The Ultimate Copenhagen Experience

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 4):

We next headed towards Kongens Nytorv (a plaza) and Nyhavn (a harbor, and the most famous harbor in Copenhagen). On the way, we made one quick stop at the largest department store in the city -- Magasin du Nord. Our goal was to check out the food gallery. This is a very common feature in European department stores. The lowest level of the store is typically a really nice gourmet grocery store, and Magasin du Nord is no exception. So we took advantage of

the selections to pick up some fresh fruit and snacks. We resisted the temptation to buy chocolate - notwithstanding all the really tempting displays of Easter candy.

Our primary goal this morning was to take a boat tour of the canals. We located the correct dock, at the innermost point of Nyhavn, and purchased our tickets. The next boat was pulling in just as we were completing our ticket purchase so we immediately made our way onboard.

These canal tour boats are uniquely designed. I did not appreciate that when we first boarded and started our journey, but their very special design purpose became evident later on in the tour. They are rather wide and relatively flat. The center section has a cover, or roof, constructed of glass panels. But at the front and back of the boat, the seating is open to the air. For most of our trip, we sat outside. It was a clear sunny day, but it was also cold and windy. And, being on the water, we got very cold at times. About three-quarters of the way through the trip, we were finally compelled to seek the warmth of the inside portion of the boat. But we had chosen to stay outside for so long because we wanted to have a clearer views of the sights and we knew we would take a lot of pictures -- which we did!

Back to the shape of the boat. We navigated several canals during our tour and we went under a dozen or more bridges. These bridges are not very high off the water and the opening through which the boat traversed provided very little clearance. Every time we went under a bridge, the tour guide reminded everyone to sit down and keep our hands in the boat. As it turns out, the

shape of these boats exactly fits the openings that we passed through under these bridges. Sometimes there was no more than a few inches of clearances on the sides and top. It was tense!