As a young Rosewood lad, the flashest form of transport I ever experienced was the Wigan’s new Holden HR Premier. It was an automatic, and they had added seat covers and an aerial. I suspect Barry Wigan may still have the HR to drive around Rosewood. That said, for a trip to Europe and back, I do think that Singapore Airlines is perhaps a better choice.

We got into Copenhagen at 7:30 in the morning but couldn’t check in until 2pm. I suspect that Queen Mary had heard that Farley and Lady Cunnington-Smythe would be in town- the airport arrival was fast and efficient, the trip to our hotel to drop off bags was easy, and the metro into town was simple to navigate. Once we arrived in the city centre however, we soon realised that only the Danish Royal Family and international bankers can afford to live in Copenhagen. The price of everything is quite extraordinarily expensive.

The Levis I was wearing cost me $85 at Hannah’s, in Copenhagen the same jeans  at a department store were almost A$500. A regular flat white is between A$20-$30 – our caffeine addiction is on hold until Gdansk. If we had have sold our children into slavery before travelling, we may have just been able to afford a restaurant meal. Fortunately jetlag dulls appetites and wandering around taking photos is a very cheap past time. And, of course there was that promise of Mary’s invitation pending.

Like all good tourists in need of good food and somewhere to sit we found our way to the National (Royal) Library and took in a tour of its national treasures (including an original Guttenberg bible and a display of Kepler’s notes and calculations) – along with lunch that surprisingly provided us with a few coins change from A$100.  We swam off the meal in the hotel’s faintly heated pool and collapsed into the frenzied sleep of the jet lagged. But, Gdansk beckons – with its Polish food at Polish prices.

I am really looking forward to seeing how much Poland has changed since we were last there in 2015. I’m looking to taking our cameras wandering Gdansk – a city we haven’t seen before. And I’m looking forward to buying a meal that costs less than the purchase price of a small car, even if Queen Mary did prefer that we stayed longer in Copenhagen…

Better let you go Mary, we have a plane to catch. Of course we will be back, later in November – so keep those Tasmanian home fires burning in anticipation …

FC-S