Day 10 : Copenhagen New Years

New Years Eve.  Today we started the day with a  45 minute train ride up to Kronburg Castle.  This place is right on the water on one side and has a moat along the other side.  You can see Sweden very across the Bay.  On our walk up there were a bunch of benches on the pier.  Every so often one would have a piece of garbage art on the bench.

 We walked around the caste but unfortunately it wasn’t open.  One of the towers had a built in light house.

On the way back across one of the bridges of the moat there was hands hanging on for dear life off the bridge.

Down one of the piers near the castle there was a statue of a guy.  Kinda wonder if it is like the little mermaid we would see later in the day.

After looking at the castle we walked around the city center before catching the train back.  It had narrow streets and a very laid back feel.  There were two churches on our way back.

Next stop was a fortification that was cut into a Star.  There was a river or moat around it in the same shape with huge hills along the banks.  

Within the hills was a few little houses and a giant windmill.

Everyone talks about the little mermaid.  Not so sure what the big draw is.  I liked the windmill better.  

We walked by the Queens winter residence.  They were starting to set things up which we didn’t realize until later when we saw her on the TV that it was for her speech at 6pm.  

We did watch the speech later on but it wasn’t in English nor were there sub titles.

Little more sign seeing before feeling fully drenched.  This is a little canal area with all the different colored houses.

We decided to hang out at our friends hotel lobby to wait out the New Years celebration. We watch Who wants to be a Millionaire and use the google translate app to get an idea of the questions and answers. We did well if it wasn’t a Danish history question.

Fireworks have been going off randomly for the last two days.  At 11pm from the hotel lobby we were able to watch the fireworks from Triovli Gardens.  We had plans to go to City Hall to watch the clock strike midnight.  Guess this is the Danish tradition.  So around 11:30p we headed over.  Random one off fireworks were going off as we headed over.  They had the street blocked off but everyone was hanging out on the side walk areas for the most part.  Seemed odd but then we figured it out, random people were setting up large boxes of fireworks.  

In those areas everyone was giving them space.  Next thing you know at midnight fireworks everywhere.  On your left on your right behind you.  Oh wait look at that guys just holding a bottle rocket and fire it off.  It was an amazing site to see and one hell of a way to bring in the new year.  

This was going strong for at least 20 minutes so then we started heading back to catch the Bus.  On the way someone set off another box of fireworks in a middle median between all the traffic.  Then on the next block someone parked their car in the right hand lane and setup some large Roman candles.  At this point it was the best fireworks display I’ve seen and to think it was all put on by the locals and their love of fireworks.  

Happy New Years.

Day 9 : Copenhagen

We arrived early this morning into Copenhagen before the sun was up.  Right before we landed we broke through the clouds and the view is amazing.  There was something about the way the islands mesh into the sea that was just unique.  

There was also this cool looking bridge with a long road.  The strange part about this road is the lights just looked like they were gobbled up by the sea because they just disappeared.  Must be a tunnel but the view from the air was very unique.  Unfortunately since it was dark I couldn't get a picture.

The weather in Copenhagen is warmer that Finland but it was raining and being wet is never much fun.  We bought the Copenhagen card which gives us 48 hours of entry into multiple places.  Our first stop was the Botanical gardens.  This was a number of attached green houses with a variety of plants and different rooms with different temperatures.

The Botanical gardens lead us into Roseburg Castle.  There are beautiful gardens leading up to the Castles and even a few roses still trying to hold on.  

The castle had its original Toilet which is always fun to see.  We also saw the Crown Jewels as well as swords and other very decorated weapons.

To end the day we stopped at Tivoli Gardens.

This is a large department store that was all lit up near a Metro station.

Day 8 : Amethyst Mine

  Today we went up to an Amethyst Mine in northern Finland.  We took a tour to get up there which was about 2 hours on the way up.  We saw some reindeer in the woods as well as a lot of trees and snow.  

Our first stop was for lunch we went to a picnic area which had a little hut on a lake.  Inside the hut was a central barbecue.  It had a basin with three metal posts.  On each post was a little swivel tray you could use to cook on over the file.  After we got there the snow really started coming down.  We ate the traditional pork sausages and some other stuff like corn, mini burgers, spinach Pancakes, bread and cheese with Hot Chocolate.

We had a little bit of time to kill so we took a walk along the lake.  There are paths everywhere in Finland.  We even saw some big tired mountain bikers out in the snow down the paths.

All the paths are graded and they aren't little foot paths they are about 4 people wide.

Apparently taking with our guide everyone has a snowmobile or cross country skis.  He also mentioned you can take multi day husky rides and camp in the little cabins scattered thought out the wilderness.

After lunch we headed up to the mine.  We climbed a little bit adjacent to a ski resort.  The snow was coming down pretty good so we could only see the lights of ski hills.  When we hit the parking lot we started to see really different types of trees.  They are skinny and have this Dr Seuss look about them.  From the parking lot you take a Snowcat up the hill.

As we go the trees get shorter, stubbier and more spaced out.  First we stop at a little lodge with a cafe and bathroom.  Now the bathroom looks all neat from the outside and then you step into a breezy pit toilet.  Having been equipped with coveralls it was an interesting challenge going to the bathroom.  After the brief stop we headed up the hill even further.

At the top there were barely any trees, we passed some fence posts that look surreal all covered in icee snow.

For the mine we sat in a small little hut and had some warm juice.  One thing I will say about this place everywhere you go there is a warming hut with a warm drink.  Some fun facts I liked about the mine was everything is done by hand.  They do not blast or use any equipment other than a small chisel and their hands.  They do this to preserve the stones and the site in a sustainable way.  The mine was established in the 80's and its the only one in Europe.

We mentioned the one in Arizona which he had heard about and said it was a big deal.  Who knew.  After the talk we were off to dig up some Amethyst.  Luckily they had a little building around the dig area because its outside not in the mountain.

We were able to keep one of our finds so we each kept a small stone.  Very dusty work but a fun hunt.

On the way back down we took the Snowcat again.  This time as we looked out the window it reminded me of the submarine ride at Disney land except with snow and cool trees instead of underwater coral and shells.

We caught a night flight to Helsinki and will be headed to Copenhagen in the morning.  Most of our flights seem to have the little stairs outside. But it was kinda cool seeing a few planes all covered in snow kinda like we had been seeing cars.  Our plane had just landed so it wasn't too bad.

Now to wait until morning.  Hope to try out the Finnair lounge with my One World status for breakfast.  Our morning flights at 7:40a. Its going to be a long one.

Day 7 : Santa's Village

Today we headed over to Santa’s Village.  It was fun but also a little bit disappointing.  There were multiple buildings that had different gift shops.   The buildings were well built and really fit the theme.  I think the problem is you have this image in your head from when you were a kid on what saints village would look like.

I didn’t see a work shop, although I will say the elves were well dressed and I really liked their outfits.  So much so I bought my self a hat.  This village is on the arctic circle.

That is the magic line where for at least 24 hours once a year there is total sunlight in the summer and in the winter 24 hours of complete darkness.  Its a curved line that goes through the buildings and across the area.  Along the line they have it written the Latitude and Longitude of this particular line.

Now we did visit Santa in his official arctic office.  That was kinda neat it had an arctic theme as you waited to get in.  He’s a very popular fellow that Santa Claus.  They had a Guinness world record wish list.

Once you get to his official office you enter a live TV streaming.  You go up and meet him and can talk to him about anything. He really liked Joe’s beard of course it wasn’t as long as his but in volume it could get there.  After the visit we purchased photos and a video of our meet and great.  Very well done I actually really liked this part.

After visiting Santa we decided to send some post cards.  They have special stamps as well as a special postage stamp so we sent some off to a few kids as well as sent one home for our selves.

There were also mail boxes that they would send the letters next year.

Its amazing how many letters this place gets every year.

After some more shopping, which did have a lot of locally made items which is always a plus.  It makes it easy not spending money on useless things if you only buy things made in the area you visit.  One thing that was real neat were wooden cups made out of Birch.  They have one or two little holes for you fingers to hold the cups.

These are a few pictures of a hotel at Santa's village.  Believe it or not this was taken at 4p right after the sun went down.

Inside the PostOffice was a lot of nice decorations.

Winter park area at the village that had ice skating, sledding, and Igloos.