pretty buildings inside and there were wild flowers on the banks (and we spied a heron trying to catch his meal for the day).  When we’d arrived here on the Red Bus yesterday it had looked like they were just grass mounds I hadn’t realised there was so much inside the ramparts.

It was an interesting place to visit, while I was taking photos of the windmill a Moroccan man jogged up and asked Darren if he would take a photo for him, he was specific about what he wanted, he sat on a bench and posed looking dejected with his head in his hands and in the next photo he was looking very happy.  He checked them and seemed pleased with the results then asked whether we’d like him to take a photo of us.  He did that then chatted to us about Morocco and mentioned some places to visit if we ever went there.  He suggested only spending a very short time in Marrakech because it was too busy and said his home town was beautiful.  He told us he was living in France at the moment.  When he’d finished chatting he wished us a good trip and carried on jogging round the fortress.

We eventually cycled back to the boat stop that we’d first gone to this morning because we couldn’t find the one that was on our map.

Our timing was impeccable we got on the open topped boat and it started the tour 4 minutes later.  We had to laugh, the next stop was Nyhavn only the stop wasn’t where our map had told us it was, in fact it was not far from where we’d had the ice cream as it turns out.  Apparently that was the first stop so we had a 15 minute wait there.  We’re both glad that we came on the boat trip, it was very interesting to see the buildings from the water and to see the house boats.

Our cycle back to the van was rather scary, although we were on cycle paths there were a multitude of cyclists coming at us from all ways, then there were the pedestrians to contend with.  We were over taken by EVERYONE including a lady with a baby carriage on the front of her bike and a child in it, she was dressed in a smart coat and high heel boots and she didn’t appear to be breaking a sweat, unlike us with our leg muscles complaining as we cycled up the slight incline of the bridge!  We were proud to be able to use the hand gesture that says you’re pulling over at a junction to turn left (at least we think that’s what the hand in the air flicked back at the wrist means).

Darren found a great place for a sandwich, the shop didn’t look much from the outside but the sandwiches were VERY tasty, they were wide flat rolls which were sliced in half and toasted and, equally as important, they were HUGE.

The rest of our journey back to the van was quite hard, we were cycling into the wind and it felt like we were getting nowhere but part of the way along the road there was a bit of excitement to take our minds off the tedium as a number of fire engines and vans raced past with their sirens blaring, the odd thing about this scene was seeing  one of the fire engines towing a dingy!

Just as we were packing the van up to leave there was a knock on the door, it was another motorhomer, she was a French lady who was checking to see whether we were staying the night.  She was disappointed that we were leaving but pleased when we told her the quick cycle route through to the main road.  She asked which part of England we lived in and told us that she’d just been visiting her nephew who lives in Blackheath in London.

The journey down to Rodby was interesting, 10 minutes after leaving Copenhagen I saw a fox, two deer and a bird of prey in the fields beside the motorway, then as we pulled up to the place we were going to stop (but reconsidered when we saw the ‘No Motorhomes’ sign) we saw a male and female pheasant wandering in the road.   Considering the small amount of time we’ve had in Denmark it has supplied us with a lot of wildlife viewings.

The road through Rodby had sculptures placed along the centre of the road and the trees lining the road looked very interesting, they’d been pollarded and each tree had ivy growing 2/3rds of the way up the trunk and it was neatly trimmed.

Luckily we found a parking place in the town, Darren (my knight in shining armour) bought a pizza for us and we sat watching Vikings before bedtime, a lovely way to spend our last evening in Denmark.  It was a surprisingly quiet area to be parked considering we were only 5 minutes from the ferry.  Another motorhome turned up and parked in one of the bays further along, it’s always nice to have company.

We have a ferry booked for 8.45 a.m. tomorrow morning so it’s BYE BYE Denmark and HELLO Germany, again, assuming we don’t oversleep.