Today was a day that was totally unplanned. If I wasn’t flat chat with Mum’s stuff before I went, I might have researched and worked out an itinerary, but after breakfast this morning, I grabbed the map I was given yesterday and had a look.

I decided to walk to see the changing of the guard, the botanical gardens and the David Collection. This last one was a museum which was free. How bad could it be??

So I set off, after finishing a really good book. Breakfast at the hotel was great, but expensive, so I didn’t feel bad about making a cheese and ham roll for lunch. I jumped on the train, and my walking adventure started.

This is such a beautiful city.

Full of cobblestones though. They’re everywhere.

I ducked into a gift shop and bought a magnet with the Little Mermaid on it, so when I realised I had over an hour to wait for the changing of the guard and I was nearly at the edge of the map where she was, I threw caution to the wind and went to see her.

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks when I’m on the tour.

Remember last year when Meg and I were in Vancouver and we saw The Little Diver. She was modelled on the Little Mermaid, but the good matrons of the city didn’t want naked boobies on show where the kiddies might see. Hence she’s wearing a wetsuit.

After visiting the mermaid, and promising her I’d be back, it was time to hotfoot it to the palace square. Thank goodness I wasn’t here in high season. There were plenty of tourists as it was.

The changing of the guard ceremony happens 4 times, so I filmed the first one, then raced around to simply watch the others. These videos are in 20 second increments to make them easier for wifi to upload.

The new lot march in, watched by most of the old group that are ready for some R & R.

They then march around to all the stations in turn, to swap over. The soldiers have a quick debrief.

The leader then rummages around, making sure that all the equipment that is meant to be there is there.

The swap is made.

And off they go to the next doorway.

I headed off to the Botanic Gardens to have a picnic. Copenhagen was really turning the weather on. It was 21C and I knew I was probably getting sunburned. On the way, I saw another park, so I ditched the Botanic park, found a nice tree and plopped down underneath.

The park was full of people enjoying the day. It was lovely. While I was there, Liga messaged to say that she’s booked the Michelin Star restaurant for the Latvia part of this trip. James and I are very excited. It’s all happening, baby!

After I’d relaxed, I looked to see where the David Collection was. Turns out it was across the street from, just 3 minutes walk away.

I’ve seen some cracking little museums in London, so I was keen to see what this one had to offer.
Not a great deal, as it turned out. It was dry, stodgy, and dull.

It had two floors of Islamic art. I quite liked this helmet. It’d scare the shit out of anyone on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, 99% of the labels on everything were in Danish, so I whipped through this museum pretty quickly.

This reminded me of all the stuff we’ve been sorting through at Mum’s house. I had a bit of PTSD when I looked at all of the cabinets full of knick-knacks.

What a boring place. Give this one a miss if you have some time to kill in Copenhagen.

But the Royal Chapel made up for it. Just lovely.

This place certainly loves its bikes.

I’m proud of myself. As you know, I’ve been on many tours over the last few years. You get very used to being shepherded through things.
With this small leg of the tour, I was on my own. Any mistakes I made, such as not booking enough nights’ rooms, had to be solved by me.

I’ve spent two wonderful days wandering around the streets of a city where I know no one. I’ve worked everything out, without asking anyone for a single direction. It’s good to know I can do that.

Tomorrow I fly to Iceland where I’ll be meeting up with Morgan and Baptiste from the 2022 Antarctica trip. Corinna (Antarctica 2022 and England 2023) and James ( North Korea 2018 and Ireland 2023) will be joining us in a day or two.

What fun we’re going to have!

Dad joke of the day: