Dons Viking Voyage: Day 8

Day Eight Photo Gallery

As part of the coverage of the USF Women's Basketball "Viking Voyage" to Scandinavia, freshman Vania Singleterry provides www.USFDons.com with a blog entry from the eighth day of the 11-day trip. For more indepth coverage, including addtional blogs,please visit the Dons Viking Voyage Tour Central.

May 31, 2009

God Morg! Today we arrived in the beautiful capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, early and this morning after departing the cruise ship Ms. Pearl of Scandinavia. A trip that was delightful for most and revealing of seasickness for others, like myself, but on the ship was a variety of restaurants, bars, clubs for youths and adults, and tax free shopping that most of us really enjoyed.

We took a tour of the city before arriving to our hotel where we got to see the queen and royal families houses that reside right next to each other, in an open court of some sort. According to our wonderful tour guide, Anita Kirkegaard, This is where the royal family lives from the month of December to the Easter holidays. The architecture of the mansions was similar to that of Barcelona, Spain and quite beautiful to look at.

As we continued to drive around the beautiful city of Copenhagen we visited the Mermaid statue, which we learned is from the story by Hans Christian Anderson, who wrote many fairy tale stories. The story of the Mermaid is one of romance and tragedy. According to Anderson, the mermaid fell in love with the Danish prince and wanted to marry him so she gave her voice to the witch at the bottom of the sea in order to be able to be with the prince. One she was on land the prince married a princess and left the mermaid alone, in order to return home she would have to kill the prince, which her love for him was too strong to do so instead she committed suicide. Not like the Aerial we know in the little Mermaid now is it?

After our tour, which drove us throughout the city where we saw the old warehouse, canal, places to eat and shop, and the business buildings we arrived at our hotel, The Imperial Hotel that is quite nice and similar to all the other ones we have stayed in, very small beds. Then we all took a nap upon the long journey and went out on our own to eat, I ate at the Hard Rock café which I might add was quite good and walked around the city where I saw movie theater and coffee shops, etc. The city is quite pretty and entertaining and similar to that of Oslo. Tomorrow after we win our game against the Danish National Team we will be going to Tivoli, an amusement park built in 1843 that consists of gardens, theatre, rides, and food, basically a load of fun and excitement.

- Vania Singleterry #32

We boarded the boat at 3:30. We boarded the boat with an overnight bag, while the bus - and the rest of our luggage - drove onto the bus and parked down below. We all had small rooms on the boat with windows looking out from the 10th floor. I was quite impressed. I had been told we were getting an upgrade and I sneaked a look at the rooms we should have had. Needless to say, thankfully an upgrade was provided.

Immediately upon boarding the boat I think the girls headed up to the top deck to lie out in the sun and enjoy the sail through the fjord heading out of Oslo. As for the adults, we grabbed a table in the front of the boat in the sun and just soaked it up for a few hours before it was time for dinner at eight.

We ate dinner as a team and finally had a smorgasbord. Let me tell you, I was slightly disappointed. I felt like I was eating a Las Vegas buffet. But, at least we tried it. The rest of the night was at leisure on the boat. I opted to sit up top watch the sunset - or least what could be considered a sunset since it doesn't really go all the way down up here.

All in all, a relaxing day.

Tomorrow morning, we arrive in Copenhagen, our last stop on the trip.

-Rachel