When Frank Loesser (thanks, Google) wrote these words he knew what he was talking about. We’ve had 3 terrific days here with Anne. As an exchange student, she lived with us in 1999-2000 and is currently working and living in the area called Oesterbro. She knows the city, its cafes, restaurants and stores well. Her apartment is a 15 min bus ride or cycle from the city centre. We have done both, as Copenhagen is a mecca for cycling and it is usual to see immaculately dressed men and women heading out for work and play. As a pedestrian you have to remember not to loiter on the cycle paths and to look for both cars and cycles before crossing the road.
We arrived on a beautiful morning on Friday and had a teary reunion with Anne at the ferry terminal. She took us home, but then had to go to work at midday so we took the opportunity to learn about the bus route and to see the city centre. We met later for dinner at the Customs House where, courtesy of Anne’s company we indulged in some fine Italian dining. Our waiter had been an exchange student in Victoria, told us he recognised our accents was keen to talk about his experiences. We had very good service! Then, as Anne had to attend a work function, we had tickets to the opera, La Boheme (again courtesy of her employers) at The Opera. Just imagine… the Smiths of Mudgee sitting 6 rows from the front in the middle at an Italian opera with Danish subtitles, set in Paris and just before the show starts everyone stands up….. and the Danish Queen arrives and sits in the Royal Box about 10 metres just above us. Very surreal. We really enjoyed the performance, but especially liked the stage settings.
In 2 days we have seen a lot of Copenhagen by cycle, canal boat and on foot. The city is a great mixture of old and very new architecture. The canal cruise was a great way to see the city and our guide who was fluent in Danish, English and German pointed out the historical and cultural sights. Anne also did this on our trips and gave us a specially good tour of Christiania, an alternative area on the eastern side of town. We watched the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace (see the video clip) and caught up with the little mermaid and met a work colleague of Anne's who happens to be Joern Utzon's nephew. In the mean time we’ve also had a great time catching up on ‘the goss’ with Anne and talking her into visiting Australia again soon.
Tomorrow morning we head to the airport at 5.00am and fly to Paris for 3 days for the next part of our journey.
