16 July 2014 (sunny and warm) 42 km

Well stone the bloody crows!.......at least that’s what we wanted to do when their persistent squawking and screeching woke us at 4am.  In all the years that we have lived at our home in the bush, we have never heard birds making such a commotion at any time of the day like they do in Europe.  Even if we are pitched nowhere near bush, they seem to always be there, squawking, cooing, screeching and generally just being annoying.  However, we were able to tune them out and go back to sleep until 7am.

After breakfast and cleaning up, we resumed our conversation with Katja and Stefan and had a little test out of her recumbent bike – very comfortable so no good for Ju, she’d just fall asleep.  Decided to cycle into the centre of Copenhagen which was a very easy straight ride of 7km on flat ground.  When we arrived, we parked our bikes outside the Radhaus and nervously locked them up, hoping they would still be there when we got back. 

Scenes from the Copenhagen Radhaus - or town hall

Went for a walk inside the Radhaus which was free and an amazing building, with incredible details inside.  Copenhagen, being such an old city, has photographic opportunities at every turn and the camera had a great workout.  

Scenes from Copenhagen

We’d been strolling round the city for a couple of hours and then had a delicious lunch of stirfried vegetables and cashew nuts.  Decided a more efficient way to see more of the city was to go back and grab the bikes, which we duly did.  Whenever we lock the bikes up and leave them I am always so relieved to see them still there when we come back. 

Wow Keren, we could have fun in this shop!!!

Copenhagen was chocca full of people, especially on the main shopping drag, but there were some awesome shops there with some really different stuff.  This was one time we wished we weren’t travelling by bike as you can’t buy anything as you have to carry it with you.  So we stopped torturing ourselves with the shops and ventured further afield to explore more of the city.  We were not disappointed.  Copenhagen is a beautiful old city and very easy to get around by bike.  We also had a beautiful day with the weather playing it’s part perfectly.

More scenes from Copenhagen

Newhaven - an area of Copenhagen that would suit mine and Keren's colourful tastes!

At 3pm we left town and cycled back up to the campground.  A quick stop at Maccas to upload the blog and grab an ice-cream and then back to the tent to get what we needed for the football game between Liverpool and Brondby.  We debated whether to walk or take the bikes but there were so many other people going by bike that we decided to risk it.  Once again it was the most efficient way to travel.  No traffic hold ups and no endless trudging along the streets in the hot sun.  Just whizzed along in the cycle lane and got there in ten minutes.  Locked our bikes to a handy flagpole and joined the throngs heading in the gates.   

We didn’t know how many people to expect but it was a full house with 26,000 people to watch this pre-season friendly.  The Brondby fans were certainly onsong and made the Liverpool fans seem pale in comparison.  Brondby had great songs, great chants and lots of enthusiasm.  They would frequently jump up and down in unison down the far end of the pitch and it looked awesome!  The Liverpool fans on the other hand left their enthusiasm behind in Copenhagen earlier in the day at Rosie McGees’s Irish bar where they were in full voice.  Like the Liverpool fans, the Liverpool team, which to be truthful included more second string players with only the odd first team player, were second rate against a Brondby side that relished the chance to flourish in front of their home fans.  It was incredible to see how many Brondby fans were wearing Liverpool shirts.  It would have been at least half the stadium.  Brondby scored their winner in the 89^th minute and it was only what they deserved in a 2-1 win after hitting the crossbar twice.

After 33 years of not having seen Liverpool play live, I certainly didn’t feel like I’d missed out on anything.  Another thing I don’t miss is the behaviour of some fans who seem to think it’s fine to urinate wherever the need takes them.  Must have seen about thirty guys having a wee just on the way to our bikes which took about five minutes to get to.  They are also allowed to smoke in the stadiums over here which makes it very unpleasant for us non-smokers.

Cycled back to MacDonalds so we could charge the computer and google map our way out of Copenhagen tomorrow.  We also tried to find a homeopathic shop as Ju has developed conjunctivitis today and is hopeful a dose of Pulsatilla will clear it up as it has worked like magic for her in the past.  However, homeopathy doesn’t seem to be prevalent over here.  We have one shop to check out but may have to go to a pharmacy and/or doctor.

Got back to the camp and saw our German friends Katja and Stefan.  They had taken their bikes into Copenhagen today as we had done - only difference being they had taken two locks and locked their bikes together to a post and someone had come along with bolt cutters and cut their two locks and stolen Stefan's bike!  They had left Katja's as it is a recumbent and more easily identifiable I guess. They had parked them in a busy place just as we had done.  We felt bad for them and incredibly lucky that the same fate didn't befall us.

Tomorrow will see our last day in Denmark if all goes well as we are taking the coastal route up to Helsingor where we plan to catch the ferry to the Swedish city of Helsingborg.  Not much imagination going on there!