We left Stockholm on the 8:21 train and enjoyed a pleasant ride through the rolling hills and lakes of the Swedish countryside. 

We arrived in Copenhagen a bit after 1:30 in the afternoon. It was a short walk from the station to our hotel (same one as before). We then grabbed a quick bite for lunch and toured the interior of the splendid City Hall, which our hotel rooms overlook. 

From there, we crossed the street to spend the rest of the day at Tivoli Gardens. With the unlimited rides wristband, it costs about $50 per adult (kids 7 and under are approx $15 less, as they only need the unlimited rides portion of the fee). While clearly a money-making venture, Tivoli feels far less commercial and more “organic” in its development than Disney or Universal Studios. It’s more like a permanent fair (with better rides and food) set in a pretty park. 

Some of the buildings are geographically themed, but it doesn’t really have “lands” like amusement parks at home do. 

The girls enjoyed the rides…

I enjoyed the beer (and gourmet licorice)…

We all enjoyed the food (eating dinner at the German beer garden, where the wurst is the best)…

At seven, Emerson is now at a great age for (re)-visiting Tivoli. She absolutely loved it (would undoubtedly happily spend tomorrow there too), and we really enjoyed it as well. It’s a wonderful place. 

We returned to the hotel (only a block away from Tovoli too) around 9:30pm. 

Got photos working in Germany on 4/14.

We more or less retraced our route back to the hotel, stopping in a few shops along the way. The stretch of the Stroget close to Nyhavn is populated with the shops of international, high-end, luxury brands. Toward the City Hall, the retailers seem to be a bit more local, as well as targeting the tourist trade. This included a pretty awesome Lego store, which pleased Emerson greatly. 

We checked out of the hotel a little after 11am and took a taxi to the ship, the Norwegian Getaway. 

We spent the remainder of the day doing what one does on the first day of cruise: check-in, having lunch, exploring the ship, making plans (dining reservations and shore excursions), muster drill, etc. 

We arrived in Copenhagen on time, around 9:00. We departed the ship around 10:00 and used the shuttle bus (10 euro per person; infants free) service to take us into the center town. As it turned out, we could have easily walked to/from the center of town. However, Copenhagen has a number of piers at a variety of distances from the city’s center, and since we’ve never been here before I had no way to easily judge which one we’d arrived at this morning. What’s more, I didn’t want to repeat yesterday, causing us to lose precious time by marching through uninteresting docklands.

Here’s one of my travel truisms (especially when on a cruise in Europe): when in doubt, spend money to save time. Don’t believe me? Divide the total cost of the trip by the total number of hours you’ll spend on land. You’ll find the 20 euro taxi ride (or whatever) between things you really care about seeing / doing to be an absolute bargain.

But, I digress… back to Copenhagen.

It’s a spectacular city! The shuttle dropped us of in Kongens Nytorv (King’s New Square). From there, we walked to Tivoli Gardens via Christiansborg Palace. I must confess that I went to Tivoli with lackluster interest and low expectations. But, it seemed Emerson-friendly and Libby-pleasing (as she’s far more of an amusement park aficionado than I am), which usually makes for a good combination. For those of you that don’t know, Tivoli (which dates back to 1843) was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s theme park creation. And, I could see the similarities, especially to early Disney creations, such as “Small World.” However, while Mickey Mouse has gone corporate and thus now feels perhaps a bit contrived, Tivoli retains its charm… an eclectic mix of high- and low-brow dining and entertainment that’s playful, charming, and captivating. Oh, and it’s affordable too (~$18/pp; kids under 8 free)!

We all came away smitten.

Libby & Emerson @ Tivoli Gardens

We left Tivoli a little after 1pm. Emerson was tired and promptly fell asleep in her stroller. We proceeded to return to Kongens Nytorv via Rick Steves’ suggested “Copenhagen’s Heart and Soul” self-guided walk. This took us by the impressive City Hall and along the city’s grand pedestrian corridor, called the Stroget. As it was Sunday, a number of shops were closed. But, I managed to grab a Danish (keeping with my penchant for eponymous-themed foods, which began with Belgian waffles). All told, we spent an hour or so wandering back to the shuttle departure point. We arrived at the ship before 3:00, which was about an hour before the ‘all aboard’ time.

View of Copenhagen (Nyhavn)

My only complaint with Copenhagen? Not enough time! This city is squarely on the list of places to return for an extended visit in the future.

Tonight was formal night aboard Vision. As is our pattern on any cruise not departing from Florida, we skipped this event completely. Instead, we ate in the Windjammer, which once again didn’t disappoint. After our meal, we walked around the open decks, returned to the cabin for a little play time, and put Emerson to bed.

Tomorrow’s a day at sea. After a busy long weekend (starting on Friday), it will be nice to have a bit of a respite before we hit our next port of call.

Today’s box score: +1 country (Denmark)