Mary Mary, wherefore art thou?

Another day another country. Arrived in Copenhagen sometime in the afternoon. Had been given the bus number to catch from the main station, but realised we didn't know which direction to go. So again, the frustration of working out how to get to the hostel. Luckily a nice bus driver helped us out and even announced the stop over his little speaker as we approached. And he spoke English! YAY! Have found since Prague, that most people can speak English. Very helpful.

Discovered that the hostel was located in the middle of nowhere, only 4km out of the city, but literally nothing around. We would have to get the bus anywhere if we wanted to do anything. Being in a new city and all we didn't know what we wanted to see yet so just spent the first afternoon/night finding dinner (Paul walked and walked and walked and finally found a pizzeria.. so cultured all this pasta and pizza, but its cheap and filling!) and working out what to see the next day.

Next day was cold and rainy, not great sightseeing weather but what can you do. We soldiered on with our raincoats and started on a walking city tour out of the guide book. Went to the Hans Christian Anderson museum--- not recommeded! LAME!! But we had a 24 hr Copenhagen Card that entitled us to free transport and entry to most things so we made the most of it, seeing whatever we could. But decided to give the Amber Museum a miss (yes, a museum dedicated to all one needs to know about amber..)

Hadn't seen any sight of Mary yet, so decided to head over to her palace, a none too exciting building. Couldn't get past the guards unfortunately, so went into the Amalienborg Museum which just had a few rooms set up like the old Kings had used them.

Found the Little Mermaid statue, saw someone slip on the rocks trying to get close to her and went knee deep into the freezing water.. very amusing, since it wasn't us!

In the evening we went to Tivoli Amusement Park, a strange place, a mix of gardens, side show alleys, amusement rides, restaurants, theatre and concerts. We saw a great dance interpretation of The Little Matchgirl... a lot of interpretation was needed, but interesting none the less.

The next day we went to another castle and checked out the crown jewels and treasures... nothing too amazing (maybe we are just museum/castle fatigued).

Went to another palace (they're everywhere) which the Queen uses for receptions and state functions. We actually got a guide on this one which makes a world of difference. You actually appreciate what you are seeing. She was awesome and explained the whole Danish royal history to us... incredibly incestuous with cousins marrying each other and a couple of illegitimate kings along the way. Would make a great soapie, put Neighbours to shame.

We finished off the day with some more time in Tivoli (managed to get some more "free" time on our Copenhagen card - naughty naughty but this place is EXPENSIVE!) then hopped on the bus back out to our hole to get ready for another 8.30am train to Oslo, Norway!!!