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.
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.
The park had a classy bathroom. See below.
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.
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.
Godnat
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 