Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, is our port of embarkation for our Baltic Sea cruise, which begins on April 29. We arrived early so we could explore the city. Denmark, nestled between the Baltic and North Sea is the smallest of the Scandinavian countries and the birthplace of author Hans Christian Andersen. In the 16th century, it was the largest and ruled all of Norway and the three southern provinces of Sweden.

We arrived at around 1:00 and went to buy our “Copenhagen Card” whiich gives free travel on busses, trains and metro as well as free entrance to a lot of the popular sights. So we hopped on the train and after a short ride and a 15 minute walk got t9 our hotel. Our hotel is in the hip Vesterbro district, Copenhagen's former red light area And fairly close to the main train station. Now it’s 3:00 and we quickly unpacked and headed out to catch the hop on hop off bus to orient ourselves to the city.

First impression: the sky is bluer here (when the sun is out) and there are lots of bike-lane-lined streets, colourfully charming facades and an unpronounceable language. It is a bustling, family friendly city with tight, cozy cobblestone streets.

After the tour on the bus we decided to have a beer. We had seen a bustling, fun looking place in an area called Nyhavn (New Harbour). We made our our way there and sat ourselves down to people watch. This area was established in the 1670’s and was the sailors quarters at that time. It’s been spiffed up and is now full of trendy, touristy cafes and bars beside each other. It’s Nicknamed the worlds longest bar. Imagine us finding our way there!! It’s situated on a canal that is full of sailboats. Hans Christian Anderson lived and wrote his first stories here. Along the canal it is back to back cafes & restaurants. We took in the atmosphere and then went looking for a place to eat dinner. We found a lively square lined with restaurants and sat ourselves down for dinner.

On the way back to our hotel we stopped in Tivoli Gardens and walked around. It is the oldest amusement park in the world. There was a concert happening and we watched some of it. Vic was ready to party but I was tired from the early flight so we went back to the hotel.