‘Magic’al Europe – Day 1
Words cannot describe how excited we feel about our Europe trip. We had been counting down to this day since we booked our ‘secret porthole room’ cabin on Disney Magic for the 7 Night Northern Europe Cruise.
The week leading up to our departure date had been particularly hectic. Ashley was competing in the 49th Singapore International Open which stretched over 5 days, followed by the 2 night bowling camp. Ashley was also having intensive bowling training as the Inter-School competition was approaching. Jarod was busy preparing for his upcoming Common Test which will begin at the start of the school term. We longed for our break.
We left the packing to last minute, after Ashley returned from her bowling training. In fact, Jarod had to attend a scheduled Econs class in the afternoon. Gosh, it was indeed a good choice that we had booked the red-eye flight. Finally, we were all ready and Jarod used the Grab app to book a 6 seater car.
Our mandatory pose upon arrival at Changi Airport, this time at Terminal 2. We will be flying with Lufthansa. A brand new experience bringing us on a brand new adventure in a continent the kids have not set foot in.
We proceeded to Lufthansa check-in counter and when we got our boarding pass, I noticed that our seats had been changed. We had booked and paid for the upper deck on the A380 and our seats were swapped to the lower deck. It took us some time for the staff to rectify our seats but we were informed that they could not help with our seat assignment on our return flight. Not a good start.
Due to the unexpected circumstance, we had to abandon our plan to use our complimentary lounge passes at Terminal 3. We grabbed a simple dinner at Burger King after seeing a long queue at Swensen’s. I was happy that we had time for a local coffee at Kaffe and Toast before we boarded the aircraft.
We posed for a picture on the staircase leading to the upper deck.
The upper deck of the A380 has only 5 rows of economy seats making it more private. On hindsight, we should have booked 2 rows of window seats as they come with a small storage.
The service and food were good although they did not receive our request for Ashley’s child meal. One feature that amused us was that you can set on your personal screen to ‘Please wake me up for meal service’ much to Jarod’s delight. He is the only one who could sleep throughout the flight and only woke up for meals.
We managed to catch some sleep and after a short layover at Frankfurt, we arrived at Copenhagen!
Once we cleared the immigration which was hassle free, we found the ticket machine for public transport at the arrival hall. After much research, we have decided to purchase the 72 hour City Pass which provides unlimited access to buses, trains, metro and harbour buses in zones 1 – 4, which includes the centre of Copenhagen and to and from the airport. It cost DKK100 for each adult and was free for Ashley.
By now, Ashley was getting really hungry as she skipped the breakfast on flight. We headed for Burger King and reality hits! The prices at Copenhagen were indeed exorbitant. A Chicken burger, nuggets, fries and drinks came up to DKK206 (SGD44)!
On our way to the metro station, we came by a kiosk selling Lycamobile SIM card, which was highly recommended. This saved us a trip to 7-11. Alas, after we set up the SIM card, we found out that we could not use it for tethering, much to our dismay!
We hopped onto the metro and reached our station – Kobenhavn in no time. The metro system in Copenhagen is very efficient. The most difficult part of the journey was dragging our luggage to the hotel, especially on cobbled streets. When we arrived at Wakeup Copenhagen Borgergade, our rooms were not ready and we deposited our luggage with the hotel. We took a short break while Ashley had fun on the gigantic rocking chair and walked to Stroget, Copenhagen’s shopping street.
On our way we walked past Fotex Supermarket and could not resist checking it out. Jarod was fascinated by the choice of energy drink and since it is near our hotel, we decided to come back later to stock up on essentials.
Strøget is Copenhagen’s aorta and one of Europe’s longest pedestrian streets with a wealth of shops, from budget-friendly chains to some of the world’s most expensive brands. The 1.1-kilometre stretch runs from City Hall Square to Kongens Nytorv square. Strøget is most famous for shopping.
Stroget was bustling with life and energy with street performers. We soaked up the atmosphere as we wandered the streets.
Our first stop – Disney Store, the only one in Scandinavia. We had a mission. Before we disembarked, I realised that we had forgotten to pack our Fish Extender pouch which we needed for the cruise. We needed to find something that could work. The merchandise differed greatly from what we usually find in USA. Ashley squealed in delight as she found Marie, her favourite kitten from The Aristocats and Lady from Lady And The Tramp in different sizes.
After rummaging the store, we finally found a small bag. We left Disney Store with the bag, Marie and Lady plush.
We particularly liked the large open town squares.
Sandwiched between two Danish superstars, the Georg Jensen jewelry store and the Royal Porcelain Shop is the Royal Smushi Cafe. We ventured through the door and found ourselves in a small courtyard filled with dainty white tables covered by bright green umbrellas. Royal Smushi Cafe takes its name from its food. Their specialty is the traditional Danish open faced sandwiches called ‘smørrebrød’ but served in sushi size.
When we arrived, there was no outdoor table available. We opted to wait while we checked out the interior. The interior has fantastic character. A very charming place with chandeliers, royal tables and the Ant chairs designed by Arne Jacobsen. However, I was automatically drawn to the cake display.
Before I could pick a cake, our table was ready and we were led to a table in the courtyard.
The server was very friendly, dismissing our worries about service. We had prepared ourselves not to expect the same level of service accorded by the servers in USA.
As we were not hungry, we decided to share a cake and smushis. I went with Layercake and Bubbles – a choice of cake with a glass of Prosecco Organic Fascino Veneto Italy. We picked this pretty vanilla cake with berry frosting. It was served on a plate from iconic china maker Royal Copenhagen and silverware from luxury Danish brand Georg Jensen, making it a very Danish dining experience.
We ordered two hot chocolates, one in kids’ size for Ashley. The hot chocolate was epic. It came in a very large glass topped with a generous dollop of thick cream and chocolate sprinkled on top. The slight bitterness of the chocolate balanced out the sweetness and, surprisingly, made it easy enough to finish off the whole glass. Such a treat! This is one of the best hot chocolate we have ever had.
Our smushis were served next. Jarod ordered the Salmon Roll and Veal Brisket. The smushi is stacked in layers like sushi which allows it to bring out flavours from the meat, fishes and dressings. We enjoyed our afternoon tea in this pretty cafe.
And we were off to the Lego Store. A visit to Denmark isn’t complete till you step into a Lego Store since Lego originates from Denmark. The flagship store was big but not massive. In fact, we have been to bigger Lego Stores in USA. However, it was unique, from the scale Lego models of Nyhavn, to the incredible pick and mix wall and 15 foot high Lego mosaic in the entrance, the spirit of Lego creativity was strong in Copenhagen. The prices were steep though. Not being big Lego fans, we browsed the store and left.
We were getting tired and decided to head back to our hotel.
It was not easy trying to book a hotel in Copenhagen. We needed one preferably in the city centre, able to accommodate 4, with air-conditioning (apparently, you cannot assume that all hotels in Copenhagen are equipped with aircon) and the price must be right. Hotels in Copenhagen are extremely expensive. We managed to find Wakeup Copenhagen Borgergade, a budget hotel which fitted most of our criteria.
We booked a Family room which is 2 inter-connecting standard room. The rooms were small but clean and functional. The en suite bathroom came in the form of a glass in-room pod with round shower stall.
We unpacked and took a rest before we left for Nyhavn.
Nyhavn is arguably the postcard image for Copenhagen, with its picturesque multi-coloured buildings lining the waterfront and historical boats moored just in front. While these buildings may have started life as public houses, where sailors could get beer and company, many have now been converted into bars and restaurants for people to enjoy.
We went on an hour-long canal tour which took us past a number of historical and modern structures and landmarks which make up this unique city. From the Opera House to Christianshavn and the Church of Our Saviour. We got to see this city from a completely new angle.
The highlight of the canal tour was finding the iconic Little Mermaid statue. Perched on a rock at the side of the harbor, this fairy-tale character has had her fair share of incidents over the years. She has had her head removed twice, lost an arm, been covered in paint and blown off of her rocky base. Yet despite all of this, the Little Mermaid continues to attract tourists from all over the world, who arrive by boat or bus to catch a glimpse of this Danish icon. For us, the easiest way was to see it from the comfort of a boat, although we could not get the best view.
The tour brought us to more landmarks before we disembarked.
We took a stroll along the canal and began to walk towards Copenhagen Street Food for dinner.
Copenhagen Street Food is located in the Papiroen, or “Paper Island”, an island on Copenhagen’s main canal, next to the opera house. As its name suggests, it was initially used to store paper, but has now become the new home to street food in town. The idea is great: a huge warehouse, with containers and stalls. There are food trucks, shacks and stalls selling everything from Thai food, tacos, burgers, vegetarian food to wine, beer and coffee.
It was dinner time and the place was packed to the brim with people. With the seats so scarce and we were too tired to go elsewhere, it was with relief that we found an empty table on the upper deck. The narrow alleys and huge mass of people made it difficult to navigate the stalls, so ZA and Jarod went about buying the food. One of the features of street food is supposed to be cheap. However, in Copenhagen, things are not cheap like a hotdog going for DKK40. In the end, we settled for Fish and Chips, a burger and Sausages. In our honest opinion, the food did not live up to our expectations. The fish was way too salty, almost inedible, the burger dry and sausages overcooked. We were glad we had chips which we bought from Fotex awaiting us in our hotel room.
After the somewhat dissatisfactory dinner, we took a long stroll back to our hotel while huge mass of people continued to stream in the Copenhagen Street Food. It was already past 8pm, however, during summer months, the sun does not set till 9.30pm or so. It has been an ultra long day for us and we longed to catch our much needed sleep.
