May 23 - Dragør and Rosenborg Castle

We had some time in the morning before the group excursion.  We had to have our bags packed and out since we were departing Copenhagen later in the afternoon.  Since we had some extra time we took a stroll around the lake that was across from the hotel.

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Three babies on the right

At 11 am we boarded the bus and headed south to the small village of Dragør.  It was very picturesque.  About half of the homes had thatched roofs.

From the beach  we could see the  Øresunde Bridge.  The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager.

From here we headed back to Copenhagen to visit Rosenborg Castle.  It is a Renaissance castle  originally built in the 1600's.  It was one of the many architectural projects initiated by Danish King Christian IV.

It is guarded, not because it is a royal residence, but it houses the crown jewels and royal treasures.

The grounds are home to a botanical garden.  We had hoped to spend time there earlier in the week but weather did not cooperate.  Today there was no time.

From here we headed to the DFDS ferry terminal.  We boarded the Pearl of Scandinavia.  It was a large vessel.  

It held cars plus 1800 passengers.  We were on deck 9.  The trip took about 17 hours (4:30 pm Thur to 9:45 am Fri)

Views leaving Copenhagen.

Gus and Ann were on the correct side of the ferry to grab a sunset picture.  It seems like a perfect way to say good-bye or farvel to Denmark.