Today started out early. I woke up thinking how much I needed to do before travelling to Copenhagen tonight.

I saw that breakfast started at 7: 30 a.m. there for around 7 am I end up getting up and taking a shower period by the time I got to the breakfast area so other people were already there period I got my usual scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.

I decided would be best to take my luggage to the train station period this would save me of having to go back to the hotel to retrieve the luggage before heading off to the train station. The hotel is a bit out of the way and it would take me about 8 minutes each way which is precious time that I cannot afford to lose.

I also wanted to go to the train station to confirm that my ticket which I bought on a website called goeuro was valid. There is no scannable code on it. Rather it seem to have an order number and my name. I showed it to the train company representative at the counter and she said that it was valid.

Next on my agenda was to get a locker. The smaller lockers were too big for both of my bags so I ended up getting the wardrobe locker. And here is where they get their money. You can either reserve for 4 hours or 24 hours but nothing in between period I can imagine someone morning just to reserve it for 4 hours. I mean what are you going to do in a city for 4 hours? So I ended up reserving it for 24 hours of which I only used about 10 hours worth.

Since the museums I wanted to visit or still closed and wouldn’t open until 10 am I decided to try to see if any churches or other attractions would be worthwhile to visit.

I had thought Oscar Frederic church which I thought would be nice to visit. Since the train station had free Wi-Fi I was able to route myself through Google Maps.

The church itself was up a hill. And like most churches in Europe it was closed on Sunday, or at least it 9 am on a Sunday morning. Still it was a nice to take photos of the outside of the building. It was ornate but not old. I’ll have to do some research on it when I get back.

Next I decided to go to the fish church. Had a very brief Wi-Fi connection that put me in the right direction but I lost it soon after. While I was waiting at the tram stop a drunk man came up and was coming in on my camera. He seemed benign but I’m always on guard if a local engages me and conversation for no reason.

I got to the fish church which is a place local merchants go to sell their fish. it just so happened to be close today with no activity. I took a few pictures of the building and of the statues in front of the building period it was getting to be about 9: 30 and I thought it would be best to walk to the maritime ship Museum as it opened at 10 am.

After fumbling around with my GPS on my phone I made it there period however the workers didn’t seem to be interested and actually opening up the entrance. I saw some activity but it was on a staff only entrance. Finally I asked a security representative if this was the entrance to the museum. He said he didn’t know. An older man who are same did not know English piped up and said that depart isn’t opening until 11 a.m. he also mentioned that the entrance was at what appeared to be a restaurant boat.

For a very brief amount of time and decided I might walk into the Old Town to maybe see a church but I couldn’t figure out how to get there.

So I decided to stay. As I waited some female staff members came back to raise the flags. I noticed the Swedish flag they were holding touch the ground multiple times. I almost pointed out to them that in the US you can’t let the American flag touch the ground or off you would have to burn it.

At around 11am they unchained the gate and let us in. I started off with the battleship period use a decommissioned Swedish battleship. I had been on the USS Missouri in Hawaii a few years ago. The ship was much smaller than the Missouri. The innards of the ship looked very familiar to the USS Missouri, with compartments and living areas very similar.

The whole time I was taking the tour I was thinking I’ve got to make this count because I need to move on to my next tour.

Next was a submarine. With my backpack on my back and camera around my neck, it made it a bit difficult to climb down the portholes at the submarine. As I entered an older man asked me what language I spoke. I told him I spoke English. He proceeded to give me a personal tour of the submarine. As it turned out he was a veteran who had served on this particular submarine during the 1960s. even though Sweden was neutral during the Cold War they still sit there military out into the Baltic Sea in order to keep an eye on things should war break out. He told me about the sleeping quarters and the bathrooms and torpedoes. He was commissioned to launch the torpedoes. They launched several torpedoes in test runs but never filed a live one.

I found his story fascinating and was glad that he volunteered his time to tell up the history of the sub. This will likely serve is the highlight of my entire trip to Scandinavia. This is likely something that I would not have been able to experience any other way.

I moved on to other ships period there was a fire brigade ship. They also appear to be a ship used in the American Civil War. I’ll have to do some research on this particular ship.

As I was exiting I asked how I would get to the East India ship which was across the Harbour. Google Maps showed a ferry available but I had never seen one in use. And I wasn’t going to test my theory of using a ferry when I heard about an hour to get to that ship in time for the 1pm tour.

I connected to the museums without which gave me directions to catch bus 16. The only catch words that seem to have had to walk about 15 minutes to catch it. And on top of that I just about got lost. But I did make it in time for the tour.

I got there about 5 minutes early and no one was in the tour gift shop. In fact it was locked.

Eventually the previous tour ended and our tour guide came in an unlocked the gift shop and took our money for the tickets. I had the Gothenburg card which cost me no money for the tickets.

The ship itself is a reproduction of a 18th century sailing vessel. The original returned from China and sank in Gothenburg Harbour. They decided to rebuild the ship and sail it to China. There are not two we learnt about the sails, The Captain’s quarters, where are the sailors used the bathroom. It seems that when they had use the bathroom they climbed down the front of the ship away from view and did their business. However our tour guide seem to say hell dangerous it was to use the bathroom in that way.

I also found out that the sailors brought rum in some water on board. This had the last time from Cadiz Spain to India. it seems that Sweden was on porters with Great Britain and free ads and couldn’t start at their colonies on their way to Asia. The water ended up getting some film on it so the sailors mix the rum in the water together and gave it to the animals they were carrying. We talked about how sailors are constantly drug which might b caused by them having to drink rum all the time.

I do believe that the majority of the people in the group two or were Swedish. our tour guide with laps into Swedish sometimes without thinking. There what is the southern lady in our tour group who was afraid of heights. she had very much difficulty calming backwards down letters and had to ask a man to go ahead of her in case she fell.

Are tour ended at around 1: 45. So I had time to ride the bus back to the old town to reserve my spot on another boat tour which commenced at 3: 45. I got to the ticket desk at around 2:30pm and reserved my spot.

In the meantime I visited McDonald’s for a very late lunch. My order takeaways a young man who seemed to be doing things inefficiently. for example he had the receipt in front of them in he would look down at each menu item and go get that one menu item before proceeding with another menu item. Rather he really should have just grabbed two while he was on his way to the same area. One thing I noticed about this McDonald’s is it head Wendy’s style ketchup apps which is unheard of in Europe. Usually you have to pay for ketchup. I was so amazed I took a picture of it.

this McDonald’s had a pay toilet and I could’ve just waited for someone to use the bathroom in grab the door on the way out. But I didn’t feel like waiting period I still had an extra time to kill so watched word the shots and found myself near the Gothenburg Cathedral. This Cathedral had been closed every time I tried to visit it. This time it was open. There wasn’t too much to see. It had a gold altar. Also in the back it had pay toilets which I believe is it abomination in a church. I ended up using one which I believe was stopped up.

I headed back to my boat tour. For verification I was in the right place I asked a tour operator who just happened to be the same guide from yesterday’s boat tour. He confirmed I was in the right place.

Our tour was it as crowded as yesterday’s Tour. I Was One of 3 people who spoke English. The rest appeared to be swedes. The first part of the tour was basically identical to yesterday’s Tour. We sailed up the river a bit. We passed by the skf headquarters. Skf is a company which market made us transportation for. I’m sure I have delivered items from the US to that address.

Our tour guide mentioned two invasive species which had taken root near the river. When was the pink flower which was benign. The other was a flower which the top heart look like a cauliflower. This one was very deadly. It can cause blindness if you get the flower’s juice in your eyes. If on your skin it can cause blisters which can last 7 years.

Along the way we saw several people fishing. They were also brief places where people had their boats tied.

Our tour guide would still long drawn out information in Swedish and then only give brief explanations in English. I kept thinking that we were missing something somehow.

I made it back at 5: 45 and had 70 minutes to get to the train station and catch my train. I got there with time to spare after opening my locker and getting a Subway sandwich and eating it. I even managed to get a couple of refills from subway as there was no sign mentioning that refills weren’t free.

Our train was positioned by the platform but they had not open the doors yet as I believe they were cleaning it. I got on board and discovered that my seat plug wasn’t working. I briefly thought that I might not have any battery life on my phone when I arrive in Copenhagen. However I did find a see which did have a live plug. However the plug did not seem to charge quickly.

Along the way there was a stop in Denmark near the Copenhagen main station with a very similar name to my metro station start near my hotel. I briefly toyed with the idea of getting off there and seeing if I can make it back to my hotel. However since it was so late at night and I wasn’t sure where exactly the start was I decided against it.

I made it to the Copenhagen main train station. I stopped by the Tivoli ticket counter to pick up my Copenhagen card. there are also nice enough to give me a map of the city and a brochure.

I found my way back to my hotel room by getting on the Tivoli Wi-Fi. At the bus stop I asked I mean if I was catching the correct bus. he answered me in perfect English that I probably needed to get on the other side of the street to catch the bus in the right direction. While I was waiting there a German me and asked me when the next bus 2a was coming. Seems as though he could not see the bus numbers. I’m always leery about talking to people figuring they were trying to rip me off but still in my wallet while talking to me. But this man was benign. He was German and had just got into the city.

Well on the subway there was a ticket checker at the front of the car. I get the back of the car hoping that he wouldn’t have to check me even though I did have a valid ticket or so I thought. He never did get to my area and got off at one of the forthcoming stops.

I got up for the Metro system and so my hotel from a distance. However I made a wrong turn and ended up getting into a parking lot without an outlet.

I made it to my hotel having seen the hotel sign lit up from afar. My hotel room is very nice with a nice flat screen TV. The bathroom is a little small but it will do.

I’m looking forward to visiting Copenhagen tomorrow.