Entries about bridge

As my good friend Amalie had just had her baby, flights from Luton had increased to eight per day, as well as being pretty cheap, and the city is just great fun I had the urge to visit once again, and after planting the idea in some of my friends' minds, it soon spiralled into a Slough family holiday before my eyes.

In preparation for the trip I had not only reproduced maps for everyone, but recommended everyone got themselves a Caxton currency card - a thoroughly useful debit card that can be used abroad with exceptionally low fees and great exchange rates. Something particularly useful in Scandinavia where even the homeless take cards as no one uses cash! In the end, we didn't even touch the local money at all....

After answering questions like "can I take grapes?" and "will my jaw hurt?" from those who had not flown before, I raced home from work, grabbed my bits and then ran into town to catch the same bus on the way to the airport for the holiday to begin. Despite an hour's delay, we eventually took off and made our way over Northern Europe towards the Danish capital.

"Have we landed yet?". "No Abby, You'll know when we've landed". And then we did. Eventually making it into the city by midnight we grabbed some quick food before some sleep and our Cph day the following morning.

After grabbing breakfast at the hotel we began our day by heading just around the corner towards the pretty Nyhavn, before heading up to the Royal Palace and Amaliehaven.

Nyhavn

The Little Mermaid

Singing "Should've Known Better", whilst keeping an eye out for Soluna Samay's sister, who could for all we know have been right next to us(!), we made our way towards the Little Mermaid (which half of them had no idea about) hidden behind half of China, taking a few photos and then heading back towards the city through the Kastellet military fort. After a mooch inside the Marble Cathedral, we then paused at the Rosenborg Palace Gardens for a photo shoot and rest before making it to the city centre where we all had a rest in a cafe.

Fun at Rosenborg

Christiansborg

Our final major stop on the tour of the city was at Christiansborg Palace, to go up the tower inside for free views of the city and across the Øresund of Malmö and the Bridge we would cross tomorrow.

Heading back down, we made our way towards the City Hall, before walking back up Strøget towards the hotel for a well earned rest after today's 5 mile walk.

We then grabbed dinner in the evening before heading to an Irish pub and a bar before a well earned sleep....

After a busy day in Copenhagen and check out being at 11, we decided to check out at 11, grabbing breakfast before heading off over the bridge to Sweden.

Since my last visit in the summer the refugee crisis in Europe had affected Scandinavia, not only had we witnessed far more beggars in Copenhagen than there were last time, but also there were now passport control checks on the bridge itself. This meant that we wasted an extra hour or so to get to Malmö, but nevertheless it was worth it.

Whilst in Copenhagen we all stuck together, in Malmö everyone had different plans and so I went off to visit the city alone. Being the first time in the three I had been to this part of the world that I did my own thing.

Despite this, I still undertook the same tour as the previous two times - beginning in the main square, before heading to the castle, the Turning Torso and back to the station.

However this time I actually wanted to visit the Malmö Museum to see the exhibition on the TV series "The Bridge" which I am an avid fan of.

Luckily for me, today the museum was also free, and I spent a solid two and a half hours in the museum watching videos and looking at exhibits from the show itself. Realising that it had now got quite late, I headed back on my tour routine before heading back to Copenhagen.

Whilst everyone else was spending a leisurely day in Sweden, I raced back to Denmark as I was completing the third of my three must-do tasks for the trip, meeting up with my good friend Amalie, and her new growing family. Having dinner with them, I had a great few hours catching up on good times before heading to the airport to meet up with everyone else for our flight home.

Although I usually visit places on my own, it is always a great experience to share with friends - especially ones who don't faff; and as I had already seen the cities twice before I wasn't fussed about missing out on anything anyway - all I had wanted was a new pair of glasses from Tiger, to see the exhibition and visiting my friend! I was more than happy to give everyone the guided tour of the city, and it seemed we all had a great time in Scandinavia.

I look forward to the next time! Meanwhile it was time to sleep before the next holiday in five days time.... #WhoseIdeaWasThis?

Unfortunately the weather for the weekend we chose wasn't great, with most of it raining but as this was a sightseeing holiday it didn't completely ruin the trip.

Because of the times of our flights, it meant that essentially we had just two whole days to see everything. And so we began the first day early planning to visit the majority of attractions in Lisbon itself.

Starting from our hotel, with some lovely views of the hills in the city we made our way to the centre, taking a quick look at the start of a race through the city, before making our way around the corner to jump on one of the trams running through the city.

After riding through the hills around the Castle of St. Jorge, we jumped off as we reached the city centre, taking a look around the pedestrianised streets, before walking past the end of the race in Praça Do Comercio.

After taking a look at the busy square, the views of the River Tagus we walked towards the ferry terminal to cross the river to Almada. Once there taking a tram up the hill we made our way to Cristo Rei, the Portuguese version of Rio's Christ the Redeemer, as we looked over the city of Lisbon next to the 25th of April Bridge, another likeness to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Ponte de 25 Abril

Belém Tower

Crossing back to the Lisbon side of the river, we got on a suburban train and made our way to Belém, to view the Belem Tower, the Monument to the Discoveries, and the Jerónimos Monastery before having dinner and heading back to the city centre and hotel via the Eduardo VII Park.

Having seen the majority of Lisbon's attractions on Sunday, we therefore had the majority of Monday to enjoy at Sintra. After taking a cheap and easy suburban train we arrived at the village and made our way onto a tourist circuit bus where we jumped off a regular stops to view the village's attractions.

After quick stops at the Sintra Palace and Moorish Castle, we eventually made our way to the Pena Palace at the very top of the hill.

The palace is absolutely outstanding, feeling almost like an attraction at a theme park, so much does it stand out apart from everything else. As the path from the entrance winds up, between the trees you start to see parts of the vibrantly coloured buildings, and as you get closer and the trees stop you can see it in its full awe and glory.

After taking lot of photos from all kinds of different angles, we went inside the building viewing many of the palatial rooms and views outside before walking around the edge of the palace with views of Lisbon and the Atlantic.

After taking a last wander through the grounds, with views of the palace emerging through the trees on top of a hill, we made our way back down to Sintra village, and eventually back to Lisbon.

Walking through Rossio square, more empty after yesterday's race, we took dinner and made our way back down towards the Praça Do Comercio, before going back to our hotel.

Praça Do Comercio

Trams

With its reminiscence of other cities - the trams and bridge of San Francisco, the Christ Monument of Rio, the arches of Paris and theme park palaces, Lisbon has many features present in other famous cities. But by putting them altogether it doesn't matter - Lisbon still has its uniqueness and is a very interesting city to visit for a weekend.

Despite having already visited the city four years previously, I jumped at the chance to return to the city, this time with my mum and sister. Hoping that this time the weather would be kinder, and I'd actually be able to see things more than a few metres away.

With cheap flights from easyJet and Ryanair just starting from Luton, we took an afternoon flight to the Danish capital, and after arriving I met up with my Danish friend, Amalie and we spent the night having a catch up on old times.

The following day was spent exploring the north of the city - beginning with the parade to the royal palace, before heading up to the Little Mermaid statue, trying to take pictures avoiding half of China who had also decided to visit and make photoshoots alongside the small model.

The Little Mermaid

Nyhavn

After enjoying the view, and walking through the Kastellet, we made our way down to Nyhavn, where we met up with Amalie, and sneaked on a free boat tour of the harbour thanks to her contacts. With the weather being a vast improvement on my previous visit, we were shocked to discover that we had all been sunburnt after just a day in the Danish capital! After taking a little rest we made our way over to Tivoli Gardens for the evening, enjoying the rides, the themed gardens, as well as an illumination display and a concert by Kato.

Tivoli

Malmö Castle

Our second full day was spent taking the train across the Öresund Bridge to Malmö in Sweden, where we arrived to find a large event in the centre of the city with lots of freebies and entertainment on offer. After walking around the city centre, we made our way to the west, through the park and past the castle towards to coast, with views of the Turning Torso, the Öresund Bridge and even Copenhagen - a vast improvement on my first time here!

Öresund Bridge

Danny Saucedo at Malmöfestivalen

After heading back to the city centre, and enjoying the rehearsals for the evening's concert with the Swedish music stars, we made our way back to the Danish capital, where after dinner we headed to the Round Tower for views across the city and beyond.

Finishing up the day's tour through the Rosenborg Palace Gardens, I met up again with Amalie for another night of catch ups.

Strøget

Christiansborg

Our final day was spent in the centre of the city, shopping on Strøget and visiting Christiansborg Palace before making our way to the airport for our evening flight home, and getting to use the hand baggage trolleys! Welcome to the future!

Copenhagen was amazing as ever, the Danish culture is really enjoyable and the weather was very kind to us, and I would highly recommend the city to everyone.

After the coach broke down just into the journey causing us to be delayed by 3 hours, we were informed that we would also be receiving a refund on our journeys - meaning my two trips with Megabus across California had cost me just £1!

What a difference...

...a day makes!

Arriving in San Francisco was definitely a shock to the system, the weather was much more Autumn like, and on the first day the fog levels were so bad over the harbour, that even being on the Golden Gate Bridge, I could still not see it! - even when it had cleared over the rest of the city! Luckily, the following day when I took the boat across the Alcatraz, the weather was much better and I got to go and see the bridge afterwards!

Alcatraz

San Francisco Trams

I also got to experience a ride on the trams and witness the crazy gradients the city was built on(!) as well as the pier-side and the gayest underground station I could possibly imagine!

The inevitable question is which city did I prefer, and I can say most definitely San Francisco - the income disparity is much less noticeable, making begging far less bothersome, and the level of infrastructure and number of sights were far more superior.