Another great breakfast and we set off for our Panorama coach tour. Just five minutes away from the hotel, we were told, and the concierge had made a beautiful ring round X marks the spot on our map, but could we find it? No, and real panic set in as departure time approached and we had no idea where to go, and we had paid after all! By sheer luck we saw a coach in the distance and ran like crazy and threw ourselves on board at the very last minute. Not a good start to the day but we soon settled down and began to enjoy the ride.

Unlike the grey of yesterday, today was beautiful and sunny. We sat back and prepared to enjoy the ride, red ear phones in place for the commentary. Joking apart, a bus tour is a great way to see the the main sights of any new city and this was no exception. We learned some history about wars and kings and times gone by and saw many impressive buildings, from ancient to very modern, along the way.

We stopped to visit the Amalianborg palace just in time, with all the other tourists, to see the changing of the guard. Obviously a big photo opportunity. It is a lovely place, originally four beautiful, symmetrical houses built for four noble families. Some time ago the original palace burnt down and the royal family moved in here, permanently. So what happened to those other noble families? Kicked out into the rain, I suppose!

Soon afterwards we passed the statue of a sad angel looking out to see in search of those poor sailors who did not return from the war and shortly after that we stopped for another quick photo opportunity at the statue of the Little Mermaid. She is certainly very small and quite lovely. I'm sure Hans Christian Andersen would be proud!

Our bus tour at an end we enjoyed a lunch time beer beforing joining our canal boat tour. It was quite chilly on the water but we were well wrapped up. We passed many points of interest including Christiansborg Palace, The Old Stock Exchange, The Opera House, Christiania, The Cruise Ship harbour and the Sixtus Battery. However, probably the most entertaining part of the ride was when we got stuck under a bridge. They are, in any case, very low but the captain announced that the water has risen since last time and we can't get through! Much to everyone's amusement we had to reverse all the way up the canal with horn tooting all the way. The passengers burst into spontaneous applause when the captain made it without further mishap. Probably relief as nobody wantd to end up in that very cold water!!

By the time we left the boat we were very ready for food and decided to go in search of a steak as they seemed to be advertised everyywhere. We stepped inside The Streckers bar, a Danish pub along The Stroget, the central shopping area which was madly busy and thronging with people ambling along in the sunshine. I have to say that The Streckers Bar is not a particularly good advertisement for Denmark. At first look it seemed ok, but on closer examination it was tired and a great deal less than clean. The steak we ordered was expensive and entirely forgettable, and I wouldn't wish their toilets on my worst enemy! I dread to think what the state of their kitchens must be like!

On the way back to the hotel we noticed a Scottish pub, an Irish pub and an Old English pub all within a few doors of each other. In an effort to avoid favouritism we decided to have one drink in each, starting with the Scots Bar. All three pubs were amazingly large inside, decorated in traditional pub style and very busy. These pubs were all very clean and pleasant to be in with a very friendly atmosphere. A credit to the motherland! It was a lovely end to the evening and the Irish pub also had some great live music which was an added bonus.