Friday, July 19, 2019; Day 0; Kids Arrive, Tivoli

Slept in until almost 7:00 am. Got cleaned up and went down for breakfast which runs from 6:30 am to 11:00 am. It was a nice buffet breakfast. I decided to walk a bit this morning before the kids arrive. Their plane is scheduled to arrive at 8:40 am and it appears to be on schedule. I headed toward the Tivoli Gardens (https://www.tivoli.dk/en).

 Hard Rock Cafe was easy to spot.

City Hall

Trivoli Gardens does not open until 11:00 am. On the way back to the hotel, I walked through the Central Station. I got a message from Laura that they had landed and had met the Seabourn representative.

Reaching the river, I took the boardwalk back to the hotel.

Laura and Megan arrived and we got them settled in the room. Megan needed to nap out while Laura and I took another walk through the town,

We passed by the Tivoli Gardens again and decided to bring Megan back when it opens.

Yes, we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe and Laura got shirts for the entire Trout family.

City Hall

Round Tower

A bunch of Copenhagen drunks

It is often best to leave sleeping drunk dogs undisturbed

Laura went up to get Megan up and I talked to the Seabourn representative to find out when we would be joining the ship tomorrow.

We had lunch at the hotel (fish and chips). Then we headed for the Tivoli Gardens.

In Tivoli Gardens, we enjoyed four rides as well as the beautiful grounds.

We were waiting in line at the roller coaster when a Swedish lady approached Laura and asked if her nine year old daughter (Ella) could join us. Obviously, the mother was not going to go on the ride, but her daughter wanted to try it. She was welcomed and she had a great time. 

By the time we got back to the hotel, my feet were very sore, but nothing that could not be corrected at the bar,

By 7:00 pm, it was "lights out" for the kids.

Our transfer tomorrow is not until 2:30 pm so we have plenty of time in the morning to explore more of Copenhagen.

Thursday, July 18, 2019: Day -1; Depart Lucerne, Flight to Copenhagen

Yesterday I completed the Tauck Switzerland tour. Today, I check out of the Lucerne hotel, am driven to Zurich where I take an Swiss Air flight to Copenhagen. The flight does not leave Zurich until 5:30 pm and arrives at 7:10 pm. Once I catch a cab to the Copenhagen Marriott, it will probably be over for the day.

Laura and Megan begin their flight from Houston around noon today. They have a three hour lay over in Toronto and arrive in Copenhagen at 8:40 am tomorrow (Friday) morning. Seabourn will be there to transport them to the Marriott. Depending on how they feel, we may do some exploring of Copenhagen after their arrival.

I checked out of the hotel and took a spot in the bar awaiting the transfer to Zurich. They are in the process of preparing for the upcoming annual Blue Balls festival, which starts in a few days. All the tables and most of the chairs in the bar have been removed and replaced with shipping boxes. They also are hanging some wall posters.

Time came to go to Zurich. The ride took less than an hour and I spent less than 30 minutes navigating through check in and security. That left me with about three hours before departure. I found the Swiss Air lounge and whiled away the hours.

The Swiss Air flight to Copenhagen was uneventful and on time. Upon arrival in Copenhagen, I was surprised in that I was able to leave the plane, walk to the luggage claim, collectg my luggage, walk through the Customs "Nothing to Declare" and walk out to the taxi stand without showing anyone my passport.

I made it to the Copenhagen Marriott where I will spend the night. Laura and Megan will arrive
tomorrow.

Looking out my room window:

After finding my room, the next priority was finding the bar.

This evening they have a live band which featured an electric marimba. They were pretty good.

I didn't stay up long.

Friday, March 1, 2019: Russian Visa at a Price

The Russian visa from CIBT was delivered via UPS today. I got a notice that it was going to be delivered on Thursday. I got the CIBT invoice on Friday. It was much more than I expected.

The first issue was that they charged me $40 for passport insurance. This is in case the passport is lost during the visa issuance process. I waited until the passport was safely delivered before calling CIBT to tell them I did not order this insurance. They issued a refund to be credited to my credit card. There were several other charges that were not defined on their web site, such as the $135 for the Tourist Support Letter and the $26 for manipulation of the digital photo I sent to them. Bottom line, if I do receive the credit for the insurance, the cost of the visa will be $442.

I went on the GenVisa site today to see if Laura and Megan should use them instead of CIBT. There was a note stating that the Russian Consulate fee was increased on March 1 (today) from $113 to $193. These are going to be expensive visas to allow us to wander the streets of St. Petersburg for a few hours.