Upon their return, we all headed down to the front desk to purchase discount tickets for Tivoli. We heard the loud chimes from the city hall clock across the street striking twelve noon as we left the hotel, walking across the plaza under overcast skies. It had rained while the gals were shopping, so the streets were wet and the air noticeably cooler. Picked up a map on the way in, and decided we should check out the rides, working counter-clockwise around the park from the entrance.

Tivoli Gardens sits across the street from the huge City Hall building (which is itself across the street from the hotel), although the actual entrance is around to the right, not where the 'Tivoli' sign is.

First thing was to purchase ride tickets at the kiosk, which are in addition to the entrance fee. You could buy either a number of tickets, or an all-day pass wristband. The rides cost one, two, or three tickets, and we quickly did the math to determine that the all-day pass would be the better deal. The first ride was something called simply "The Roller Coaster," celebrating 100 years of operation. The setting, a series of tunnels worming through a mountain, is reminiscent of the Matterhorn at Disneyland. The train moves quickly through sharp turns, pitch-black tunnels and numerous dips, getting a lot of action from the relatively low height of its apex.

In line for the Roller Coaster, looking up at the boarding platform and the exterior of the "mountain" that houses the ride.

If this reminds you of the Matterhorn at Disneyland, it should; Walt Disney was inspired by his trip to Tivoli Gardens to create the Matterhorn and Bobsled Ride at his theme parks.

Next in line was something called "The Mine." I was thinking of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but the ride was more like MIB at Universal; the goal of the ride is to shoot the targets and gain the most points of the riders in your car. So you really get no feel for the mine itself, other than a series of targets, and the ride offers no other thrills. On top of that, the shooting "sticks" don't seem to work very well. At least mine didn't.

On to the "go-devil." Okay, not exactly, but that's the closest analogy from Kodiak Crab Festival days. The main difference is that each of the 4 cars on each node spun individually, making for a fast and somewhat dizzying ride. Fun, though. Checked out Aquila (the Eagle, obviously), but decided that being hung upside down while spinning was not our thing. The "runaway train" ride looked neat, so we headed there next. It's actually called "Odin's Express" The wait was a bit longer than the rest, but that's due a shift change and the fact that the train makes 3 circuits of the track. The ride is fast with several tight turns and actually pulls a bit of gee.

We passed on "Aquila," after watching riders on little planes being rotated around like clothes in a dryer. On the left is the zero-gee tower (I don't remember the name of the ride), its platform returning to Earth. We didn't ride that one, either.

The next ride was "Demon," a scary-looking steel coaster where your legs dangle. It's a short coaster but full of loops and twists. Had to stow the backpack in a locker before the ride. Easily Tivoli's best ride, we got back in line as soon as we completed the first run. Also bought the picture in the gift shop (although Jill had her eyes closed the whole time.) Retrieved the backpack, and continued our survey of the remaining rides, taking pictures along the way. Didn't find any we wanted to endure, so headed for lunch. It started raining then, anyway, so lunch would at least get us out of the rain.

The "Demon" coaster returns to the boarding zone, circling around the folks in line behind us. That was a fun ride.

The "centrifugal tower" (for lack of a better name) is the most visible of Tivoli's rides, as it towers above everything else in the area, except maybe the clock tower at City Hall. With some acrophobes in the family, we felt it best that we not try that one.

There was a Ferris Wheel, of sorts, the cars taking the form of hot-air-balloon carriages.

Not for nothing is it called Tivoli Gardens, with its lush array of greenery, flowers, trees and fountains.

Went to Sorcafeen, which was recommended by the guidebook as The Place for traditional Danish open-faced sandwiches. Jill had the herring 3 ways, while Lauri and Mark both ordered a sampler platter, 3 sandwiches of the chef's choosing, plus fruit and cheese. And herring, of course. Without a doubt, our favorite meal in Copenhagen. (And the cheapest.)

A shaded walkway leads through one of the wooded areas of the Gardens.

A cluster of large fountains populate the central plaza in front of the concert hall.

More fountains adorn the small lake in the corner of the park. We stopped for lunch after making our circuit of the lake.

After lunch, decided to ride the roller coaster again, just because. Checked out some shops after that and snagged an ice cream, which we ate on our way toward the exit. The city hall clock tower chimed 4:45 as we crossed the plaza, so we had spent 4.5 hours in the park. The rain, overcast, and cool weather could do nothing to dampen our afternoon.

Strolling through the small shopping section at Tivoli, Mark checks out the various goods being displayed in the windows.

After leaving Tivoli, we head back across the broad plaza in front of City Hall toward the hotel. The clock in tower reads 4:45.

Copenhagen's famous Palace Hotel, where we were staying. Entrance to the Strøget is immediately to the left of the Burger King, mere steps from the lobby.

Stopped in the hotel bar for a drink, and decided on a cribbage game. Mark retrieved the cribbage board, and we played the first game of TVCT at the high bar table while drinking champagne. Jill won. Rested, read and relaxed in the rooms for a while. Mark asked the front desk again for a dinner recommendation, specifying something very close by. The clerk suggested an Italian place called Il Ponte, which was right around the corner. We perused the hotel restaurant menu also, but found nothing on it we wanted to eat. So hoofed it over to Il Ponte. Jill's ped says it was less than 300 steps.

The place was rather small, and like everywhere else, slow. However, the food was decent. Started with appetizers. Jill had the roasted asparagus. Lauri had caprese salad, and Mark had shrimp in tomato sauce. For the main course, Jill had spaghetti carbonara, Lauri had veal scallopini with sage, and Mark had rigatoni with mushrooms. Maybe the reason that service is slow around here is that customers are more likely to order dessert. Hey, it worked for us. Jill had the tiramisu (natch), Lauri asked for the cake of the day, which turned out to be carrot, and Mark tried something called an ice cream truffle, which actually looked like a giant chocolate truffle, it being vanilla ice cream surrounded by a layer of chocolate ice cream, dusted with cocoa powder.

Made the "long" walk back to the hotel, and per our new custom, stopped in at the bar. Lauri ordered Irish coffee, but the bartender informed us the tables out on the sidewalk had consumed his entire supply of Irish Whiskey that day. So she had coffee and Bailey's instead. Jill had an espresso martini, and Mark had the usual cava. We only stayed for one drink, because a pair of loud American women in the corner who decided to use the bar for their skype session with the hubbies back home. Apparently, their laptop mic wasn't working very well, and they had to shout their entire conversation. How rude. We had to start packing that night, anyway, so headed up to the rooms. Luggage had to be outside the room by 8 a.m. for pickup. Mark set a wake-up call for 7, figuring to pack in the morning. Lauri and Jill, having a lot more crap stuff, packed the night before.