Old Zealand

Well, I had a little/not-so-little glitch with the blog app, and I couldn’t get it to work for a few days. I hope it will be OK now. 

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Long wait at airport in Seattle. 

Airport was very crowded.

Long overnight flight that left Seattle 2.5 hours late. 

Enough said.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

This morning we arrived (2+ hours late) on the island of Zealand. It is in the Baltic Sea. The Danish name for the island is Sjælland, which is pronounced like Zee-a-lahnd. So now you know, if you didn’t already, that we are in Copenhagen, Denmark. Zealand is the 13th-largest island in Europe in size, but it is the 4th most populous. (The country New Zealand was named Nieuw Zeeland by Dutch mapmakers. The spelling was Anglicized to New Zealand and the name of the country doesn’t have any connection to the Danish island, Zealand.)

The airport wasn’t too bad. We cleared customs and immigration quite quickly and got to the bagage claim before our baggage. We found the taxi line and there was only one party ahead of us so we were in a taxi before you could say “Hans Christian Andersen.”

Our hotel is called Absalon Hotel. (Absalon was a Danish bishop and archbishop who lived in the 12th century.) It is located near the main railroad station in a neighborhood which seems to consist entirely of hotels and restaurants. There are an awful lot of Japanese restaurants and kebab restaurants.

I am writing this a few days after our stay at the hotel.  I would give them high marks for location and for a delicious breakfast buffet. The bed was very comfortable. They also get bonus points for having air conditioning. Many hotels here do not. It is in the mid to upper 80’s today and our room was very hot when we arrived. 

I don’t know whether the hotel should get high or low marks for their green policy. It’s great that they want to limit their impact on the environment, but it would have been nice to have larger towels. We each got one thin bath towel that was not large, and one hand towel. There were no washcloths. The shower was terrible. There was no shower curtain - just a glass panel no more 18” wide on the edge of the tub. As a result, if you used the shower, water would go everywhere. The tub was a deep soaking tub, and you had to raise your leg very high to step into it. There were no grab bars and the rubber suction cup mat did not fit. It slipped as soon as I put my weight on it and I almost got hurt. 

All in all, I probably would not recommend the hotel unless you could get a room with a walk in shower vs. the tub/shower we had.

We were too hot and tired to remember to take photos of our room, but it was clean and attractive, though small.

In the late afternoon we walked to the train station to look at the great architecture and to look for a few geocaches.

Copenhagen’s stately Central Train Station

Then we went to Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli, an amusement park, opened in 1843 and is the second-oldest amusement park in the world. Tivoli was the place that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland. It is a 20-acre tract in the middle of Copenhagen, surrounded walled in by restaurants and shops, so that you can hardly tell it is there, despite the occasional glimpse of the top of a roller-coaster.  

When we arrived, a children’s marching band was playing outside the entrance gate.

Tivoli is somewhat retro, but it is attractive and well-maintained. Visitors can stroll through various pleasing gardens, and you can snack or dine at one of the dozens of eateries inside.  You do have to buy a ticket to get into the park to hear the “free” concerts they offer, and do expect to pay extra to experience the rides.

We soon arrived at a large tent where the Copenhagen Philharmonic was about to begin a concert. The tent was round and open on the sides. The musicians were arrayed in a circle around the conductor and an announcer. The members of the audience were encouraged to go inside the tent and wander around among the musicians during the performance. They played some familiar classical pieces and several theme songs from films, many of which had been written by John Williams. The orchestra was very good and we really enjoyed listening to them while we sat on a bench in the sunshine.

After the concert, we walked around some more, looking at the rides, the gardens, a short row of carnival booths, the Danish families, and the tourists. We heard strains of music from a few smaller music venues. It felt very safe and family-friendly. It was crowded, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. It was totally charming and delightful.

We ate dinner at a restaurant inside Tivoli called Figaro - an Italian/seafood/bistro. After dinner, we were so tired we just went back to the hotel and went to bed early.

Today’s fabric is “1775 Vintage Royal Copenhagen Blue Fluted Flower” by Adrienne_donovan_design for Etsy.