Port #7: Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a lovely city where almost everyone rides bicycles. I had a brief view of the city 12 days previous, as it was the embarkation port. My cab driver was making a mad dash to the port as I was running "a bit" late and made the ship by the skin of my teeth. In case you need to know, an hour and a half isn't enough time to get from Copenhagen's airport to Copenhagen's port. So it was nice to see some of the city at a slower pace when I returned. My excursion, though was to North Zealand to see Kronborg, the Peace Palace, and Frederiksborg. The castle at Kronborg is famous for being "Hamlet's Castle." It is in the town Elsinore, which I'm sure everyone remembers being referenced in Hamlet. Another point of interest: you can see Sweden from Elsinore. It's about 12km away.

The drive to Elsinore, along the northern Danish coast, is very beautiful. The properties are coastal and very nice. We didn't stop, but saw Karen Blixen's house (Author: Out of Africa).

Kronborg

Over the moat, through the gate, Kronborg

Through the outer wall, into the courtyard, Kronborg

Tower entrance, Kronborg

Pump near chapel entrance, Kronborg

Tapestry, original to castle (ca. 1580's), Frederick II

Chapel altar, Kronborg

Pew detail, Kronborg

Fredensborg Palace, or the Peace Palace, is the Danish monarchy's spring and autumn residence. The queen was there when we were let out of the bus for a photo opportunity; however, there was no inside tour. We were also unable to tour the gardens, which was a little disappointing.

Guard, Peace Palace, Fredensborg

Entrance guards indicating the presence of the queen

Neighborhood near Peace Palace, Fredensborg

Frederiksborg is exactly what you think of when you imagine a dark, mysterious Scandinavian castle. There was a pretty large fire in the 1800s. The founder and owner of Carlsberg beer spent a fortune restoring this palace to its grandeur. There is a tapestry in the main dining room depicting a royal processional featuring Christian IV. Mr. Jacobsen had his likeness added as one of the king's guards. So, just a little revisionist history in that tapestry, but well-deserved by the financier of the restoration.

Entrance Gate, Frederiksborg

Fountain, Frederiksborg

Entrance gate, palace interior

Tower, Fredericksborg

Entrance hall, Fredericksborg

Deer relief, entrance hall, Fredericksborg

Chapel, Fredericksborg

Medallions (for meritorious service to the monarchy)

Ballroom, Fredericksborg

Big fireplace, ballroom, Fredericksborg

Altar, ebony and silver, ivory ceiling details, Fredericksborg

Another big fireplace, Fredericksborg

Fancy inlaid table, Fredericksborg

Secret chapel entrance, leaving Fredericksborg

The trip was book-ended with stays in New Jersey with my friends Cathy and James. The trip out I was there two days. My flight back to the states went through JFK, so I stayed with them for another night. I was pretty done taking pictures by then, and didn't want to tote my tablet around, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Cathy and I met up near Penn Station and meandered around 10th ave, found a bar for dinner and drinks, then wandered up to Times Square after dinner for souvenirs and crowds. I love New York in June!

Port #6: Hamburg

The town the ship ports in is called Kiel. Apparently their population swells from 200k to 1.2 mil every year in June when they hold a regatta. It's a lovely town, but my excursion is a bus tour through Hamburg. Nice enough, but tough to take pictures from a moving bus window. The issue is time. The bus ride from/to Kiel is 1.5 hours each way, and we always have to be back to the ship in time for it to leave. So the Hamburg Highlights were just whizzing by! We were able to get out and about for an hour in the shopping district.

Kiel, Germany

Container port, Hamburg

The Port of Hamburg is the third largest in Europe, and they move about 9 million containers per year. It is just container cranes as far as the eye can see. Hamburg is an expensive city, but also a rich city. It is considered the media capital of Germany. It is also the center of what was the Hanseatic League. So commerce and industry are quite comfortable matched to media and politics. The parliament building is back-to-back with the stock exchange. What could go wrong? Our first photo stop was St. Michael's.

Martin Luther, St. Michael's, Hamburg

Archangel Michael defeating Lucifer, St. Michael's, Hamburg

St. Michael's, Hamburg

Hamburg is also known as "The Venice of the North" because of the natural and man-made waterways. There are echoes of Amsterdam in the older architecture.

Canal, Hamburg

Ivy covered building, Hamburg

Rug dealers, Speicherstadt Warehouses (UNESCO Heritage Site), Hamburg

Speicherstadt Warehouses (UNESCO Heritage Site), Hamburg

Covered shopping in front of the Hamburg Rathaus (Parliament)

Hamburg Rathaus

Hamburg Rathaus

Shopping, swans near Hamburg Rathaus

Hauptbahnhof (central station), Hamburg

Snoop Dogg in Altona (upper-class neighborhood in N. Hamburg)

I also learned about the Reeperbahn. We drove through it. We saw the small street (Grosse Freiheit or "Big Freedom") where The Beatles were discovered, and giggled at the XXX-rated posters and billboards that serve to titillate the patrons of the famous red light district. We are, indeed, prudes when it comes to sins of the flesh.

Port #5: Berlin

This was the most fun. No excursion escorting duties, just Liz, me, a train, a bus, and all the fun highlights of this storied European capital. There is quite a lot of construction going on in Berlin. The city is not as expensive as other European capitals (yet, anyway), and is geographically as large as NYC, but not as populated, so there feels like lots of elbow room. Except by Brandenburg Gate...that's pretty crowded.

We were let off by the Gendarminemarkt in Berlin

Segment of the Berlin Wall (near Checkpoint Charlie)

Germans acting as GIs, Checkpoint Charlie

The thing to do at Checkpoint Charlie is get your passport stamped by six sovereign nations, and then get your picture made with the "GIs." I hate getting my picture made, so I just got my passport stamped. After Checkpoint Charlie, Liz and I found a hop on/hop off bus and made our way to the other well-known sights in Berlin.

The Reichstag

Brandenburg Gate

Intact piece of the Berlin Wall

Hop on/hop off upper deck

Along the Spree River, Berlin

Bode Museum, Berlin

Berlin Cathedral

Old Berlin City Wall (not the east/west divider)

Spree River, Berlin

Street near Checkpoint Charlie

Franzosischer Dom, Berlin

Details on the dome

French Cathedral and Theater, Berlin

TV Tower, Berlin

Chocolate Brandenburg Gate, Fassbender-Rausch

Hefe Hell with lunch

The Reichstag, imposing its will on the tourists

S-Bahn

Train back to Warnemunde

Definitely want to go back to Berlin. Lots of museums to see, and the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen is supposed to be worth a trip, so one day just wasn't enough time. Still, though...I loved hanging with my girl, Liz, and discovering a grocery store in which to buy beer and chocolate, and then enjoying very nice hot chocolate in the second floor cafe at Fassbender and Rausch. Fun.