Lasst sie nach Berlin kommen

And now we’re in Berlin.  

We’ve booked at great hotel Hotel Kastanienhof— it’s in the "communist" side (aka East Berlin) - of course now it's difficult to tell them apart.  The street we're in as a great bohemian vibe.  The shops (especially the clothes ones) offer something different--Australia is all big box stores (lets be honest) and so I love scrounging around in different places.  

Everyone will tell you Berlin is big and it doesn't really have a 'centre' - cos there's nothing left of an "old town".  So it's a collection of biggish areas.  We tried to cover as much as we could first day but as it was raining today we gave up and caught a hop-on hop-off bus.  Yes we know it's the most touristy thing to do but it gives a great overview of a place.  Hey BTW, Big Bus Berlin - your online ordering system sucks.  

It was great fun - we grabbed the top deck front two seats so we got to careen around corners and almost smash our faces when the driver hit the breaks.  But the best part -- an American woman,  She sat beside the commentary guide and helped fill him in any silence. For example
"This area was a park where I played and had family bbqs in the 1980s and now it's been developed"
"I guess there was a problem with the developers"
"Um, well, like any city there was discussion..."
"And what did you do in the park again?"
"BBQs and played ..."
"Played with other people"
"Umm well family I guess"
"Your family?"
".....
Then she and her husband had a loud and complex discussion about whether they should get off at a certain stop.  Bill and I were deliciously amused.  And felt smug as we remembered our Bose headphones and could actually hear what the guide (and her interjections) was saying.  

The drivers here are killers.  Gone is the Danish politeness to the biking community.  And they clearly don’t have a rule for “wait til pedestrians finish crossing”.  But you gotta love Ampelmann (the traffic light dude) -- read this CNN article for the whole story.

We noticed in London earlier this year all sorts of traffic light men--so I'll write up something on them when I have time.  Meanwhile, I'm thinking Brisbane could do with something a little more fun in its lights.  

Tomorrow I’m just going to do some shopping. The whole WW2  thing is just too sad and too damn big for me. We’ve visited Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It's soo big and so many - six million. It's overwhelming and so freaking overwhelming - I just cannot comprehend it or people.  

It's just past the Brandenburgh Gate--we were there with the striking famers.  The city was at a virtual standstill --- honking horns, pissed off drivers and even more pissed off farmers.  Before Bill and Toni

After Bill and Toni

We felt like Forest Gump - everywhere we go lately something big is happening. Remember, we were just in Hong Kong. 

Toilets - why do I have to pay 50c each time I go to a toilet - even in a shop / shopping centre.  What’s that about? 

Okay it's time to go to sleep.  Tomorrow is another day....

Strange / weird things in Copenhagen

So it's our last day in Copenhagen and I'm reflecting on some of the strange things we've encountered.

First - traffic lights - for some reason, the Danes have nailed the crossing timing.  Every time we get to a set of lights, they change within a few seconds.  It seems that it's not just me but it's a new "intelligent" traffic light system.  Now come on world, if the Danes can do it - everyone can.

Second - baby prams.  So everyone bikes everywhere.  What I didn't realise is that people here love their prams -- riding ones and pushing ones.  They all seem to come in twos too.  I don't know about the Dane's fertility but rarely do you see a single pram.  Not saying they are twins but clearly they're not mucking around with this one-child business.

Speaking of which - babies are everywhere.  And everyone pushes them from mummies to grandparents -- lots of grandparents. And they seem to like it. Even when the bubs are left outside, in their prams, in the cold.    Shakes head.  This New Zealand woman found it weird too.

Third - cleaning products.  I can't seem to find the same ones I usually use.  I like to use a little bleach in the shower (for mould) well I went to several stores and they were sold out.  So either the Danes are really clean or there's a world wide shortage of bleach.  EEkk. At our apartment, I was scrounging and opened a bottle of something and immediately took a big sniff--that's a dangerous thing to do.  Don't do it.

Fourth - TV.  I have never seen so many romance movies airing.  Yes it's the time of year for Jule Christmas Romance movies.  There are usually about 4 each night on telly here.  They are the crappiest, cheeziest, Hallmark movies you can imagine.  The Danes are romantics at heart.  

Auction tv shows -- while Australia continues its love affair with renovation television shows, and America still loves a desperate housewife, it's all about the auction here.  We can't understand a word of them but in various guises people guess what things are valued at and them compete in various ways.  We're crap at guessing prices.  It seems the the more tortured the piece of porcelain the more it fetches.  

Fifth - Food and Drink.  Sweets-yes the Danes LOVE their sweeta (I mean lollies); they are second only to Finland (really? see this article) at 8.51 kilos per head per year.  Every corner has a 'candy' shop that's filled with gummy type chewy lollies.  I love them.  My figure doesn't.  One of the reasons that Danes, with the highest "happiness" rating, don't live the longest.  There's a lesson in that, right?

Coffee - okay it's a national sport here. They are the second biggest spenders at over 3 euros per cup in the world (see here). (Swiss rank #1). Drink as much as you can.  I'm not a great fan -- I hate that coffee breath that heavy drinkers get.  

Bread - while we might know that dark-rye-nut laden bread used in open sandwiches-we've discovered a bread/croissant type bun.  

   

Oh - it's 2pm.  Time for Glogg.  I will write about glogg but not right now. It's drinking time.

Time for some old Toni Travel Tips?

Hygge in Copenhagen

Hello All,

We are in Copenhagen having a blast so thought it easiest if I write one blog for everyone.

Of course we arrived exhausted - for the record Premium Economy (Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong; Lufthansa to Copenhagen via Munich) is turning into basic coach.  God knows what it is like back in coach.  Premium Economy has 2 at the sides and 4 (yes that's FOUR) in the middle - man I would be pissed if they shoved me in a 4 seat row.  The movies were great - I binged on Japanese films and Bill did John Woo apparently.

Anyway after too many hours we found out way to our Copenhagen "home".  And just as I put my foot on the stoop, my mobile died.  Yes the ONLY method of communication we had and at 20% my phone stopped.  Luckily Bill's had a wee bit of juice and so we sent a text and there was our lovely hostess, Ingrid (our exchange partner's mum).  She was waiting inside and I think she might have heard me swearing.  I think the Pope heard me swearing. 

We have a hygge one-bedroom flat on the ground floor.  There are a couple of "odd" things - everyone in Copenhagen has no problems about not having curtains on their ground floor windows!  Yep as you walk along you can see into people's places.  Our windows have the lower half covered with some kind of privacy frosting.  It doesn't look much from the inside but it does work.  However I was mildly surprised when I saw a guy a delivery truck at my height.  He couldn't have cared less - I guess people are so used to it, they wouldn't be so impolite as to look inside someone's bedroom?!

The second is the heating - man it's warm in here.  The first thing we did was turn off the heating.  Only left the bathroom one on.  BTW I hate rainfall showerheads.  Who ever thought they are a good idea? Everyday your hair would be wet and in your eyes.  We have a dual shower head head but the first shower was not fun. 

Frabulous joy, we opened the fridge and there was a plethora of beer.  All sorts.  We also had a lovely bunch of yellow roses and some great danish bread and things so we could survive til we shopped.  The bread here is divine. 

Food is expensive in Denmark - or Copenhagen at least.  But I do realise we have had afternoon tea at museums and they always charge a premium.  But a cup of coffee, a mug of tea and a croissant costs about AUD25.  Best croissant I've ever had, it was heavy with butter, and the Earl Grey was delicious.  The Danes are serious about their coffee - so Bill's been happy so far. 

A craft beer costs about 60DKK which is about AUD12.  And so far we've had some fabulous craft beers.  No complaints there.  We like to treat ourselves to a beer or three around 3ish.  The bars here are uniformly "cosy" and the service is friendly.  Everyone speaks English, excellent English - it's just plain embarrassing. 

Okay that's all for now. I will be updating this daily.