Friday, June 28, 2019

We made ourselves breakfast from the food we bought at the grocery store the night before but with the random set of cooking tools and the quality of the food it just wasn’t very good. Mark and Genevieve weren’t up yet but Charlotte and I were so we headed out to find an ATM to get some local currency. On the way we found what looked like an amazing bakery, Brodflov, so we stopped in and got some cinnamon buns for a late breakfast snack. What do you know, they were yummy!

Once everyone was up and ready to go we headed out to the nearby Christianhaven commune, which was everything you would hope a commune would be. Before we got there we saw two ducklings with no mom struggling on a dock. We scooped them up and tried to find out what to do with them but the local animal rescue was unable to help and so were any of the people passing by so we wound up just leaving them on the dock. So sad.

Once at the commune, I got in a spot of trouble taking a picture inside because they don’t want photos of pot out there (I guess they didn’t see the one I took of Genevieve in front of the pot garden) but I agreed to not take anymore so we were cool. After the commune, we went to see the Church of our Savior which has a spire with a spiral staircase around it but I was the only one who was interested in climbing it so we just went inside instead. By now we were noticing these big military carriers and cattle cars blaring music, full of teens wearing white sailor caps. We asked what was up and it was the last day of high school for them, so this was the tradition. There were so many and the people would cheer when they passed by and they’d sometimes get out and run around and get back in. So lively, and I wish we did something similar it just seemed so fun (read more about it here).

By now we were getting cranky hungry but we finally settled on a restaurant near the waterfront and had a civilized meal (mine was asparagus in hollandaise sauce, now that’s classy). Then we went on a boat tour that went all over the city, including right by our apartment which was cool. Fortunately, there were no dead ducklings on the dock so we told ourselves that someone more equipped to help them than us did. After the boat tour we walked to the star fort which was very cool. There was a big windmill and it was a very beautiful walk around.

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Today we started off right by Charlotte and I getting breakfast at Brodflov, then we all took the metro to the Rosenberg Palace. The high schoolers were still at it in their trucks. The palace was quite beautiful and the crown jewels were interesting, especially the penis ring given by Frederik III to his wife Sophie Amalie to commemorate an affair she’d had. I guess those Danes have always been chill. The rest of the jewels were more conventional. After the palace, we headed back over to the shopping area where the girls picked up a few things at the nice boutiques they have in Copenhagen. Their clothes really do look different than those in other parts of Europe and the US. Afterwards, we headed back to the apartment to rest before our big night at the nearby Tivoli Gardens. We had dinner there but the girls weren’t really up for going on any rides so we walked around and enjoyed being in one of the world’s oldest amusement parks. Mark and I enjoyed a beer while we waited for the fireworks, which were nice, then we headed back to our apartment.

Sunday, June 30, 2019

We took the train to Malmo, Sweden, to get another country on our list of countries visited. It’s only a little over an hour. Once we got there we got some money and then headed out to the castle, which they’ve turned into a history museum. It was a pretty good little museum, with exhibits on gymnastics (which started in Sweden apparently), the white buses that headed into Germany at the end of WWII to rescue any Swedish people that had been held in concentration camps, and also just the history of the town. There was also a little aquarium that even had bush babies, which was unexpected. Genevieve particularly liked that all the restaurants that offered outdoor seating had blankets for their customers. That girl does love her blankets! On our way back we stopped at the little grocery store to buy (Swedish) fish and use up our currency. Somehow I fed cash into what was supposed to be the coupon reader–oh well, we weren’t going to spend that money anyway.

Monday, July 1, 2019

After another great breakfast acquired from Brodflov (this time the guy at the front recognized us and asked where we were from. When we said California he said he’d love to visit. Except for the weather, Copenhagen is better!). Charlotte and I got Lime scooters and went back to the Christianhaven commune so she could get this hat she’d seen the first day we were in Copenhangen, and then we were very surprised to find that the pedestrian bridge under construction right near our apartment was open. Like just open. Like Charlotte was the first person across it just open! Now that was cool! It’s also unique in the way the middle section pivots to allow ships to pass through. After we crossed the bridge, we went to the National History Museum of Denmark. This museum was one of the best I’ve ever been to, definitely the best on this trip. Besides all the Viking stuff, they had this wonderful exhibit that traced the history of the country from the beginning. Along the timeline, they had clothing and artifacts and recreated rooms from houses so you could really see how the people were living. Just so well done and exactly what I like in a museum. We went for a late lunch at a cute little Italian restaurant and returned to our apartment to watch the boats and swans.

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Our last day in Copenhagen, sniff sniff. After our Brodflov breakfast, we checked out of our apartment and left our luggage for a sizable fee at LuggageHero across the pedestrian bridge. At first, we thought we’d get an Uber so we didn’t have to slog our luggage but Uber doesn’t operate in Copenhagen so slog we did, across that cool pedestrian bridge. It actually wasn’t that far to the hotel by Tivoli Gardens where the LuggageHero people were. Then we went to the Christiansborg Palace where we saw all the things (Palace, kitchens, stables). One interesting fact, the queen personally greets all new ambassadors to Denmark so it is now our plan to have Lilliana become the Peruvian ambassador to Denmark and invite us to her greeting. That way, the girls can meet the very eligible and cute Danish prince. A solid plan. No trip to Denmark is complete without a stop at a lego store, where I bought a little bicycle kit. Unfortunately, we have stored all our legos including our people so I have nobody to ride these bicycles…

We picked up our luggage and got a taxi to the airport where we had an uneventful flight to Amsterdam.

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