Bucket List Travel: Copenhagen
Bucket List Travel (BLT Series)
Episode Copenhagen, Denmark (Patti Christensen)
Welcome to Dr. Mary Travelbest’s 5 Steps to Solo Travel Guide for people like you who need extra support traveling (slowly) one at a time. Please share this Bucket List Travel Special Series podcast. I appreciate your feedback and travel questions as I write a workbook and third book, Part C, about my 90 Days around the World.
In this episode, the FAQ: Can AI help me travel?
Today’s Destination is a Bucket List Travel adventure from Patti Christensen, who will tell you about Copenhagen, Denmark
Today’s Misstep- Mark Twain jokes about European tour guides in his travel books.
Travel Advice: If you are interested in travel and clearly do as you listen here, why not purchase a guide that answers most of your questions in one place?
FAQ: Can AI help me travel?
Answer: AI is a great tool kit for travel. Yes, but be sure to check for accuracy and hallucinations. You will also find bias. But you can start using your phone today to ask about some of the questions you have at this moment. “Do I need to bring an umbrella to England?” That’s a question you already are asking your Alexa, Siri, or other smart device. I just asked that. The answer was that it’s not raining right now in the UK. That did not answer my question, but it helped. So don’t limit yourself and keep asking questions. Be sure to ask here for a reputable answer to some more challenging questions you want to know will be useful and relatable.
Today’s destination: Copenhagen, Denmark
This is Patti Christensen from San Diego talking about one of my favorite travel,
destinations is Copenhagen, Denmark.
Because my grandmother immigrated to the US from Denmark in the early 20th
century, I always felt the draw to go back to visit the land of my ancestors. Here
are some of my favorite highlights from Copenhagen.
Copenhagen, like much of Denmark is a city on the water. One of the first things
that you want to do when you go to Copenhagen is going on one of the
sightseeing Canal boat tours with a live guide. You hop on this great open air
boat and take a slow trip throughout various views of the city. Copenhagen is a
combination of brand new shiny buildings and historic buildings going back
centuries. The boat trip past the multicolored buildings is fantastic with photo
worthy sites all along the route. And as long as you’re in that area might join the
locals in a dip in the swimming beaches in the harbor. I found the water to be
extremely cold, but the docks and the beaches were full of sun worshiping people
enjoying themselves.
They also are so many wonderful and free, museums and historic sites to see.
Among my favorites is The Rosenborg Castle, where you can see the Danish
Crown jewels, there are also several other palaces and historic sites. At
Amalienborg Palace in downtown Copenhagen, you can watch the changing of
the guards every day at noon. Very similar to that in London. But with a lot less
crowds.
https://www.kongernessamling.dk/en/amalienborg/
Another must see in Copenhagen is Tivoli Gardens. This was the world’s original
amusement park, they say that Walt Disney got some inspiration from Tivoli
Gardens. it’s a combination of beautiful flowers and landscaping, kids see
buildings and children shows, and wonderful restaurants. And throughout the
summer, a place of great concerts going on. One must make a trip to Tivoli
Garden and eat some beautiful food.
One of the things you’ll notice in Denmark is everybody rides bikes. if you get a
chance, rent a bike and tool around. The city is very flat and very breakable.
You’ll see whole families, riding bikes, kids, riding bikes to school, and adults
using bikes to commute. You have to ride a bike in Copenhagen.
There are many places that have great street food, especially at the Reffen
Copenhagen Street Food market. This is the largest street food market in all of
the Nordic regions. It includes reasonably priced food from around the world.
Copenhagen is definitely a melting pot. The most famous sausage eaten in
Denmark is a medisterpolse, spicy and delicious.
One more thing that you could really enjoy if you happen to be in Copenhagen in
July is the Copenhagen jazz festival.
https://jazz.dk/copenhagen-jazz-festival-2024/forside/
The Danes love their jazz, that goes back
to, the 1930s and 40s when American jazz artist traveled extensively in Europe.
The jazz festival , started in 1979, is a month-long festival at small venues, large
concert halls and churches, and really big outdoor stages. Many of the events
are free and the music is fantastic. I would really recommend checking that out
and especially looking at some of the smaller venues.
And of course you have to go and at least have a glimpse of the little mermaids
statue. This comes from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale about a mermaid.
When you see the little mermaid, you might be surprised at its size. My local
cousin said “nobody ever called the big mermaid”. But getting your picture taken
by the statue is one of the experiences you should do at least once.
So those are some things to do if you have, the chance to visit Copenhagen even
for a couple of days there is much to do and you might find yourself humming
along this “wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen”. Enjoy.”
https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/hans-christian-andersen-experience-gdk591356
Today’s Misstep: Not getting a guide when I should have.
One of my favorite authors, Mark Twain wrote The Innocents Abroad in 1869. He made me laugh a lot, in his descriptions of European tour guides. He wrote at length, and to summarize, he said that he played a game with his guide in Italy. The guide told him about Michelangelo and how he created so much of the art, music, and more. Eventually, Twain was bored of this. Twain wrote: “Many a man has wished in his heart he could be without his guide, but, knowing he could not, has wished he could get some amusement out of him as a remuneration for the affliction of his society.” In other words, Twain felt that he was owed a laugh or two on the guide, so he teased the guide with jokes about dead mummies, and then Twain made deadpan looks instead of amazement at what was truly historic. Twain did the opposite of what was expected for his own amusement.
I have used tour guides on some travels but have also regretted it at other times. If you comment, I’ll do a future episode on this topic. When to use a guide and when to go without.
Today’s Travel Advice- Guidebooks are best before you leave home.
Use my Travel Guidebook Series now, before you go, and tell me how you like it! If you have an interest in travel, and you do as you listen here, why not purchase a guide that answers most of your questions in one place? You can use the e-book while traveling, so you won’t get bogged down on the trip.
