Copenhagen!

Last night ended with a bang. As I was wrapping up an Ocean post, I looked out my tiny round windows and saw an explosion of fireworks over the Tivoli Gardens. (I am changing rooms today: a room with larger windows has opened up and I want it!)

I am right across the street from this park and I know that the fireworks are a weekly thing in the summer. I could have watched from my hotel's rooftop, but it was near midnight and my eyes were definitely protesting my long long period of no sleep. 

And the next thing I know it's morning.

I learn very quickly that the weather in Copenhagen is like the weather in Scotland: it changes quickly. I look out those round windows and see wisps of sunshine, but I am not fooled! There will be clouds today. There will be periods of rain. And the temps will hover in the mild 60s F (15-20C) range. I am prepared!

But first, breakfast, which at the Villa is downstairs in their courtyard restaurant. Except that I doubt anyone ever eats outside. It's just not the climate for it. Perhaps the name should be "Adjacent to the Courtyard."

Normally, a breakfast in a big hotel is uninteresting in that guests have expectations and they are uniform, no matter where they travel. Hotels strive to meet them (except for the French who hold fast to the idea that outsiders are not going to dictate what foods a French person should serve). So you see the same stuff everywhere. Eggs. Bacon. Bread. Recently, everyone tries to present a credible croissant. Cheese, meats, and what I call hotel fruits (lots of melon). Still, in hotels that care to bend toward the local, you do see a little bit of a country's flavors and the Villa cares a lot about local (their Scandinavian shampoo and body lotion are awesome! I want to take some home!) and so I get to fill my plate with what I believe to be real Danish favorites. And the one really nice thing about eating breakfast at a big hotel is that they can afford to bring in variety. You can taste more than one cheese, more than one pastry, more than one bread, and pick your own favorites for the week.

Now, we all live with stereotype ideas about other lands and I bet you and I will have come here with some pretty standard ones about Danish foods. Like, that this is where Sara Lee danishes were invented! In fact, a version of the American sticky danish which we all grew up with is popular here, but it was introduced fairly recently (in the 19th century) by bakers who came here from Austria. And indeed, you can deconstruct this even more, because some would say that Poland planted the seeds of the yeasty pastry into the minds of Austrians, but then in those years, much of Poland was under the Austro-Hungarian rule, so pastry origins can get pretty complicated. Putting all that aside, you can comfortably say that the Danes love their danish-like pastry, though it looks a bit different here and often comes with cardamon. This is the Villa's breakfast pastry presentation:

And this is my breakfast, which has the very common here rye bread (again, we have this in Poland and I love it!), the "danish" bun, a bit of salmon, Danish yogurt with a Danish strawberry jam that is beautifully runny and flavorful, Swedish cheese, Danish cheese, and here's a treat -- awesome strawberries!

And I have a dessert! A second cup of coffee with something that I swear is a cross between a danish, a croissant and a fruit tart!

I really haven't time for much else this morning. I promised I'd meet the young family at the airport at around noon, and so I just have a few moments to walk over to their apartment (about fifteen minutes away from my hotel). They chose a lovely residential neighborhood and the walk in fact is very nice...

I pass a small grocery store and notice the berries. Wouldn't it be cool to take some over now to their Copenhagen home...

And then I am back on that fast little train that within fifteen minutes puts me right in the land of planes, travelers and suitcases. 

The four travelers were lucky on several fronts: the kids both slept well on the overseas flight, the flights were all more or less on time, the suitcase did arrive with them. Were there snafus? Of course! It took 90 minutes for the suitcases to come out on the conveyor belt. That is a long wait for little ones, and, too for me, as I stand with camera poised, ready to capture the moment they step outside. But, we all managed just fine and here they are!

My daughter is a superb planner and she knows better than me the fastest way to get close to their apartment and so we all take not the train, but the subway (imagine -- the Copenhagen people have a choice of speedy options!).

During the ride I hear more of the details of their trip -- how Juniper entertained everyone at the gate by trying hard to do a real jump (she is almost there!), how Primrose told anyone and everyone that she was on her way to Copenhagen to visit her grandma (leading all to think she was going to reunite with her Danish relatives) and all the while, Primrose chatted away and Primrose looked around her in amazement. So much has changed so quickly!

In the apartment, after some snacking and exploring...

... the kids are settled down for a nap. I go out to grab a cup of coffee...

... and eventually, we all head out... 

(ready to go! "can I take my goldfish crackers?"))

(loves to ride the tiny elevator)

(so windy!)

... to do some grocery shopping at the local supermarket. This is always a lovely part of foreign travel: visiting a grocery store that does not overlap in many ways with yours back home.

(like in France, their grocery baskets are on wheels; no big shopping carts here...)

(someone else likes the idea of rolling it around!)

In the evening we go to a place that is again familiar to the parents, as they'd been there before. I dont know how to describe it except to call it a neighborhood of brewpubs (scores of them!) that opened in what I think is the old meatpacking district. The one they like is called WarPigs -- a place that is styled after the smoked BBQs of Texas, but with a Danish twist.

It's crowded, happy, very informal and everyone is in great spirits!

It's now after 8 and way past the kids' bedtime, but the parents want to shift them to a later schedule, so they propose we walk over to Tivoli Gardens for a first but certainly not last visit there. For me it's perfect because my hotel is close by. For the kids it's perfect because even if you do not ride the rides (they'll do that another day), just walking through this famous and old fashioned park brings out sparks of joy, even if you've been traveling forever and you are on a totally weird schedule and everything around you is crazy different.

Here we are, amidst showers and sunshine, pausing for ice cream for the kids...

(Danish people do not pause in their fun just because it rains; they merely take out their umbrellas!)

And in the end being magically embraced by a rainbow, making this truly a memorable end to their first day here. Hey, my first full day here!

We part ways now. I marvel at their stamina! They bravely trudge home as I turn toward my hotel. 

(the hotel's courtyard has a lovely glass dome, converting it into an expansive lobby...)

We'll meet up tomorrow morning. 

In the meantime, I enter my new room, feeling happy about the bigger windows! 

(A real dilemma: would you like small windows with a great view or large windows with a lesser view? I tried both. Turns out big windows trump great view!)

It is of course wonderful to be here with "the kids," but moreover, it is also wonderful to not be the planner, the one responsible for choosing the right amount of food, of walking, of excitement. They make all the day's decisions. I merely go along and for good reason! They choose well!

Until tomorrow then! 

With so much love...