We made an early exit from the Old Registry around 630am. There was frost on the windshield that had to be melted before we could pull away. It was only a 50-ish mile drive, but it took us nearly two hours. Traffic was quite bad, so Google had us take country roads for about half the journey and we slogged through LA-like traffic along Manchester’s ring road for the remainder.
We finally pulled up to the Enterprise drop-off just shy of two hours before our flight. There was a bit of a snag because the lady checking the car pointed out a nick on the front right tire as well as some scratches in front of the wheel well. Fortunately, I had taken a picture back at Heathrow after asking if the scratches had been marked down. I just had a strange feeling that this would come into play later and it did.
After sorting out all the stuff with Enterprise, we hopped on a shuttle to Terminal 3 at Manchester International. Check-in with SAS was easy and friendly. We were given stickers on our tickets for “priority lanes” at passport control. Everyone up to that point was actually quite pleasant and treated us with respect. That all went to hell at the security checkpoint. Condescending security officers kept flipping out about liquids needing to be separated despite numerous articles about the UK recently scrapping the two decade (and rather outdated) practice of requiring liquids be separated in their own special plastic bag.
After fighting with security officers for about twenty minutes, we finally made it into the terminal which was quite beat. Narrow disorganized hallways and dirty floors with exposed ceilings completed the overall aesthetic of Manchester Airport. It wasn’t long before our SAS CRJ-900 began to board. We had seats together in row 8. It was a relatively smooth flight, during which I read from Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare.
We touched down in Copenhagen and easily got through passport control and on a train toward the city center. It was shocking how much nicer Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport looked after spending just a short time in Manchester. UK airports are in desperate need of an overhaul. We checked into the Radisson Royal near both the main train station and Tivoli Gardens, one of the world’s oldest amusement parks.
It opened in 1843, but is only open seasonally. It reopened for the “summer” just two weeks ago. As the temperatures were in the low 40’s, the summer season seems quite far away. One pays about $20 for park entry and then you can get a ride pass add-on for about $38 on top of that or just pay-per-ride as we did. We first went on a wooden roller coaster that was built in 1914. The ride was creatively named “The Roller Coaster,” though the Danish name Rutschebanen sounds more fun. A worker stands on the ride and brakes during the downhills so the cars don’t pick up too much speed — an interesting concept.
We went on two other rides including another rollercoaster and a ride called “Minen” or “The Mine” that was like a poor man’s Splash Mountain. It had characters in it that were badgers, or maybe moles. Unclear. In any event, the ride ended with what appeared to be a curtain of water that our boat was going to slide through. I was scrambling for the hood of my jacket and Nicole was ducking down. The water shut off just moments before we passed through and turned back on right after. Phew. Not a good day to be wet.
We then ventured out for dinner. Nicole got us a reservation at an Italian pizzeria. I admit it was nice to finally move away from various savory pies and fried fish. My bowels seem much more stable than they were after last night’s steak-and-ale pie. We walked through Tivoli Gardens once more around dusk just to make sure we saw the rest of the park. With the sun now gone, it was very cold. By comparison, L.A.’s temperatures in the 60s will seem like perfect beach weather.
We welcomed the Radisson’s heat upon our return. We have another early departure tomorrow. And given our past experiences trying to leave LAX on SAS, we aren’t feeling too optimistic about our business class chances. Regardless, it is still a direct flight to LA. So even if our seats are in the back, it should be a relatively painless one leg and done with no more transfers in the UK or elsewhere. Wish us luck.
passports & pepto bismol 