Hi everyone,

Today i headed across the Oresund Bridge and left Sweden for Denmark for the day (Copenhagen to be precise). The trip only takes 35 minutes, and there is a train between the two countries every 20 minutes, so it is quite easy to swap from one country to the other (they don?t even check passports). Unlike Malmo, Copenhagen is quite a sprawling city, and all the key sights to see are unfortunately miles apart, so you are in for a long day of walking if you visit here. The first thing i had to do once i arrived in Copenhagen of course was exchange currency to Danish Kroner, and so it is all getting quite confusing now as i have Swedish, Danish and Euro currency all in my wallet (and they all look fairly similar)-also trying to figure out exactly how much something costs is a pain as well, as they all have different exchange rates to the AUD, and so in Denmark everything looked cheaper, even though the rate meant it was actually more expensive.

Anyway, my first stop was Christiansborg Palace, the palace which is now used to hold the Danish parliament-it was surprisingly unspectacular for such an important building though (made even moreso by the fact half of it is being renovated). From there i crossed Helmans Kanal (the city is full of canals) and headed way north towards Kastellet, which is near where the famous ?Little Mermaid? statue is located. Kastellet itself is a military fortification from Medieval times, which is still used by the Danish forces today. This was actually one of the highlights, because the park itself as well as Kastellet had great walking paths and even better views out to sea-which was just as well because the little Mermaid wasn?t anything spectacular! Amazing how such a bland artwork can end up the main tourist attraction in such a scenic city...
After visiting her i headed back down the other side of Kastellet to Amalienborg, Queen Margethe?s official residence, which was also under renovation-but still more imposing than Christiansborg. From there i could head to Nyhavn, which is a famous canal that is lined with old ships and restaurants and is really quite lively, and then walk around the Esplanade of Sydhavnen, where a lot of the shipping seems to come and go from. I sat there for a while and took in the view (and gave my feet a break) before heading back to Stroget, which is the main shopping strip in Copenhagen and is completely a pedestrian walkway. Unfortunately, at the end of Stroget there were police everywhere, as some student movement (quite massive) was protesting about something or other in the streets-everywhere was cordoned off. Finally (avoiding all that) i headed back to the Station and back to Malmo, and back into Sweden again-another day, another country!