a second day in Copenhagen

Slowly, thoughts of my return creep in. I still have four nights in Europe, which, on a typical trip, would be half my getaway. Nevertheless, the period after my travels is looming big and I'm starting to focus a little on it, not because I want to, but because I have to. A move is a move, and this is a big one -- a final settling into my home. 

But in the meantime, I am in Copenhagen, and the weather is remarkably un-Danish -- warm air. Europe is experiencing a heat wave in the coming days. The unimaginable temperature of over 105F/41C in Paris. The Nordic countries translate this to a pleasant warm spell, with temperatures reaching 78F/25C here, while Paris is sweltering.  You have to feel sorry for western Europe, where air conditioning is not common. And we surely do feel lucky with the lovely weather in Denmark.

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My first breakfast is at the hotel and it comes in stages. Should I be satisfied with just yogurt, muesli and milky coffee?

Nope. Berries added.

That will do, right?

Nope. Cardamon roll added.

My second breakfast is with the young family: we walk to the Hart Bakery in the old meat packing district,

(a happy city, with lots of bicycles...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a bakery we love completely, for its cardamon croissants and buns and everything else they offer.

("should I get something else?")

 

 (The answer was -- yes)

(The walk home)

 

 

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The girls want to go to Tivoli. And well they might. When you have a room that looks out onto the park, you are tempted! It's a good way to relax in Copenhagen. I join them there. And I fall in love with their flowers all over again!

It's positively inspirational! No marigold pelargonium combos here! You get the feel of meadow flowers without a meadow. And roses -- which of course, are my special interest this year.

 

 

  

 

 

 

As for the rides -- well, I find it interesting that Primrose and Juniper fell for the same two rides at Tivoli that were Snowdrop's favorites. And it's not that this is a universal preference. These are not ones where others are begging to repeat again and again.  

 

 

 

 

 

I leave them right around lunchtime. I had the idea that I would rest and pack. I did neither. So much to process, photos to edit, a quick snack to grab at the downstairs cafe... 

And a bit after 4 we set out toward the dock where you can get on a boat and tour the waterways of Copenhagen. This is a must, because you cannot feel the pulse of the city without giving your attention to the sea, the canals, the islands that seem to bubble up from water. And the people love it -- the shores, the plunge into the cold waters of the harbor. There are young people everywhere you look -- full of appreciation for this gift of warm sunshine.

 

 

 

 

 

After an hour on the water, we get off and walk to our restaurant for dinner.  

 

 

It's a special place: my daughter came here with her husband and one year old Primrose on their first trip to Copenhagen. They went back to it three years ago, while I babysat Primrose and one year old Juniper. And this year, we're all eating here together.

It's called  Barr and it is exquisite. 

 

 

Were I in Copenhagen alone, I would never go there. It's in the hub of a very lively place of open air eateries, of people everywhere, meeting up over a drink or two. You'd feel strange sitting alone at a table here. Too, it's about a 35 minute walk from the hotel -- not a distance I typically like to set for myself for a dinner alone. But with the four of them? It's just superb. I want to note especially all the green spring vegetables (asparagus, peas, baby potatoes) all smothered in green herbs. But also the schnitzels: I chose a mushroom one and it set me thinking -- maybe I should cook something like it at home...

 

 

 

(my plate of food... that's a red nasturtium!) 

 

 

The girls were angelic. A long dinner -- they worked on their art, they wrote postcards to their cousins.

 

 

 

 

 

Such an evening! 

Just three more  photos, because really, it's our last evening together, and it's been an incredibly grand week!

 

 

 

 

 

Enchanting. Simply enchanting!

 

 

Tomorrow, we leave Copenhagen. I head east, they go west.

with so much love!!! 

a day in Copenhagen

If Poland can shock you with its June weather (in either direction), I think of Denmark as rather predictable: cool, occasional clouds with showers. But in the three days we're here, we got lucky (unless it all changes). Thursday, the day of our arrival, was partly cloudy and pleasantly warm, today it's sunny, tomorrow? Well, tomorrow it's Denmark weather: occasional clouds with occasional showers. But still warm. I consider that to be great luck. 

Both young families are enjoying a slower pace right now (from what I hear from my older girl). My younger daughter's family is taking in Tivoli in bits and pieces, and after breakfast (which I love here because of those yeasty cardamon and cinnamon rolls)...

... I plan to join them there. 

But let me pause a little at breakfast: as you know, it's always a special meal for me. A complete turnaround, because as a kid, I hated breakfast (except in Gniazdowo at my Babcia's house). When we lived in New York as kids, my mom tried to add that element of "healthy" by insisting we start out with half a grapefruit. To this day, it is my least favorite fruit. And cereal? In Poland, people did not eat corn flakes or rice krispies, made soggy within seconds by a hefty pour of milk. I still do not get the appeal. It's through travel that I learned to slow down and find pleasure in this meal. Croissants and cafe creme in France, muesli in Switzerland. And cardamon rolls here, in Denmark, with a strawberry ginger lemon juice, because in this country, it's not all just o.j.

Of course, this past week, there was no moment of calm at breakfast. Even as I got tremendous pleasure in watching the kids navigate the meal. And I kept an eye on my watch, because hanging out at the breakfast table until the morning hour turned into the lunch hour just wasn't going to cut it. Here, in Copenhagen, I'm sliding into the long and leisurely framework again. With just a slight eye to my watch.

I have a couple of details that do interfere a tiny bit with my day: first of all, I lost my voice. I saw it coming yesterday. By this morning, I morphed into a full fledged croaking frog. Which made for a very interesting phone conversation with the reception desk. He understood only half my words and language had nothing to do with it.

And why would I be calling the receptions desk? Well, for a room change. Not many people would do that, given that there are only two more nights left to my stay here, but I choose my stays carefully and hotels drain my savings, because I do like interesting, pleasant rooms. I've gone on many many trips when this just wasn't important. A clean bed and a toilet were enough to keep me happy. But, in these senior years of travel, I am way more attentive to my environment. I knew this about my hotel in Copenhagen -- no two rooms here are alike. And I knew there were very nice attic rooms that I did not like because they are dark. Even on these longest days of the year, they are dark. So when I booked, back in December no less, I asked for something that would get me out of the attic. And I got the attic room anyway. A nice room, but -- dark. They offered to move me today, with apologies of course, because they're all very nice here, despite the American Greenland lust, but still -- they want to move me and for that I have to repack (and unpack at the end of the day). Again, this is a problem of my own making, and I dont really mind going to the trouble. For a person of limited means and savings, there's nothing worse than spending lots of money on something you dont really enjoy. I plan to enjoy the next two nights in my brighter room, so that I can watch the sun go down at 9:58 p.m. and come up again at 4:25 a.m.

Okay, now for Tivoli with the little ones!

(the hotel there...)

 

(the flowers...)

 

  

(the rides!) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch (which for me consists of sampling this candy -- I run out of time for getting something more nutritious)...

 

 

 

... they rest and nap and I take my daughter up on her birthday gift for me (or was it Mother's Day?) -- a full body massage at their lovely hotel. She said then -- you'll probably need it after a week with all of us in Warsaw. She was correct.

 

And now I have a tiny room at my own hotel, but with big windows! I unpack once again.

 

 

 

It's a warm and very beautiful evening. I have a date to meet up with my daughter and her family on the Rivoli hotel terrace for a pre-dinner drink. I cannot think of a better way to spend an early evening in June in Denmark. 

 

 

 

We walk to out dinner place. Along streets, canals...

 

 

 

All the way to a pizza restaurant called  Baest, 40 minutes by foot from Tivoli. We'd been there before, when Juniper was just one and Primrose was four. And yes, the pizza is superb, and the appetizers -- delicious, but of course, it's the kooky things that one remembers best, and I surely do remember how the toddler among us slid a big slice of pizza into her mouth and let the cheese ooze all over her mouth.  

(always drawing...)

 

 

And here's another repetition -- after the pizza meal, we go to the østerberg ice cream shop. The girls seem to remember eating sea buckthorn berry ice cream. This orange one:

I'm more conventional -- rhubarb and salted caramel.

 

 

     

 

Late evening. I'm thinking about what my friend Bee said before the trip as I fretted about every possible thing that could go wrong (none of these worries were realized of course) -- the trip will pass with lightening speed. It was an admonition to savor each day.

She was right of course, though looking back, I think of it as being extensive, huge, not at all a brief explosion, but rather a full encyclopedia of events and memories. So in retrospect, it seems longer because it contained so much. One thing I hadn't anticipated was how much the kids would like the Poland part. You could argue that traveling together is always a high for them, but Poland offered something more. And they lapped it up. Too, I thought that a Poland visit would be a one-off. The kind of thing that my ex and even Ed liked seeing once or twice, and then they were done. But no -- I'm hearing a longing to return. Now, whether they can pull it off is another matter. The pressures of time, limited resources, the other destinations that tug at you -- all this may stand in the way of a return. But the important thing is that they would like to return. And that, to me, comes as a surprise. It was not just a sightseeing and grandma's life long ago kind of trip. The place, my family there, my friends -- this was all a package deal and they loved the entirety that made it unique and special.

But it wasn't necessarily an easy trip. We're all still tired. I'm still raspy as anything. Copenhagen is a great transition: with such good weather, people here smile at you, at the kids, at life. In Warsaw, it could go either way. So often the people behind store counters, or those serving food would not crack a smile if you paid them. Not even a sweet grin of a child would get them to reconsider. It speaks of a tougher life, a less secure populace. Poland has changed so much since I left, but complete rebirth doesn't happen in a generation. Or two. Or even three. 

I think about all that, but not for too long. I really have to get out of the habit of going to bed after midnight. Goodnight then, until tomorrow, from Copenhagen, signing off with so much love... 

 

leaving Warsaw, going places

The packing up of our suitcases was smoother than I thought it would be. I had gone to sleep just before 2 a.m. and had no strength to do any of it then, and I worried that leaving it to the morning would breed chaos -- but no. I packed Snowdrop's case, then took the girl down to breakfast with her cousins. (I understand the boys are relly sleeping in today!)

And after, I came back and attacked my own packing. Gifts had been removed but new ones were added. Thankfully the additions weighed less than the subtractions. [I came in at 23.3 kilo. The allowance is 23. One third of a kilo is cause for a shrug, not a penalty.]

And I made some executive decisions: get rid of the candy the kids had bagged that first evening here. Pack one nephew painting, carry on the second. My sister offered to take all that I did not need and in truly helpful mode, she, my nephew and his S.O. were waiting for me, for us really, downstairs -- to say good bye and to be generally helpful. Which they were in the extreme throughout the trip. Above and way beyond. 

(going down in the elevator: it looks worse than it is: the bags are ones with stuff to handover to various people and places.)

 

 

(one last group photo) 

 

Why is Juniper pouting? 

She was very sad to find out that the flowers she had picked in the meadow could not be transported with their jar of water first to Copenhagen, then home.

  

 

 

I return Snowdrop to her parents, put her suitcase in their room and climb into the transport van along with my younger daughter and her family.  To Chopin airport.

Maybe you remember - I wrote about this at the start of the trip -- after Warsaw, one family is heading to Estonia (I pass on that segment) and the other is heading to Copenhagen. I had promised each of them a week in Europe and I intend to deliver! I'll be spending three days with these guys in Denmark, then I will fly over to Helsinki, where I will meet up with the Estonia-visiting group. We were to do three nights in Finland, but scheduling issues caused a hick-up in that plan, so actually I'll be alone in Helsinki for a day. They'll come and join me there on Monday. For two nights. And then we fly home. On different flights, but still, home, where our dogs are waiting.

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There are no lines at the airport. Not for check in, not for security. We breeze through quickly. They search for lunch foods, I search for my second (well okay, third) coffee of the day. Never have I needed it more. (And still I doze off in flight!)

 (as close as I could get to a jagodzianka)

And just like that, we are in Copenhagen!

 

 

(Taking the train to town center)

 

It's my third time in three years to this city -- each trip here has been with grandkids. Small wonder -- they all love Tivoli (the old amusement park that has splendid gardens for me to enjoy). And I love watching them bounce around from one ride to the next. Besides, they have good pastries in Denmark. The kind I love -- not too sweet, with a hint of spice. 

I chose for these guys a hotel right inside the gardens. It's a magical place, where you can look out and watch for hours the comings and goings of people in the park. Too, you can enter early, before opening time, and you can pop out for an evening stroll, should you want to see the light show for instance.

For me -- I picked the Villa Copenhagen again for my overnights. I've done the Tivoli hotel once and I don't need to splurge again. Mostly, I need a place to rest a bit. To not worry about schedules and meetups and weather and food. To process!

I unpack, have a cup of tea and soon after, they pick me up for a walk... 

 

 

 

... to a familiar place in the meat packing district (Warpigs Brewpub). 

 

 

 

Grilled meats, chicken, fried cauliflower. Beans, coleslaw, spicy pickles. All good!

 

 

The young family is... young. Their enthusiasm is boundless. Mine is boundless too, but some of it has to rest inside of me. I know when I need to start hanging back. My voice is telling me that I strained it too much. My step counter is sweating from all the activity these past few weeks. I tell the young ones (and this includes the really young ones!) to have fun tonight and I walk back to my hotel.

Of course, part of me regrets this. How many June evenings am I going to get with these guys in Copenhagen after all? I'm sure they're doing a late walk through Tivoli as I write this. It's beautiful to see the kids' excitement when they step into this very special park. And beg for a ride. Or a delicious ice cream. Or both. And yet, I remind myself that I have a move in a week. I have a garden waiting for me -- one that will require care and oversight. I have a pup who still goes out many times a day. Like it or not, I really do need to slow down and get some rest. 

with so much love...