Day 837 - Copenhagen

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Copenhagen, Denmark

We both woke up super early, like 2:30 a.m., and couldn't go back to sleep, so we watched TV until 6 or so.  We ended up watching Bruce Jenner's interview with Diane Sawyer.  It was actually pretty interesting.

Once we were ready for the day, our first stop was the Lagkagehuset bakery one block from our hotel.

Breakfast!
After a tummy full of yummy Danish pastries, we headed to the train station for our first full day of sightseeing in Copenhagen.  We took the train to Norreport and started walking.

Norreport Station

Nothing was open until 10, so the walking streets were ours.  We walked along Kobmagergade to the Canal Rides near Gammel Strand.  The first canal ride was at 9, giving us a good hour to kill.  We continued walking toward Hans Christian Andersens Blvd. and the main entrance to Tivoli. 

The first of many shameless selfies!



Alice prefers timed shots from her Panasonic

Facing Tivoli
  We had fun acting like tourists.

At the Radhuspladsen, Copenhagan
Alice loved all the flowers in bloom.

Along H. C. Andersens Blvd.

From Radhuspladsen, we walked along Vestergrade to my old stomping ground, the DIS (Denmark International Studies) offices where I studied for a semester 30 years ago.

Lotta good memories here.
Meeting the DIS Librarian Peter
That was a treat visiting this street.  I would have taken a peek inside the offices if I had the time.  Our canal ride was about to begin, so Alice and I hurried back to Gammel Strand. It was a sweet one-hour ride.

Copenhagen Canal Tours

At Nyhavn
Gorgeous Nyhavn

Opera House in the distance


Lots of great architecture to enjoy...

...like the new black diamond library

Watch your head!
After our canal ride, we walked to our next site, Rosenborg Castle.  Perfect timing, because by the time we arrived at the castle it began to rain.

Rosenborg Slot
Home of Danish King Christian IV, this place is filled with all kinds of interesting paintings, objects, furnishings and Renaissance whatnots...


...including the beautiful crown jewels!



We stayed an hour or so.  The rain stopped and we were hungry.  It was time for lunch.

My pickled herring was good, as was the smorrebrod

Alice enjoyed her pork chops and chips
And we both enjoyed our Tuborg Pilsner!
After lunch, we were wiped out.  We went back to our room and took a long afternoon nap.

Our room at the Adina Hotel, Copenhagen

By the time we woke up, it was dinner time.  We decided to go to Tivoli to find a bite to eat.  That meant taking the train back into town, which we did, arriving at Kobnhavn Central, right next door to Tivoli.

Train Station

Tivoli side entrance
We walked around for an hour or so.  It was pretty empty, being a Thursday night and the start of the tourist season.  Still, it was great to be back in this wonderful amusement park.

Inside Tivoli


For dinner, we went to Wagamama...


...and it was delicious!



Alice was so glad they had wifi!


By the time we finished, it was time to leave Tivoli and time for bed.


We came back to our room by 10.  We were done for the day.  Our first full day in Copenhagen was packed with delights.  Our trip was destined to be one of the best two weeks ever!

Day 836 - Copenhagen

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Copenhagen, Denmark



We arrived in Frankfurt around 10 a.m. and had to walk at least a mile (and through two security points) to our connecting flight to Copenhagen.  We made our flight, arrived in Copenhagen around 2 p.m., bought our 3-day Copenhagen Cards and took the metro to Norreport, then an S-train to Osterport.  We walked about 300 yards to our hotel Adina and settled in.

Our hotel
I should have been dead tired but I was too excited to be back in one of my favorite cities in the world.  Copenhagen has such a magical storybook charm to it that it's hard not to hear Danny Kaye singing in the breeze.  Alice and I took a short walk around our area, about 15 minutes south of city center near the Little Mermaid and a star-shaped 17th Century fortress called the Kastellet.

Inside Kastellet Park


We continued walking up and down streets, bought a plug adapter which we'd forgotten to pack, and checked out a few bakeries we were planning to hit hard the next morning.

The wonderful streets of Copenhagen!

The sign for Bakery Ahead

Oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about!



 After 30 years, it was such a thrill to be back in Cophenhagen!


After our walk, we bought some food and supplies for the night and headed back to our hotel for a proper Copenhagen welcome.

Day 835

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Up at 6, took care of a few last-minute details, had a leisurely breakfast, then got ready and left the house with Alice around 11:30 when an Uber driver picked us up.

We dropped our bags at the Lufthansa ticket counter at SFO and relaxed for an hour or so at the United Club lounge, thanks to two vouchers from our Mileage Plus credit cards.

Relaxing before the flight

We ate snacks, read the NY Times, listened to music and felt the excitement of our two-week adventure.



We boarded our airbus around 2:15 and fly into the sky at 3.

The tight seats on all international flights is truly unbelievable.  Alice and I are pretty small people and even we felt terribly confined and restricted.  Thankfully, Lufthansa has individual monitors behind every seat, so I was in heaven with dozens of films to choose from.  I'd seen so few movies last year that I had my choice of about ten top films from 2014.  I saw four films on our flight to Frankfurt.  First up was


I never made time for this film when it came out and I'm sorry I didn't.  I loved every second of it.  I can't think of a better film to watch at the beginning of a long trip than Birdman.  It put me in a European mindset and completely set the tone for our trip.  Michael Keaton was amazing.  Everyone was amazing.  I told Alice to watch it after she finished watching Kevin Kline and Maggie Smith in My Old Lady, but she only watched 30 minutes of it before falling asleep.

The second film I watched was just as good.


It was like watching an updated version of King of Comedy in which the film totally nails the sensibilities of America's thirst for spectacle.  Jake Gyllenhaal was brilliant.

The third film I watched was


For a Walking Tall-style retribution fantasy, it was pretty good.  I was in the right frame of mind to see Denzel kick ass for two solid hours. 

Finally, before we landed, I watched


Good.  Really intense and driven.  I loved J.K. Simmons, who deservedly won Best Supporting Actor.  There is something to be said about the artistic spirit rising to new heights in the face of adversity. 

Even though the seats were tight, this was one of the fastest overseas flights of my life.