Loyal followers of this blog know that my last post of a trip has a series of signs and sights that I have found interesting. This trip is no exception.
This was at our hotel in Stockholm. Apparently Swedes don’t know how to wash their hands.Tyres = Tires. Otherwise I don’t think this requires any explanation. I was told WC stands for Water Closet. I guess they have a lot of bottled water here and need to keep it in a locked storage area.A Stockholm walkway cautioning adults to hold their child’s hand when close to the highway. I definitely agree with this one. I will never live in a city where double doorways are needed because of the weather.
Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has been a huge help in writing the blog this time. I have used Chat GPT on occasion with great results. For example it taught me how to type those funky letters like ü, æ, and ø. Thank you Chat GPT. It also made our lives easier in other ways, for example we were at the SAS lounge at the Copenhagen Airport waiting for our flight to Stockholm. We weren’t sure exactly where we needed to go, how to get there, and how long it would take. I got this reply:
Gate B10 at Copenhagen Airport is located in Concourse B, which is part of the Schengen area. The SAS Lounge is situated in Terminal 3, near Gate C10, also within the Schengen area. The walk between the SAS Lounge and Gate B10 typically takes about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your walking pace. Both locations are airside, so you won’t need to pass through additional security or passport control when moving between them. Amazing, no?
Did I need to come to Scandinavia to get a Route 66 sign?Going to Toftaholm was a challenge.
Google Translate was a huge help. See below.
Not sure if I already showed you this painting from the restaurant in the Grand Hotel in Olso. If I did, it deserves a second look because the service there was represented by this scene. They definitely were working as if that is where their heads were located. This is something I thought was very cool. Notice the big numbers next to the store name. Those are the store hours. This store is open 9-21 (2100 meaning 9 pm) and 1800 (6 pm) on Sundays.
And finally, we saw a variety of types of restaurants, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, and we even saw a Scottish restaurant. See below.
Last night we had a lovely dinner in Toftaholm preceded by some “entertainment” at the hotel. Frequently on tours we are subjected to, I mean entertained by locals dressing up as people from the past. It’s like seeing a history lesson on “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”. I suppose people like this type of diversion because we commonly see it. Personally. I would take a pass. Last night they had some woman pretending to be a queen from the past. As I mentioned this is not my cup of tea so I really can’t tell you much because I zoned out.
The Toftaholm Herrgard hotel was more like a bed and breakfast. Our room was small but adequate. The bathroom was tiny with a shower that was small even by European standards. Check it out.
Notice the doors are folded into the shower. This is necessary because the bathroom is too small for them to open out.This is what the shower looks like when it is ready for use.
This morning we were taken by bus south to the Sofiero gardens in Helsingborg, Sweden. The gardens were gorgeous but the rainy weather was not optimal for viewing. We had a very sweet guide who kept giggling during her presentation. I am not sure if she thought what she was saying was funny or was it that she had this group of stupid Americans willing to pay a lot of money to stand in the rain. Yes, it rained a lot while we were traversing the gardens. So a beautiful stroll through a gorgeous garden turned into a “When will this thing end?” event. Of course it stopped raining as soon as we went indoors to have lunch. After lunch we were driven through the beach community of Helsingborg. I am not quite sure how popular a beach resort would be if the average summer high temperatures are in the low 60s.
Just a fraction of the gorgeous Rhododendrons at the Sofiero gardens. There were a lot of beautiful plants but I chose this so I could show off that I knew how to spell Rhododendron. This was an area we were standing while listening to our guide in the rain. Would a grove of trees been better?
The park had a classy bathroom. See below.
Could you imagine seeing real towels in a USA bathroom?
After Sofiero we headed further south across the Øresund Bridge which connects Sweden and Denmark. I am sure you are thinking why does he bore us with that small bit of info? I have to confess, the real reason is that I thought it was real cool that I figured out how to type, “Ø”. Just don’t ask me what it is called.
We entered Denmark at the capital city of Copenhagen. After a brief stop at the Phoenix Hotel to drop off our things we headed to the famous Tivoli Gardens. This was much anticipated by me especially since I always thought they were in Italy. As it turns out I am not a total dufus. The gardens were opened by Georg Carstensen in 1843 and he named it Tivoli after the town in Italy.
The Tivoli Gardens was actually more of an amusement park with rides, games, and lots of places to eat. Most importantly the weather cooperated and let us enjoy the beauty without getting wet. It is said that Walt Disney got his idea for Disneyland after visiting this lovely park.
We had dinner at a restaurant in the park where we ran into two couples from our tour. They invited us to join them. It was a great time for sure. After dinner we walked back to the hotel. I wanted to use the hotel stairs to work off some extra calories and saw this in the stairwell.
That is not an illusion. The stairs and much of our room is on a slant.
We spoke with others on the trip and they too have uneven floors in their rooms. I spoke to the people at the front desk and asked about the hotel history. The clerk wasn’t able to tell me much except that the hotel was designed by a very famous architect from the Italian city of Pisa.
That is more than enough for tonight. I need to get in some magic practice. I promised the group I would do a magic trick during dinner tomorrow. I need to figure something out quick.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 