Copenhagen - Den Blå Planet and Hidden Trolls (11-Mar)

We've got a lot of holidays booked and, having just gotten back from Ireland, we've been taking it pretty easy.  We had Alana's birthday party on Saturday, where she and some friends went to Bounce - a trampoline park, but Sunday was free.

I'd been keen to check out a comic and board game store in Copenhagen called "Faraos Cigarer" (Pharaohs Cigars - after a Tintin comic) and we had told the kids we'd head back to the big aquarium - Den Blå Planet at some point (we went there on the 2nd weekend in Sweden). So we decided to head over to Denmark.

When we got to The Blue Planet I checked the open times for Pharaohs Cigars and found it was closed Sundays.. whoops.  That marked my second fail at going there, the first time was the day we got back from Ireland - we found a Pharaohs Cigars store that sold foam weapons and replica armour, but it turns out that Pharoahs Cigars had multiple storefronts and we missed the games shop.

Anyway, we still had a good day planned at The Blue Planet.  It was much busier that the last time we had come and there was a pretty long line waiting for tickets.  We quickly bought tickets online with my phone and skipped past the line into the pre-paid section.

The moat around the Blue Planet was frozen solid

We arrived just in time for Sea Otter feeding, but the rain made getting a photo into the glass cage difficult:

Here are a few more of our photos from the visit:

How Alana 'scales' up next to the fish  (sorry that's a terrible pun)

After finishing up at the Blue Planet we had some time, so we hunted down another board game store and then decided to go looking for Copenhagen's Hidden Trolls.   The trolls were made by Danish Artist, Thomas Dambo, who specializes in recycled sculptures.   Each of the giants is named after a volunteer that helped him make them.  Originally they could be found by hints in the form of poems on plaques near the statues, or on a treasure map:

Treasure Map

Link to more details

We managed to find three of the trolls before it became too dark and cold and we had to head home:

The first was Sleeping Louis (Søvnige Louis):

The poem translates roughly to:
I've been sleeping for a year and will get up when I can.  Crawl into my stomach and join me, but not if you snore. I have a big flock of siblings but we are hidden for people. They call us Vestegnen's Forgotten Giants.  My sister Trine sits in Avendøre. On the plain, behind the hill, where there are sheep and cows.

Sleeping Louis

Coming out of the mouth

Louis

Next we hunted down his sister Hill Top Trine (Bakke top Trine), who was located not too far away.  The kids were more interested in the giant hamster wheel until they all tried it at once and fell out

Giant rodents?

Hill Top Trine

Trine with Kristine for scale

Hill Top Trine

Trine's plaque

Trine's poem reads:
The view from here is like a dream. Come and see it for yourself and be held by my hand. I have a big flock of siblings but we are hidden for people. They call us Vestegnen's Forgotten Giants.  In Ishøj lives my brother Oscar under the bridge in the beach park in the lake about 100m southwest of the park.


Kris tried to climb up to see the view, but the mud was too deep and slippery and it ended in mild disaster as she had to drop the camera to avoid sliding face first into the mud.  Fortunately there was no damage done, to her or the camera:

The awesome shot the camera took (of what could have possibly been its last moments..)

Next giant was Oscar under the Bridge (Oscar under Broen).  It was a bit of a drive and hike to find him, but eventually we located his bridge:

Oscar's Bridge

Oscar under the Bridge

Cam climbing on Oscar

Looking down from the bridge at Tomas feeding Oscar

Oscar's poem

Translates to:
When I hear noise on my bridge I become angry and hungry. You must listen for me always for I nap like the wolves. I have a big flock of siblings but we are hidden for people. They call us Vestegnen's Forgotten Giants.  My sister Tilde lives in Vallensbroaek down the bog. Between fir trees on the shore, just opposite the mill.

Unfortunately at this point we ran out of time, so we'll have to go hunt the remaining three giants another time..