Day 8 - Saturday 29th April

It was another cool morning with blue sky. My app said it was just 3C outside at 7am.

We had breakfast with Chris and Janet in the hotel restaurant at 8:30am. It was a great buffet breakfast with plenty of choice. I had eggs this time instead of an omelette. Suzy loved the pastries.

This morning we had a booking to go on a sightseeing tour on the canal at 11:20am. All four of us met in the foyer at 10:30 and set off to enjoy the sights on the foreshores of the canal slowly making our way to the place where the canal boat trip starts.

I'd rugged up with a beanie, gloves, puffer jacket to prepare the cold weather but it turned out that I was overdressed because we were in the sun as we strolled along the walkway and there was little breeze.

Perhaps because it was Saturday, the walkway was quite crowded. Plenty of people had the same idea as us to enjoy the atmosphere on this bright sunny morning in this beautiful part of the world.

Along the canal, there were ships moored on both sides of the canal. Some were classic timber ships. Most were sailing ships. Cyclists were out in force on the roads and cycle paths.

We reached the departure point at about 11am and we were among the first to get on board and so we managed to get ideal seats at the front of the boat. The boat set off at 11:30. The crew consisted of a driver and a man giving the running commentary in Danish and in English.

There are numerous bridges along the canal. At each one, our guide warned us to sit down and watch our heads because there was low clearance. Some were also so narrow that he warned us to keep our arms inside the boat. 

The route took us along several canals and past many fascinating buildings, statues, churches, towers and historic sites including the opera house and the home of the royal family. It also took us past the statue of the little mermaid. However the statue faces the land and so we only saw her back.

All up, the tour took about an hour. It was very worthwhile. We enjoyed the  entertaining commentary from our guide. It was certainly a great  photo opportunity on a perfect sunny morning.

During the cruise, two Scottish woman sat next to us and gave us lots of useful tips on where to go and what to see in Scotland.

After the cruise, we strolled through the main plaza and down some side streets before heading back towards our hotel. Now it was about 1pm and time for lunch. We managed to get a table at Restaurant Nyhavn 41 where Chris and Janet had gone for lunch yesterday. Chris and I both had a Carlsberg beer and the girls had a G&T.

Janet and Suzy wanted to visit the shops (naturally). Chris and I followed them to the first department store and after a minute or two headed back to our hotel. By this time, it was starting to get cloudy and so it wasn't as warm as this morning. Then again 13C is probably not that warm.

We'd booked to have dinner at the hotel restaurant at 8pm. At 7pm, we set out for a walk to soak up the atmosphere again.

It's hard to know how much we need to rug up before venturing out. We'd watched what people were wearing from our window overlooking the wharf. Anyway, I should have rugged up more because it was very cool in the wind.

By 7:30, we were back in the hotel in the lounge area near the restaurant. The staff seemed very busy. At the appointed hour, they found us a table. We'd had time to look at the (expensive) wine list and translate it into English. The decision was to go for an Italian wine (the second cheapest) from Montepulchiano (about $A78).

I had a veal main course while the others (who were less hungry) had something from the starter menu. It turned out to be a great wine and a great dinner. The waiters still seemed very stressed out. We were back in our rooms at about 9:30pm. Another great day.