Rockin at Royal Arena, Copenhagen

I had planned to stay in today to rest up for the late night I'm going to have tonight. I looked outside, saw the beautiful blue sky and got my shoes on. Who stays in when they're on vacation on a nice day?

I knew I didn't want to walk too much so I searched online to see what was near me that would be interesting. I found information about an area called Stroget. It was only a 15 minute walk from my hotel. I am kinda chuckling as I write only a 15 minute walk. My how my mindset has changed!

Stroget is a pedestrian, car free shopping area. This popular tourist attraction is in the centre of town. It it one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe at 1.1 km. This collection of streets has been at the heart of the city for much of its history. The layout of the streets compirisng Stroget has been in place since 1728. Most of the buildings along the street date to the late 19th or early 20th centuries, with the oldest building dating to 1616. This is right up my alley. I have finally found what I call old town Copenhagen. My directions to Stroget took me on a route that I would never have seen. It was off the beaten track and interesting.

These next few pictures are taken just five minutes from my hotel which is in a very modern section of CPH. Who knew!!

This is Faestningens Materialgard. It is a former miliary storage facility. The second picture is looking into the courtyard. The adjacent buildings in the same colours were associated with the royal palaces and the Royal Horse Guards barracks. The buildings are now the International Federation for Housing and Planning.

Next I came acrosss this structure. I saw chairs and plants in it so I decided to go check it out. The sign on the door said to go in and enjoy. Just close the door when you leave.

When I walked to the end of the street, I came to a Nyhavn canal. It isn't close the houses I took pictures of in the Nyhave area but it's still part of the same water system.

This fellow jogs by me. Yes, I wanted to push him in front of a car! At this point, who am I kidding, at no point unless it was to run for my life, would I go jogging!

It is now just after 10 am and shops are opening up. I've said it before but I'll say it again, I love how many flower shops there are in Europe. You see the most beautiful flower arrangements and that's just the bouquets. This is one I saw this morning.

A few more minutes walking and I arrive in the Stroget area. It does not disappoint. Stores to the left of me. Stores to the right. Stores in front and behind me. Which way to go? I go right.

A tour group listening to the guide talk about Sorget. Made me so glad I wasn't part of a tour.

A few images as I walked up and down the streets of the Sorget area. It has a variety of shops that the average person can shop it. It also has high-end stores like Rolex, Cartier, Tom Ford, etc. There is security at the door of some of the high-end stores. You don't just walk in. Whenever I see an open door to a courtyard, I always stick my head in to see what is there. I often come upon some jewels! Today, I found Bernikow Garden. It is another passage with shops in it.

Ripley's Believe It or Not is in this area. A statue of the Robert Pershing Wadlow, the world's tallest man was outside of the museum. He was 8 ft 11.1 in. tall and weighed 439 lbs. at his death at age 22. Of course, I asked someone to take a picture of Robert and me!

It was tough but I found a Viking for my Auntie Theresa. He won't give you any grief!

This next store is my son-in-law's dream store. It sold Scotch whiskey. There were so many different bottles that I think it would take forever to choose which one to buy. Kids have a candy store. Matt would like a scotch whiskey store. There was a bar outside of the front door where you could buy Gloog which is a hot drink liked a mulled wine.

It was interesting to see an old building being renovated down to its skeleton. Rather like when the old customs building was renovated and turned into condos in Victoria.

Picture of the building many years ago.

Same building down to the skeleton.

In the past five days, I've noticed the restaurant chain called Shawarama. They are located throughout Copenhagen. I didn't really look at the menu because the pictures I saw showed Eastern type food. Today, however, I stopped to take a close look. I had lunch there. I think until I leave, it could be my go to place. Lunch was are $15. My price range. The meal deal I chose was a chicken burger (it was big), fries and a drink. It is quite popular. In the height of tourist season there are line ups to order food.

I got this picture from the internet. Wanted a picture of the restaurant. See the crowd?

It was just before noon. No line up and lots of free seats.

My lunch. Cheaper than McDonald's.

This next picture is for Barb. Is this the Hard Rock Cafe you celebrated an anniversary in? It is at the end of the shopping street in Storget at the town square.

I went to the Jefferson Starship/Deep Purple concert. It was held at the Royal Arena which is just one train stop from the Central train station. As I got off the train, I asked a man which direction to take for the arena. He told me. I left the train station and started on my way when I heard "Sorry! Sorry!". I turned around, it was the man. He tells me I was walking in the wrong direction! He'd taken the time to check. Amazing people in this world. He pointed in the right direction, said turn right at the first set of lights and you can't miss it. He also said there was a mall across the street and suggested I got there until closer to the time of the concert. I did. It was warm and had great comfortable seats to relax in. Had it not been for him, I'd have had no idea Field's mall was right before my eyes. Would you?

I got two emails from Ticketmaster yesterday with instructions on what to do when you arrive at the arena. The first one explained which entrance to use depending on where your seat was. The second one was an update saying we all use the same entrance. I was impressed. You arrived at this arena knowing which entrance to go to to get in. Does anyone know if that happens in Canada too? Hasn't been my experience.

As with the all European countries I go to, punctuality is key. The information said the doors would open at 6:30. They did on the dot. When I went to the doors for the section I sat in, those doors were closed. They would open at 7. They did.

I bought popcorn and a pop. $16 CAD! Is it that expensive to buy at arena at home? As I was standing at a table, in the distance, I saw a flashing lights. Curiousity got me so I walked over to check it out. Lo and behold, it was beer taps and cups!!! What matter of sorcery is this? As a kid, I always wanted to put pop from a pop machine (the one where you pull the tap) in a cup. That dream came true when I volunteered at family day where I worked. The glow wore off quickly when all the wasps started visiting but I got to check that off my bucket list! The beer taps were the adult version of a pop machine! You download an app, put money into it, tap it on the scanner beside the beer tap and, Bob's your uncle, you pour your own beer. There are even instructions to put the cup at a 5 cm angle to avoid lots of foam!

I had great seats at the concert. Although I paid a dear price for the tickets, in the end it was worth it. When I bought the tickets this past July, my only ticket option was to buy a category called Platinum. Turns out that was a blessing in disguise. Platinum ticket holders have a seat in a prime location in the arena. You are on the side, close to the stage and just three rows up from the arena floor. The rows of seats are such that you don't have someone's head in front of you. It was great to have a clear vision of the bands. I am glad I had this experience. Loved hearing all the old tunes. Made me think of my time and friends from the 70's back in Lahr, Germany.