Mostly Spain - Birthday In Copenhagen. What Is Divisible By 11 and 22?

 Answer to the question - What is #3's age on this birthday?

There were not big celebrations. She felt coming up was a treat. We were happy to do so and get to see the whole #3 clan again. 

After the stress of our flight to Copenhagen, we wanted to be pretty chill for the most part. On Saturday, we went for a leisurely walk along the waterfront. Copenhagen and Denmark have a strong connection with the sea. It was an interesting contrast with the sea front in El Campello, From what I could tell in Copenhagen, there is an aggressive attitude toward the sea. By that I mean, people, of all ages are getting out and doing things on the water. And they are doing them with an expression of vigor. Maybe it is because for so many months of the year it is too cold to do anything so the activity is more frenetic when the weather allows it.

In El Campello, there was this languid attitude. Most of the activity was people walking by the sea, enjoying the ambiance, eating, relaxing. There were those occasional times folks went out for activity, but nothing like what we saw in Copenhagen. Am I a victim to classic stereotypes between north and south Europeans? Maybe.

A group of elders head out to kayak

Serious Sailing

Way across the strait is Sweden, Malmoe!

Don't punish us if we don't get you to Sweden this time de-I

More physical sailing

#3 Contemplates whether a classic yacht is the right choice for her image.

AGGGH Cruise Ships!

Clouds

SIGNS OF THE WORLD

Looking for Romance?

The Sparks Will Fly Here!

Man Hunting Allowed Here

Keep the Hell Out of our Wavy Lines, Damn It!

Mostly Spain - But Not Completely - On to Copenhagen, Denmark Where MUPGT Intervenes

 It was not logistically possible to get the #3 family to visit us in Spain, and financially it was actually less expensive for us to fly to Denmark. Hence one of the reasons this is a 'mostly Spain trip. 

On Friday, we flew from Alicante to Copenhagen. It reminded us of our deep, deep love of the travel experience. 

Our flight was not terribly early in the morning but we needed to drop our rental car off and were going to an unknown airport. Plus we wanted time to get some breakfast. Our getting out of the apartment went smooth but as soon as we started our current GPS provider, Apple Maps (you will remember we've been changing them to find one that will give verbal instructions suddenly stopped talking.

Crap.

I mostly knew the way and was following the map display only when, I missed a turn because it had the exit number wrong. I am watching the display and it is not rerouting. I get off the highway, and find a place to stop. I realize Apple Maps is not connected at all to signal. I try Google Maps. Not signal either (the phone has plenty of signal and I have internet connection). I try Waze. No signal. Screwed! I have a paper map. It's not very detailed. But I can see we got off way before we should have. I think the GPS' last gasp was sending us to downtown Alicante, not the airport. One can hear the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel laughing her equine ass off.

I jump back in the car. Wife says she's getting signal. I try Waze and it connects. And it talks! We make it to the airport. We are running way later than expected. I don't have time to find a gas station. We will have to turn it in low on gas and take the hit on the exorbitant price of fuel from the rental car company. (In fact due to EEU regulations, we pay pretty much the same as if we bought it at the gas station!) We arrive at the rental car company just before 8am. No one is there. It doesn't open until 8am! I have to park in this tiny space and leave the key in the drop box. 

On to the main airport. Schlepping our bags we find we are at the total opposite end of where our airline checks in. Thankfully, it's line is very short. The airport is much larger than I thought and very crowded (it is the beginning of the season). The line for security, which is way back at where we started. It is very long. But it goes quickly. From this point on, things start going smoother. There are no problems to speak of until we arrive in Copenhagen. 

We get a taxi driver who seems to have no idea where #3 lives. It takes a long time to get to her apartment but essentially, it was not a hose job as far as cost. We were pretty tired when we arrived but so happy to be with #3, 3A, 3.1 and 3.2 again.

Kronborg...Is Still Not Sweden

 On our last day in Denmark, our guides #3 and 3A said a trip to Kronborg was de rigeur. Kronborg is the castle were Shakespeare's Hamlet is supposed to have taken place. And as a special benefit, THERE'S A FERRY AT THE NEARBY TOWN OF ELSINORE THAT WILL TAKE YOU TO SWEDEN! How could we pass this up? We couldn't 

With wanting to get both the castle in and go on the ferry, we got ourselves up and going at the crack of Noon. This meant, of course, that we arrived Elsinore hungry.

 Praise the Lord

The food court at Elsinore Street Food is actually very cool with a lot of options. We are all pleased with our choices.

 Refreshed, we can now make our way to the main attraction, Kronborg Castle.

 That be the castle on the lower left side of the diagram. It was constructed in stages starting in the 16th century going all the way to additions made in the 19th century. Therefore, there are sort of rings of different fortification design coming out from the center.

We arrive!

 We are greeted by our new guide, 3.2. We've been told #3 has more important clients to deal with.

3.2 secretly feels she should be Godzilla

 

But we love her

Though she does have this dark side, reminding us of what happens to people who do not give the proper gratuity.

 

 Kronborg is renowed, RENOWNED, as one of the exemplars of European Historical Building Restoration Covering.

Loyal long time followers of de-I know how much time Wife and I have spent seeking out the wonders of European Monument Restoration Covering. This was a real treat.

3.2 points out a little known fact of Danish artillery soldiery. They kept track of their kills just like fighter pilots do!

 

 Inside the castle were some great tapestries

A good explanation how poop was handled

 

A view of the inner courtyard

 

 But it is time for us to get to the ferry if we are going to make the crossing to Sweden and get back at a reasonable hour

 There are ships coming back from Sweden

Heading off to Sweden

 

 3A says, - "Right, we all have our passports."

de-I - "Uh we were supposed to bring our passports?"

3A - "DOH!"

3.2 - You know how they handle those trying to cross without a passport don't you?

 #3 - "Fear Not. I Shall Get You To Sweden!"

 3.1 - "Uh Mom, we aren't even in the water."

#3 - Details! It's all about the pitch!

It is getting late, cold and rainy. We will have to leave the town of Elsinore and the trip to Sweden for our next visit.

Signs of the World

We don't actually brag about this back home.

Self-Explanatory