Thank You & Goodbye Denmark!

Our final day in Denmark! With our flight not landing back in the UK until nearly midnight, we had another big day ahead of us. Subsequently, we chose not to rush out in the morning and enjoyed another coffee and pastry treat at the apartment. Around midday, we gathered up our belongings and took a train to central station. Here, we found to lockers to leave all our gear while we went and enjoyed some more of the city sights.

As well as some impressive buildings, there were also some impressive Lego buildings of the impressive buildings in the Lego Store!

Shopping, browsing and sightseeing took us well into the late afternoon.

When we began to tire from the city streets, we found our way up to a small rooftop cafe, where we nestled into some comfy Danish designed chairs with a drink and took some time out above the hussle and bussle.

Finally, on our way back to the station we went up the Palace Tower.

We somehow managed to arrive when there was only a small que. It still took ages and a series of lifts to get to the top, where old works of art were stored and we could get the views of the city from it's highest point.

Leaving the tourists behind queuing for the lift, we escaped down the backstairs and walked to the station via a cafe to eat some dinner. Then it was onward to collect bags and a short train ride later, we were checked in and waiting to board the flight.

It was strange to be travelling in a car on the way back from Manchester airport to The Cottage. Two weeks of not being in one had been refreshing! A long and deep sleep followed. What a trip!

Bikeless in Copenhagen

It was an odd feeling, waking up with no bikes to get onto and nowhere to ride. However, our bodies seemed delighted at the idea of a restful morning out of the saddle. Especially the kind of morning where you wake up in a comfy king size bed in a luxurious city apartment! There was no rush to go anywhere and as luck would have it, at the end of the road was one of Copenhagen's best coffee roasters. I decided we should make the most of the perks of city life by nipping out briefly and returing to the sanctuary of the corner sofa with fresh pastries and a morning brew! Such a treat!

By just after midday, we were showered, fed and feeling ready to explore the city. A short train ride dropped us off for a day of sightseeing.

We started by the docks.. 

And strolled slowly along the waters edge to the famous Mermaid....

Feeling peckish already, we walked down to St Albans church where there was a fete on and Danish hot dogs were being served.

There are many amazing looking buildings, old and new. This is the Opera House...

While we were walking a boat with the Copenhagen Showband went past with the full brass band playing!

The Nyhavn area was brimming with people and we were actually glad not to be on bikes. 

We ducked out of the flow of people at a waffle house and perched ourselves at a table to watch the world go by while sampling some strawberry and chocolate ice cream - topped with whipped cream and jam! 

More streets, more views, more canals, more sights. There was so much to take in.

At Torvehallerne, which is a famous food market, we really upped the culinary experiences. First off, we lunched on a Danish open sandwich called a Smorgasbord. It was freshly made for us and unbelievably tasty. A kind of rye bread with chicken salad for me and fish for Clare. 

After a little more sightseeing, we went back in for afternoon coffee and cake.

In the form of Red Lips Mousse! A flavour explosion!

Taking advantage of our nearby home, we popped back for a rest and some dinner. It was good to have a breather from the city flow.

Then, as it was Saturday night, returned back into the hub to marvel at the lights, buildings and soak up the cool city atmosphere of Copenhagen.

To Copenhagen! The Final Ride

One of the appealingly attractive aspects of being away on expedition is that you're never quite sure if things will go how you planned them and that the outcome of any given day is unknown at the start - and that either way, you'll have to deal with the situation one way or another. One outcome for today, that really did need to be achieved, was that we had to be in Copenhagen by 17:00 to return the bikes and check-in to our airbnb appartment. It was still a decent length ride away and we had already discussed the option of catching the train for the final section into the city centre. 

It was a stunning start to our last day of the tour the only thing that looked set to put a spanner in the works was the fact that I woke up unable to see properly.

The pesky mosquitoe that had crashed into my 'too slow to close' left eye a few nights prior was causing me problems. I managed to peel the swollen lid open manually on waking, and we were both alarmed to find that not only was my eye lid well puffed up and red, but my actual eye ball was swollen. It put me off breakfast a bit and stemmed any notion of morning swimming.

Instead, we packed up and cycled north for about 5km to the nearest town. We arrived at 9am just as the medical centre was opening and amazingly, managed to get an appointment to see a friendly doctor for an hour later.

Clare got some food and eye drops while I had an anaesthetic and orange dye put in my eye so that scratches could be located using ultra violet light. There was no sign of Mr Mozzi, but he'd left an infection of some sort. I was patched up and sent on my way.

It was a relief to have seen a doctor, but a problem that soon became apparent was that I had to keep the eye patch on for at least another two hours. We didn't really have time to hang around, so Clare set off with me carefully keeping lined up on her rear tyre!

It was remarkably tiring and somewhat unnerving cycling with only one eye available for use. Field of vision and perception of distance we greatly affected. We had a few stops to stay fuelled up to aid concentration. Despite the 'eye situation' we were also both very tired from yesterday's 75km endurance test!

Clare kept a close eye on the GPS as the navigation became trickier as we headed to the town of Køge.

It wasn't exactly the start we had envisaged for our last day of the tour, but we remained in good spirits and I still managed to soak up the views on the right hand side of the trail, while keeping tabs on where Clare was in front of me. 

We passed another Chateau type estate and left  it via a fantastic tree lined avenue that went on for many kilometres. 

Even when we eventually joined the main road into the town, we had our own smooth tarmac cycle path that was completely separate from the traffic. A greatly appreciated feature for the one eyed traveller.

Seamless we peddled directly in to the station at Køge. Initially, we couldn't find a way onto the platform with the bike, except via some very steep steps. There had to be a better way? The answer came (of course) in the form of the bike elevator!

Easy assistance for those with bikes, directly onto the platform! Hoorah for Denmark!

And then, onto the next train, which arrived as soon as we had purchased our tickets. We had not booked the bikes onto the train in advance, but found out that bikes were free on this particular 'S' Train. There was also plenty of space for us!

We arrived into Copenhagen main station, then onto Ny Enburg which was nearer our apartment. It was much tricker to navigate the commuters cycle lanes with lots of other cyclists, but a ten minute ride got us through the traffic and to the front door of the apartment block. A few texts with the owner later and we were shown in and given the keys.

Clare's meticulous research had paid off once again. The apartment was pure luxury! What a booking! It was compact, but full of Danish design and style.

Much as we would have liked to have stayed and showered, we only really had time to empty all of our belongings out of the panniers before setting out again across the city to the bike shop.  

Clare was up front and in charge of navigation, while I did my best to match her pace. The whole experience was exhilarating and exhausting and felt as if we were in a computer game. The pace was fast as we weaved in and out of slower riders, slowed down to anticipate traffic light changes and sped up to catch the green lights. We were totally buzzing and for the first time on the tour, properly sweating when we stopped just north of the city centre for a drink by the sea.

Then finally we arrived at MTB-Tours bike shop Klampbourg bang on 5pm and surprised to find that we'd just covered another 30km! It was a triumphant moment, but also sad to be returning our trusty steeds (Ediee and Joshua-Joseph). 

We walked out of the bike shop feeling rather naked, with just our tiny rucksack. We crossed the main road and went straight down the beach. As always, we'd come prepared for the possibility of a final swim!

The sun was out, the bikes were back and we'd ridden around 525km across the South Islands of Denmark.

We celebrated with a dive in! Our best swim yet and warmest water of the tour!

And then, walked back past the bike shop to a outside restaurant to re-fuel with a celebratory end of tour meal.

We'd made it to the end of our tour! We were ecstatically happy and we climbed onto.a train that would take us to within four minutes of our new front door. The tour was over, but our time in Denmark was not...

Total Ride of the Day: 64.5km