Tivoli Gardens

Due to limited or completely unavailable internet access the last week this entry was actually from 29 August...

While in Sweden I made contact with a Servas host in Berlin. Her name is Ulrike Collins and she has two teenage sons. She was willing to meet me on short notice so I arranged to go to Berlin within a couple days. I decided to take the train to Copenhagen and spend the night there before taking an early train to Berlin.

I had booked a hotel close to the train station since my train left early the next morning. The Copenhagen Star Hotel had some great quirky character traits and turns out it's on the fringe of the Red Light District. Adds a nice dash of local color to the walk around the neighborhood. I arrived in the afternoon so I dropped my bag and headed to the opposite side of the train station to Tivoli Gardens.

Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park with beautiful botanic areas- think Busch Gardens in a European, classy way. It only costs about $15 to get in and rides cost additional. They had a competition of some sort for flower arrangements going on which was lovely to see. The gardens are really beautiful but the park is pretty crowded. I did buy a single ride ticket to jump on the wooden rollercoaster. I knew I'd be okay when the 4 year old got in the seat in front of me. It was a little tame compared to coasters back home but still a good rush.

After Tivoli I walked around the city for a bit. It was very crowded and seemed dirty compared to some places I've been. I did see a great photography exhibit set up in an outdoor square about the rites of life in various countries.

I didn't spend much time in Copenhagen so I can't say I gave it a fair shot, but I don't plan to go back anytime soon.