Tivoli after a win
Big game today on ESPN and about a million channels in Europe.
The above will search Traveljapanblog.com. Concerts - Landscapes - Sports |
Big game today on ESPN and about a million channels in Europe.
Beyond Tivoli you can see Copenhagen Central Station, and behind that you can see the Meatpacking District and Vesterbro.
Another photo today from Copenhagen’s City Hall Clock Tower.
As mentioned in yesterday’s entry, there is more to see and do than Bellevue Beach if you get off at Klampenborg Station. If you head west from the station you will soon find yourself in a forest. This area is known as Dyrehaven or The Deer Park in English. There are supposed to be thousands of deer living in these forests but we didn’t see any. That’s OK, though, as we see plenty of deer back home.
After a nice walk you’ll find yourself at Bakken, the world’s oldest amusement park. There is a history of the park display, but it was all in Danish so I didn’t get all the details. I think I read that in the early days there weren’t any rides, per se. Rather there were jugglers and other circus-type acts. Most of the rides didn’t seem to be more than a decade or two old, but some of them were quite old and very unique.
On one ride you have to manually pedal a swan around a track. In another you are in a Viking Ship loaded with water cannons that actually work. Not only are the other riders firing on you but the ride itself will hose you down good. No one seemed to make it off of that ride anywhere near dry.
The park is free to get in, but the all-day ride ticket sets you back as much as Tivoli. Food seemed to be cheaper. Bakken was more crowded than Tivoli–maybe just because it isn’t as spread out (not that Tivoli is spread out compared to amusement and theme parks in the U.S.).
On our way back to the train station we road in a horse-drawn carriage.
This entry is for some of the slightly risque things we’ve encountered in Copenhagen. Don’t worry. There’s nothing to offend here–just a few things you probably won’t usually encounter in the states. I’m not going to include, for instance, pictures of the outside of strip clubs, which in Denmark include life-sized pictures of fully nude women.
First up is the tamest of all I suppose. In fact, it barely belongs in this entry. I include it only because I thought it was a bit funny.
My wife points to the above and says, “check that out” as we were walking down Stroget. I thought it was a nice scene so I took the above photograph. On closer inspection, however, we find the following:
The above caused me to recall the story about Tyco’s $2 million birthday party for the CEO’s wife which featured an ice sculpture of Michelangelo’s David spewing vodka from his penis and a birthday cake in the shape of a woman’s breasts with sparklers mounted on top.
Next up is a scene from Tivoli, a child’s amusement park, or so they say…
Not only can you visit bars in Tivoli (and there are a ton of them–something I’ve never seen in amusement parks in the states), but they have large tobacco stands selling all manner of cigarettes and pipe tobacco. The amount of smoking that goes on outdoors here is one of the few things I don’t like about Copenhagen.
First off, I must admit to no longer being a big fan of amusement parks. I used to love them as a kid, but as an adult the rides seldom do much for me. Lines, crowds, and steep prices do nothing to make matters better.
Tivoli Gardens was much better than most of my amusement park experiences of the past couple of decades. It had something of a charm that is lacking in most others. The lines were surprisingly short. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a ride. We got there right when the park opened and went on every ride by about 4 p.m. I didn’t think we’d get on everything before midnight so the short lines were a big shock. The kids went on most rides three or more times.
It is said that Walt Disney was inspired to create Disneyland when visiting Tivoli. Personally, I like Tivoli better. Everything is reasonably close together, there are no lines, and old trees and gardens throughout give a much less synthetic feel to the place.
Another thing that is different when compared to American amusement parks is the lack of warnings and instructions. You aren’t told to “please remain seated…” fifty million times throughout the day and warning labels aren’t affixed to every thing in sight. The ancient fun house at Tivoli is practically a death trap, but no one seems to care. I like that.
Be careful when eating or paying for things at Tivoli. We asked for tap water with our meal. At other places we had eaten at in Copenhagen there was no charge for non-bottled water. We were surprised when our bill included a charge for the water. More than US$12 is what we paid for four glasses of water out of the tap! We were warned that if we used a credit card at our meal we would be charged an additional 5.75%. They didn’t warn us at the gate, and we were charged 3.75% for using a card to pay for admission. Our card company is going to charge another 2%.
To me the most interesting ride was the Star Flyer (although The Odin Express had the best name for a ride). I think the kids liked the Rutschebanen Roller Coaster which is almost 100 years old and includes a brake person on the ride with you. The Star Flyer is similar to many of the merry-go-round swing rides found at fairs and amusement parks in the U.S. The big difference is that instead of going 20 or 30 feet in the air, you go over 260 feet in the air. Not only does this make for a strange sensation, but you have the most incredible 360 degree view of Copenhagen imaginable. This ride is really fantastic and one of a kind.