Sunshine in Copenhagen

Wednesday 4th July

The hotel breakfast is served in the restaurant on the fifth floor, about level with the roof tops and chimneys of neighboring buildings. We had a very pleasant breakfast in the sun up there.
Bike assembly followed, the bikes had travelled safely from New Zealand and were soon but back together.
Janice, Liz and John went out on their cycles, first to an optician to find some sunglasses for Liz before continuing on to cycle alongside a canal. There was something missing on the cycle ride. No toots, or narrow misses by cars, nor having to watch carefully for unpredictable drivers - all the drama associated with a cycle ride in Wellington was missing! There was a cycle way along both sides of the canal, which was fringed by five-storey high apartments buildings. It had a a grass edge which the locals would use in the evenings for picnicking and relaxing on. There were a number of swans and cygnets on the water. All in all very picturesque.
After our return we wandered down to the nearby square for lunch at Cafe Obelix. The Cafe featured the characters and paraphernalia from the Asterix and Obelix books. Well, after placing our order we waited and waited. It took over an hour before we were served, then another fifteen minutes till Janice and Ruby received their meals. After another 15 minutes Des was still waiting, so he went and asked for a refund and we left. Not impressed, and the food was not good either!
We were told the chef was having a bad day. Des settled for a hotdog from the nearby stand.

Along the road was the Copenhagen History Museum, which featured a display about immigration into Copenhagen. We wandered back to the hotel and relaxed before meeting up with everyone for dinner. There were a few more people going on our trip who have now arrived. We met Bob and Gloria, who last year were in New Zealand to cycle with a man they had met doing the same tour as us the year after we did. When Liz asked if their friend was Jim Pearce, they looked at her strangely. We replied that New Zealand is a small country, and known for its two degrees of separation. Jim had borrowed our maps while he did the trip, as he comes from Timaru and knows Liz's family there.

Dinner was a pleasant meal at a small street-side Spanish restaurant. We were served tapas by the French restaurant owner, who explained that he lived above the shop. (We can relate to that)
The locals wandered out of their apartments to eat street-side at one of these little cafes situated in the basements of the apartment blocks.

After returning to the hotel we sat and chatted before retiring to bed.