Visiting Vikings

 

 

 

During the four January days in Copenhagen, the temperature never dropped to below freezing, but never did it moved more than a few degrees above it either. For the day of the wedding, the precipitation stayed away, with a light drizzling coating the city most of the time during the other days.

On Saturday the modern, clean, and efficient train system, delivered us to Roskilde and the Viking Boat Museum, highly recommended by Gary and Marilyn Evans, as Gary could recall when the Vikings sunk the boats in the early 1100s. The five ships appropriately overlook the waterfront from the shore they once protected. The museum chronicles the history of the ships, including their 1960s reclamation from the frigid Nordic waters, after nearly a thousand years residing at the bottom of the waters.

Seaworthy

Try one of these on your next transatlantic cruise

The town shops closed early on Saturday afternoon, but finding a spot for a late lunch did not require much effort as the nearly empty Rib House, provided us their signature dish and local fish. By the time the meal ended, the walk back to the train station occurred under the darkness of night, about five o’clock.

While changing trains at central station in Copenhagen, we revisited City Hall and walked the perimeter of Trivoli Gardens, the city’s most visited attraction. The Gardens closed after New Years and will not reopen until February. A sign for Carlsborg Brewery also teased us, as it closed in December for a lengthy renovation.

 

Returning to the Crowne Plaza, the lounge graciously hosted the entourage once again, although the Nemeths needed to retire early as Julia had arranged a six in the morning flight home for her family. With some remaining cognac requiring disposition, efforts from the other hotel guests helped to successfully complete the quest, by the time the lounge closed.

The hotel managed to completely exceed all expectations from its location to mass transit and shopping to friendliness of its staff to the perfect lounge with high quality food and drink. The lounge buffet breakfast of both hot and cold items, produced delicious and numerous offerings. The snacks offered during the day were also extensive and the four hour evening happy hour, provided us a comfortable evening social venue. We look forward to returning next week.

On Sunday near mid day, along with Justin and Julia, the hotel shuttle returned us to the Copenhagen Airport in five minutes. Walking them to the gate for their flight home to Berlin, we said farewell and headed to the Aviator Lounge for a snack, some wine and a quick nap. In complete darkness, the late afternoon Finnair flight headed west to Helsinki, where a connection north to Kittila waited. The very small, snow covered airport greeted us as the final flight of the day. Ritva greeted us at the terminal with a warm car and a ten mile drive to the cottage in Levi (pronounced levy like Chevy). The noticeable drop in temperature now featured the Fahrenheit degrees struggling to remain above zero as the Celsius degrees reflected double digit negative readings. For the next four days, no higher temperatures are expected in this location inside the Arctic Circle. Alternatively, heading up the ski slopes of the surrounding, modest mountains, you can drop several more degrees accompanied by a nice brisk wind.