Copenhagen - Day 1

We have all been looking forward to our Christmas trip to Denmark. This Thursday we left Heathrow bound for Copenhagen. Our flight was due to depart 11:55am so we caught our taxi about 9:30am to give us plenty of time to sort ourselves out.

After checking in we made our way through passport control. James is getting quite used to the rigmarole and seems to take it in his stride. He's got a bit of a head cold so we gave him a little cough medication to help ease the flight.

It turned out that the flight was delayed about 2 hours due to weather. During the morning SW England experienced about 70 knot winds that caused havoc at Heathrow delaying many flights. We finally boarded at about 14:00. James gad the window seat and promptly insisted that the window blind be closed!!

Taking off we seemed to get caught in gusty cross wind as the aircraft jumped from side to side on the runway. A few wobbles later and we were off. James - well he was asleep within minutes. Bless (another UK term!)

Copenhagen is about two hour’s flight (and an hour ahead) so we arrived in darkness. First impression of the airport is to reinforce the notion of Danish design. It’s a wonderfully modern airport with lots of subdued lighting and timber.

From the airport we caught our taxi to the Le Meridien Palace Hotel right in the heart of Copenhagen. Being in Europe the driver sits on the left. James couldn’t see anyone in the usual driver’s seat and thought the car was driving itself!

The hotel is undergoing renovation at the moment. Although this is in wings so we weren’t inconvenienced. Our room was brand new and had a lovely big bed and a bathroom that was very well designed (at least I thought so). James was on a folding bed which did take up a little room when down.

We rugged up in our big coats, scarves, and gloves and headed straight outside to explore. It was drizzling and about 5 degrees. I think with the wind chill it was about 0. Immediately outside is the main square – Raadhuspladsen. In its center was a large fir Christmas tree with lots of lights. Around the square the buildings are lit with bright neon. And in the backdrop is Tivoli (more on that in a later post). Instead we set off to wander down the main shopping street - Strøget. And it doesn’t disappoint. Strung across the street are lights – in this case with illuminated hearts. As we approached some of the high end shops (such as Illum, Royal Copenhagen, and George Jenson) we saw more dazzling lights and illuminated facades. Just magical to watch.

At the end of the walk we came to another main square. This one had an ice rink that encircled it. Merrilyn’s eyes lit up. We were all a little cold by this stage so made our way back towards the hotel. We picked up a bite to eat and then back for a nice hot bath in that bathroom.

See our first set of photos here.