Chapter 5 - The Grand Tour - Update One - Berlin & Copenhagen

Berlin & Copenhagen

We're well into our Insight Tour and so far we've had a ball. On the first night of the tour we went with the group of fellow travellers to a supposedly authentic German restaurant. A bit of a disappointment - the German sausages were just okay and the wine was like red cordial! Anne's salmon was a bit dried out, but still the company was great and we have already met some fantastic people.

The tour is very small in number - only 21 people of which 19 are Aussies and 2 are from Alabama in the deep south of the good ol' USA. Larry and Lindy are a lovely couple and the rest of the tourers are a motley crew from all over Australia - and with an interesting mix of personalities and backgrounds. From our experience, this is an unusual mix as there are not normally that many Aussies compared to other nationalities. On a 40 seat coach, we have plenty of 'move-about' space despite the set rotation policy that Insight employ.

On our first night we sit with Vivian and Adrian - Viv is a primary school principal from Appin and Adrian is H/T Ag at St Greg's at Campbelltown, and Lorraine and Col - both retired from Melbourne who are so full of energy in their own different ways.

Our tour director is Alex - born in Siberia and a seasoned tour leader who speaks 4 languages (thankfully Russian is one, which is a bonus) and has an off-beat sense of humour (his insights into Russia will prove to be hilarious later on). Our driver is Werner from Germany and he proves to be great fun and an excellent pilot.

We soon discover some creepy links to some of the other travellers - Adrian and Viv have a granddaughter who is 9 - she goes to school at....Minnamurra Public. How weird is that! And another couple, Warwick and Gail have recently moved down to Kalkite near Jindabyne where we lived for 7 years. Where did they move from before moving to Kalkite.....? They lived in Nth Kiama Drive - a stones throw from our place. And to make it weirder, they knew our house in Golfers Pde as Warwick did all the plumbing on this job when our house was being built back in 1978. Unbelievable!

Berlin River Cruise

We start our Insight Vacations trip the next morning with a tour of the city of Berlin on our coach with a guide (called a 'local expert' by Insight) and then have some time on our own when Anne and I take a cruise on the Spree River.

This is a great way to see many of the sights that are adjacent to the river that meanders through Berlin - especially the ones near the parliament and government buildings.

Anne with a local drop.

Ditto Phil with something akin to Guinness

The start - near the Berlin Lutheran Cathedral

Museum of German History

A famous building where things happened

Entertainment Centre - I think it's called the "pregnant oyster" for some reason

Part to the Parliament buildings

New extensions to the Parliament and offices of the Chancellor

With some free time on our hands, Anne and I head to Ka De Wa - the biggest department store in Berlin (interesting) and the Uni Qlo shop (boring) and we then had a fantastic dinner of Japanese and Vietnamese tucker in a tiny little restaurant run by a Vietnamese family.

Off to Denmark

Friday 19th June and we board our coach for the trip northwards towards Denmark. The first part of the day involves a pretty dreary drive up to the port of Rostock northwest of Berlin to catch the ferry across to the Danish mainland. This is pretty uneventful, but the 2 hour sea crossing allows us to get better acquainted with our fellow travellers.

On Danish soil (home of some of my forebears) for the first time and we head off towards Copenhagen and our first cultural introduction to Denmark - the Tivoli Gardens.

Gardens = flowers. Pom pom lilies anyone?

More flowering gems

Standing beside the history of the name-sake.

Some amusement flying object - we didn't indulge!

Over-sized bonsai trees

One for the kiddies

Water features and lakes everywhere

Anne with lake

Big puddle-like water features

Our hotel in Copenhagen is the Radisson Blu. It's a bit tired and a bit away from the main drag but still within easy walking distance of the central part of the city. Dinner that first night is a little something that defies description from the convenience store/petrol station across from the hotel and an early night to bed. Tomorrow we're off on a city tour in the morning and a castle in the afternoon.

Vessels moored at the quay

The new Opera House on the river

Fountains aplenty

An interesting monument

The main square outside Prince Fred and our own Princess Mary's palace

Anne with the little Mermaid (Anne in front)

The morning soon turns wet but the old square and the sights in the centre of the city are charming.

Rain - the quay from the coach window

Anne in the main square with flowers

Me with a statue of Tycho Brahe

In the afternoon we're off to Friedricksburg Castle in the countryside outside Copenhagen.

Quaint little thatch roofed cottages in the neighbouring village

The Castle

The main square and fountain

We team up with new found friends Vivian and Adrian for dinner that night and walk into the older part of Copenhagen. After much deliberation, we settle into a little restaurant offering sandwiches. These prove to be anything but, and Viv an I have beautiful fish cooked on a hotpot and Adrian and Anne opting for the 'sandwich' - beautiful bread spread with butter or lard - yes lard, and 3 types of meats, 3 fish varieties and much more. Truly different and memorable.

The 'sandwich' meat course - magnificent!

The next morning its onto the coach and off to Stockholm.