Sat, 19 Jul 2003

author Tim	location Malmö, Skåne, Sverige
posted 21:59 CEST	section Europe2002/Europe/Danmark/Danmark 1 ( all photos )

Across Denmark, Into Sweden ( 1 photo )
This morning we got updated with journals and photos for a while, before checking out of the caravan park. The place was quite well catered for, with large jumping hemispheres (for want of a better word) for kiddies, and a crazy-looking game called Snooker-Golf.
We got on the road, and headed East towards Sweden. Since we don't want to spend too much time (and hence money) in Scandinavia, we are heading up through the more distant countries first, then spending time in places like Danmark on the way back as we see fit.
It is only relatively recently that bridges have been built joining parts of southern Scandinavia together - we drove across several of these today.
The first joins Danmark's islands of Jutland and Funen, arriving at the amusingly-named town of Middelfart where we stopped for a quick break and a photo of the sign. From there, we basically followed the motorway further East, crossing the bridge joining Funen and Zealand. This one was the first where we got hit with the amazingly steep toll of about AUD $75! I guess that's not too bad compared to a ferry, but still...
We were pushing it on fuel just outside København (Copenhagen), so pulled in for a very quick look around the outskirts looking to fill up. We did so, and intend to get back and spend at least a couple of there on our way back through.
From there, we drove onto the newest of the bridges (opened 2000), the Øresund Fixed Link. This is a bizarre combination bridge-tunnel where you go underground for the first third or so, only to appear in the middle of the sea, drive up onto a bridge and continue the remainder of your water crossing above water! This amused us no end, and is actually a very picturesque feat of engineering.
Half way across this bridge, we were officially in Sverige (Sweden).

author Tim	location Billund, Jutland, Danmark
posted 09:45 19/07/03 CEST	section Europe2002/Europe/Danmark/Danmark 1 ( all photos )

Legoland ( 57 photos )
(Continued from Deutschland 1)
Liz powered Rosie along what had suddenly turned into horrible rainy motorway - was this a sign of things to come in Scandy? The new country we had found as Danmark (or Denmark).
We rounded the city of Kolding, and headed off through the back roads, winding our way towards Mecca for so many children - proper Danish Legoland, just outside of Billund.
We found a place to park but were not quite sure how to get out again. Trusting the gods of Lego, we wandered over to the park entrance where we noticed they had thoughtfully placed a cash machine. I say thoughtful because Denmark does not use the Euro, preferring to dictate its own monetary policy for fear of being swept under the carpet by the stronger nations (only 5.5 million people here versus about 85 million on Deutschland alone). As such, we withdrew some Danish Krone and joined the first of many queues to buy a ticket to get in.
The rather steep price was offset by the fact that all the rides and things were included, but to be honest we would have preferred a cheaper ticket and to pay for the rides, most of which we avoided like the plague due to their huge queues.
Here's a fun game - can you spot the tourist?
The place is divided into lots of zones - Pirates, Castles, etc. Most of the place was a complete waste of time and space. Of mild interest was the Power Builder - a ride where you can program how you want it to twist you around yourself, then you get in and it behaves accordingly. Opting not to join the immense queue, we instead headed towards the exit, thinking by now that we should have taken everyone's advice and avoided the place.
But, the fat lady had not yet sung - we still had to exit past Miniland. This is where it all started, before they built the rest of the garbage to suck the kiddies in. This part of the park was absolutely fantastic. Think entire villages, towns, famous landmarks, all re-created with thousands of man-hours and millions of Lego bricks. Trains which ran on tracks, only to stop while a bridge opened and boats went under, before resuming on their journey between three or four of the different displays underfoot. Airports with moving planes and baggage being loaded. Cars which drove around the place on their own (not quite sure how yet - magnets?). Interactive exhibits where you could fire water cannons, take movies in Hollywood, race drag racing cars and lots of other stuff. I say give us a cheaper ticket where we can wander around this part for the day and forget the rides.
By now the crowds had thinned, so I whinged like a little kiddy until Liz came with me on the Lego Train, Lego Monorail and Lego Mining Train. We then found where the crowds had gone in the overly-packed shop, where we resisted spending up big on bricks, instead grabbing a few little token things to remember the place, before fighting stroller-weilding families for the exit.
We had been given a ticket to get out of the carpark, and from there it was a short drive to Billund Camping, where, after fourty-five minutes wait in the slowest queue I could have possibly picked, we were booked in. Dinner was cooked and bed was constructed.

(customised)