Day 1 - 26 Feb

It is a 03:00 wake up for the journey to the airport and I have set 2 alarms, 5 minutes apart, just in case. Kids do not need much prodding and soon everyone is awake, dressed and in the car. Early flights are a pain in terms of getting up but they have the benefits of giving you extra time in your chosen destination and traffic free roads for the journey for the airport. The latter takes away so much worry about making it to your flight on time. In this case, all went well and, in plenty of time, we are parked up, through security and in the departure lounge in plenty of time.

First up is breakfast and kids decide on Burger King. Their ordering screen is a bit confusing for, the eternally fussy, Myles who never accepts what is on his burger. The screen offers choices but they seem to be back to front to what we are used to. The consequence of the confusion is that his order turns out to be 2 patties and nothing else in the box. We take the order back to the counter to ask if they can add the bun and cheese but are surprisingly refused. "That is what you ordered." We counter that we have paid exactly the same price so why can we not have the proper order that we thought we were getting. Same answer! I am too gobsmacked to complain. The final kick in the teeth is that the patties were not exactly tasty. Myles settles for a chicken sandwich from Boots next door. 

Next on the pre-flight checklist is the airport beer and photo as I have been previously instructed to deliver as I was on the way to Antigua. I have never been an aficionado of the breakfast beer and have always been amused by those partaking. Having broken my cherry before my last trip, I am quite happy to be a latecomer to this custom. As people say, time doesn't matter in airport world (unless you miss your flight). So it is a nice pint of Mahou for me and Coke for the kids despite Maisie's demands for a beer!

Once fully boarded, it is apparent that this is not a full flight and we start to think we can spread out a bit. However, the cabin crew have foreseen this potential shifting of seats and have asked people to remain in their allocated seat which was allotted based on a loading plan. It is not a problem; the flight is scheduled for 90 minutes and we spend most of it asleep. I awake just in time to be told to completely turn off all electrical devices due to bad weather in Copenhagen. Kids are also awake but I'm not sure how long since. I make sure that they comply also and we sit back for landing. 

On landing we are not sure where the bad weather warning came from as, although it is cold and grey, it is dry and wind free. No matter, we disembark and I chuck out some Italian at the crew with a "Grazie mille". I'm not sure why and seemingly, neither are the crew as they ignore me!! The language theme continues as we immediately learn that the word for entrance in Danish is Indgang and we repeat every time we see it!

The passage through passport control is speedy, with a reasonably pleasant border agent. The walk to the metro is not so speedy as it takes us some time to get to the station. On arrival we find a ticket machine and layout 60DKK to be known henceforth as Deeks. Myles has his own pronunciation, which is soon corrected as 14 year olds should not possess such a potty mouth. We have the Copenhagen card , which gives us unlimited transport during the validity period but we don't want to activate it too early as we need to be confident of being able to use it for zoo entry on Friday. The card lasts exactly 48 hours and that is that. So we hold back on validation and take the hit on the train tickets.

60 Deeks works out at approximately £6.75. It is worth pointing out that, although EU members, Denmark have not adopted the Euro, presumably because people don't realise how much things actually cost in their own currency! Nothing is cheap here!!

We find the hostel fairly quickly and drop our bags in the locker room, laying out another 40 Deeks, before heading out for destination number 1. The transport tickets we bought are for all forms of transport and have a validity period of 2 hours so we are still in grace with those and enough time to make it to the castle ruins exhibit. The ruins of the old castle, dating back to 1157, are to be found under the Christiansborg Palace, which houses the Danish parliament.

As soon as we have found the entrance the cards are activated and we have our first free entrance of the trip. The ruins are a good distraction and the content is fairly interesting, even though it has very little to do with the castle itself and more about the trial and executions of 3 ladies accused of witchcraft with dubious evidence. There is enough there to keep us interested for over an hour but, soon enough, our stomachs are telling us that it is time for lunch.

We do a hasty check on Google Maps for nearby restaurants with good reviews and settle on the amusingly titled Cocks and Cows. It is standard lunchtime fayre and, by Copenhagen standards, fairly reasonable. Chicken Caesar salad, chicken burger, Cheddy Eddy burger, chicken tenders, drinks (including an Oreo milkshake) all come to around £89, so just under £30 each. Acceptable but we won't be doing that every mealtime!! The overall ambience of the place is nice and welcoming and the service is excellent, so highly recommended.

As luck would have it, the entry point for our next excursion is right across the canal from the restaurant. A canal tour is always a good way to see around cities (with a canal system) unless, of course, it is raining. Today it is raining, the see through roof is closed and, due to the rain blurring the view, it isn't very see through. We undertake an opaque view of Copenhagen for the next hour, which is at least relaxing after the hustle and bustle of our first few hours in the city. I don't know if the guide can actually speak English but he warns us all to mind our heads every time we pass under a low bridge, despite the canopy being closed and no danger of us putting our heads anywhere near the low bridge. I wonder if he has been given a card and told to read it every time we get near!! 

The canal tour has been pleasant enough. I have had the audio guide set to Italian to get an idea how much of my Duolingo learning has sunk in. It's either not very much or we haven't covered that bit yet!! But it has made the trip a bit more exciting.

Final attraction of the day is the Guinness World Records museum. We have been looking forward to this one as it's described as being interactive so we suspect there's fun to be had. As we get our free entry tickets, courtesy of the Copenhagen card, we are told we get double free as entry into the Exploratorium next door is included in the price that we aren't paying.

Both places are indeed fun and interactive. There is the opportunity to try and beat existing world records; I didn't even attempt to beat the 3 seconds it took some kid to do a Rubik's Cube!! One record that did catch my eye, and one I am now aspiring to break in a few years' time, is for the World's oldest male stripper!! This guy was only 66 and a half when he died whilst still stripping!! The blurb didn't say of he actually carked it on the job; TMI I suppose, but that age is record is definitely achievable. At least it will give me something to do in retirement!!

The Exploratorium wasn't the biggest attraction, with only a couple of rooms and over in about 20 mins; probably why it is a bolt on. Most of the exhibits are in the dark and based on scary stuff. One such exhibit did provide me with the opportunity to shout boo in a totally random stranger's ear as she was tensely waiting for her partner to slowly open a door. This had the desired effect and had me and the lady's partner laughing raucously. Of course I apologised and she was a good sport about it. At least I think so, I don't know what language she was speaking.

Back to find locker time has overrun so extra 20DKK just to open it!
Chill in room for a bit then 7-Eleven for light tea
Finally drinks and pool in hostel bar. Kids playing - short on talent but having a laugh. Meanwhile I check out that a return journey to Malmö is £25!! A definite option for breakfast and a fridge magnet plus an extra dot on the map. See what time we wake!