One on, one off
13/June/2009 11:06 AM Filed in: Tourist
Well, today I’m off on a cruise, and Bob’s not. Once again he has been gracious enough to let me go instead of him. What a sweet guy! We are in Copenhagen, Denmark today, but our cruise is taking us on a tour of not only Copenhagen, but of Malmo, Sweden. The last time I was in Malmo, I was on my way to Bible school in Holsby Brunn and went to Malmo to get the train to Vetlanda where I would be picked up and taken to the school. So, all I saw of Malmo back then was the train station. I’m so glad I got to see the “real Malmo” on this tour.
We stopped at a few of the popular sites in Copenhagen and were able to get a few photos of the Little Mermaid (I’ve already shown you that) and of the castle where their queen resides. After that we travelled over an amazing bridge connecting Sweden to Denmark. In total, it is 16 kilometers; four kilometres on a man-made island, four of underground tunnel and eight of bridge. It is quite something to see. Out in the middle of the water as you pass over this amazingly constructed bridge are several wind generators which are seen all over the country. Our tour took us first to the outskirts of Malmo to view the “Twisted Torso” which is quite something. It is mostly used for residences, but it is such an optical illusion that looking at it from the outside it looks like the floors would be on an angle and that the people would be living in something like the leaning tower of Pisa. I really don’t think I’d have any interest in living in this, but architecturally it is impressive.
From there we headed into the beautiful downtown gem of Malmo and had a brief walking tour and then had some free time to get lunch and explore on our own (my favourite part). I proceeded to peak into a bunch of shops (and found myself a fun pair of Swedish clogs) and then got a coffee and a sweet treat. All of the pastries, breads, sandwiches, etc. in Sweden (and all over the Baltic for that matter) are so yummy! The most difficult part is choosing! The weather has been very strange the past several days, a mixture between rain, cool winds, and the odd sunny break). It sure is a big difference from the last cruise when every day was around 80. I feel sorry for these passengers because the weather really does put a damper on things sometimes.
Nonetheless, the rain held off for most of the time we were in Malmo, and then we hopped on the bus once again to go and visit another small Swedish town called Lund, before we journeyed back to Copenhagen. It had a very beautiful church and a university campus, and, the day we were there, all of the high school students were celebrating their graduation and were going around the downtown blowing whistles, drinking beer and wearing sailor hats. It was definitely a cultural experience.
I had a very “good” group today and they were always back on the bus in time (or even early) and always stayed together. What a treat for an escort! After Lund, we headed back to downtown Copenhagen where some stayed in the downtown and others stayed on the bus to go back to the ship. I enjoyed the day, thoroughly, but was ready to put my feet up after the 8 hour tour. It is so hard for me to decide on the photos to include, because there are so many great shots, but I’ll try to give you the best overview and upload the rest online when we get to a high speed place. I hope you enjoyed touring Denmark and Sweden with me today!
The castle in Copenhagen...only one guard today because the queen is not in her residence
Crossing the bridge from to Denmark to Sweden with wind generators lined up in the waters
The “Twisted Torso” in Malmo, Sweden
Little Swedish daycare children out for a walk...not to sure about the tourists invading
Life in downtown Malmo (can you see the dog in her basket?)
Where I bought my clogs...included for all you “shoppers” who might care! =)
The Park in Malmo (they cut the trees using scaffolding)
Lund Castle
Graduation Day Celebrations!
Part of Lund University Campus
We stopped at a few of the popular sites in Copenhagen and were able to get a few photos of the Little Mermaid (I’ve already shown you that) and of the castle where their queen resides. After that we travelled over an amazing bridge connecting Sweden to Denmark. In total, it is 16 kilometers; four kilometres on a man-made island, four of underground tunnel and eight of bridge. It is quite something to see. Out in the middle of the water as you pass over this amazingly constructed bridge are several wind generators which are seen all over the country. Our tour took us first to the outskirts of Malmo to view the “Twisted Torso” which is quite something. It is mostly used for residences, but it is such an optical illusion that looking at it from the outside it looks like the floors would be on an angle and that the people would be living in something like the leaning tower of Pisa. I really don’t think I’d have any interest in living in this, but architecturally it is impressive.
From there we headed into the beautiful downtown gem of Malmo and had a brief walking tour and then had some free time to get lunch and explore on our own (my favourite part). I proceeded to peak into a bunch of shops (and found myself a fun pair of Swedish clogs) and then got a coffee and a sweet treat. All of the pastries, breads, sandwiches, etc. in Sweden (and all over the Baltic for that matter) are so yummy! The most difficult part is choosing! The weather has been very strange the past several days, a mixture between rain, cool winds, and the odd sunny break). It sure is a big difference from the last cruise when every day was around 80. I feel sorry for these passengers because the weather really does put a damper on things sometimes.
Nonetheless, the rain held off for most of the time we were in Malmo, and then we hopped on the bus once again to go and visit another small Swedish town called Lund, before we journeyed back to Copenhagen. It had a very beautiful church and a university campus, and, the day we were there, all of the high school students were celebrating their graduation and were going around the downtown blowing whistles, drinking beer and wearing sailor hats. It was definitely a cultural experience.
I had a very “good” group today and they were always back on the bus in time (or even early) and always stayed together. What a treat for an escort! After Lund, we headed back to downtown Copenhagen where some stayed in the downtown and others stayed on the bus to go back to the ship. I enjoyed the day, thoroughly, but was ready to put my feet up after the 8 hour tour. It is so hard for me to decide on the photos to include, because there are so many great shots, but I’ll try to give you the best overview and upload the rest online when we get to a high speed place. I hope you enjoyed touring Denmark and Sweden with me today!
The castle in Copenhagen...only one guard today because the queen is not in her residence
Crossing the bridge from to Denmark to Sweden with wind generators lined up in the waters
The “Twisted Torso” in Malmo, Sweden
Little Swedish daycare children out for a walk...not to sure about the tourists invading
Life in downtown Malmo (can you see the dog in her basket?)
Where I bought my clogs...included for all you “shoppers” who might care! =)
The Park in Malmo (they cut the trees using scaffolding)
Lund Castle
Graduation Day Celebrations!
Part of Lund University Campus