Kalmar to Copenhagen - August 8

We had a strong storm move through this morning. There was lots of thunder and very close flashes of lightening. The sky was still dripping as we walked over to the Kalmar Castle. This castle was very strategic for defense purposes from the 12th century until the Union of Kalmar broke up several centuries later. Our guide, Oskar, dressed in period costume, was very knowledgeable and enjoyed getting lots of questions from our group.


View of Kalmar Castle and Oskar, the Guide

After the castle, we got onto the bus and began our day's journey to Copenhagen. We made a stop in a truck stop were Lisa bought us lunch. I had Swedish meatballs with potatoes and lingonberries. It reminded me of Ikea.

Today's ride was mostly through rolling farmlands. There were no significant hills. We saw lots of hay fields.

After crossing over the longest single-span bridge in Europe, we arrived at the Hotel Richmond in Copenhagen. By mistake, we were put into a smoking room on a smoking floor. The smell in the room wasn't too bad, but the hallway was awful. We have a commitment to move to a non-smoking room the next day.

Lisa led us on a short tour of our area of Copenhagen. We are centrally located being close to Tivoli Gardens, the train station, City Hall and Strøget, the longest pedestrian shopping area in Europe. On the way, we were intercepted by



Hans Christian Andersen who gave us a short history of his stories. Our tour's destination was a restaurant called Det lille Apotak - The Little Pharmacy. We ate in the entry room with its low ceiling. Being the end of a warm day, it was very warm in the restaurant. The food was good, though. Ann and I had salmon on a bed of cooked cabbage, boiled potatoes and mixed vegetables. We both had a glass of the house-brewed lager - a dark, crisp beer.

After dinner, we all walked back to the hotel together with an intermediate stop where Lisa treated us to ice cream. I had chocolate and banana; Ann had stracciatella and pistachio. We also stopped at the Tivoli Gardens where Ann and I walked around fascinated by the outdoor cafes, the amusement park rides (including a roller coaster with three 360 degree loops) and performance venues. It was really picturesque after dark with all of its colored lights. If we were younger and less tired, we could have stayed there all night. Instead, it was bed by 11:00.