Koebenhavn

Update: I wrote this blog 10 days ago, on our way back from Copenhagen. We didn't get internet in our house until Monday, so I haven't been able to publish it! In the meantime, our shipment arrived from Missoula, we had a very nice Christmas, and Berlin got several inches of snow!! More of all that to follow, I hope. For now, here is my Copenhagen trip report:

I am back on the train after a lovely couple of days in Copenhagen. I could get lots of blogging done at home if I only had a 7-hour train ride every couple of days! We thoroughly enjoyed our time away from Berlin and are so glad we forced ourselves to take this trip. I credit Dan who, in the midst of early chaos in our first weeks in Berlin, said that we absolutely had to prioritize booking a holiday trip. After all, seeing Europe was one of the reasons we embarked on this whole adventure.

Our train drove onto a ferry that crossed the Baltic sea

Sidenote: Another time maybe I’ll talk about visiting a vet in Berlin, but suffice it for now to say that thankfully I found a place to board Rhythm while we were gone. This was harder than it sounds, details later. The good thing is that Rhythm has almost always been able to stay in our home when we travel, because we have a great petsitter in Missoula who comes to our house to take care of him. So I wasn’t excited about boarding him in a cage at a vet. Well, imagine my surprise when they led us back to his room:

Cat trees abound, a tree branch, and
his own window!

Wow! I hope he has had a ball. Of course it cost a fortune, so hopefully we’ll find someone to watch him in our home for next time.

Now back to the trip. We were pleasantly surprised by so many things in Copenhagen. First and foremost, there were no crowds!! Next to Berlin where we are constantly surrounded by swarms of people, we felt like we had things to ourselves in Copenhagen. We had a front row view of the changing of the guard at Amalienborg. The kids never had to wait more than a few minutes for rides at Tivoli. We easily found seats in restaurants. There were only a handful of other tourists at the museums and attractions. Ahhh, so refreshing. We were truly able to enjoy the city without feeling crushed or rushed or swamped. Secondly, there are public bathrooms in Copenhagen! I have developed a true bathroom anxiety in Berlin, similar to the way I felt when I was pregnant – where I’m always searching for the next bathroom and worrying about where I will go if I need to go! But in Copenhagen, the bathrooms were plentiful and free! Free toilets at the museum, the zoo, Tivoli, even just out in the street! What a relief, literally. J Third, we were surprised by how small it felt. It actually has just a little over half a million people and geographically it takes up a lot less space than Berlin. In Berlin it’s easy to spend over an hour traveling via public transport to another area of the city, but in Copenhagen we could get where we needed to go in 20 or 30 minutes. Of course, we weren’t traveling to the neighborhoods or to the far reaches of the city, but still we found it very convenient to get from our hotel to all the sights. And finally, we were surprised by a change in the weather forecast. Thursday night the Forecast for Friday was changed to no rain! So we got to enjoy an entire day almost rain-free. We did experience quite a bit of rain while we were there, but that made us appreciate the rain-free hours even more.

We enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Sct. Thomas and would recommend it to anyone traveling to Copenhagen. It is named after Sct. Thomas, which I learned is the Danish name for St. Thomas, which used to be a Danish territory before they sold it to the United States and it became part of the US Virgin Islands.

On our first day in Copenhagen we struck out across town to see the famous Little Mermaid statue. A prominent Danish citizen, the brewer Carl Jacobsen, commissioned the statue after becoming enamored with the Hans Christian Anderson fable which he saw performed as a ballet. The artist’s wife posed for the statue, and Jacobsen gave it as a gift to the city. Haley and I went the wrong way off the bus and came upon this statue and thought that maybe “little mermaid” wasn’t the most appropriate name…

But Dan redirected us to the actual statue, which was much more fitting. She’s not the redheaded defiant beauty of the Disney film, but you can definitely sense her longing for the forbidden handsome prince who lives on land.

We wandered around the waterfront snapping photos of pretty things, and then made our way to Amalienborg, the residence of the royal family. It consists of four identical buildings that each house different things. At noon the guard changes and we got to experience the formality of this daily ritual. It was so different from my experience of the changing of the guard in London with the crowds at Buckingham palace. There was plenty of space to spread out and watch from as many angles as we wanted. Afterwards we toured the museum, which we all thought was interesting. We had purchased a “Copenhagen card”, which gave us free admission to 72 attractions around town. We found that to be a wonderful decision, which freed us from having to deliberate over whether or not it’s “worth it” to pay the admission price for each attraction. We could feel free to go in, spend half an hour, and leave again if we wanted to, rather than having to feel like we needed to “stay and get our money’s worth”. The Amalienborg museum introduced us to the history of the royalty of Denmark. Each room was decorated to highlight a particular ruler, and many of the rooms were studies, preserved as they were at the time of that particular ruler’s death. One ruler loved to smoke and he had an enormous pipe collection. One was a soldier, and his study displayed his large collection of guns and swords. One ruler’s study was covered with photographs in frames, which seems normal to us, but actually at the time it was a great display of wealth and privilege because that was a brand new technology. Some interesting tidbits:

• After Constantine, the Crown Prince of Greece, asked King Frederick IX for his daughter Anne Marie's hand in marriage, the king made the prince wait in the bathroom while he talked it over with the queen.
• A Danish princess doesn’t wear a tiara until her 18^th birthday. Also at 18 she is eligible to wear the blue sash with the seal of the elephant, which is the royal symbol.
• The royal family moved to Amalienborg as a temporary residence after the palace at Christiansborg burned to the ground. They never expected to stay permanently, so it wasn’t constructed with the same grandeur as would normally befit a royal family. But after the Christiansborg palace burned again the royals never moved back.
• Christian VII was schizophrenic and incapable of ruling, so the Crown Prince at the time was the effective ruler. But the king still needed to sign all documents and decrees and the prince and king lived in 2 separate buildings. The prince got tired of walking back and forth between the buildings in the inclement weather, so they constructed a colonnade between the buildings. The entire construction was intended to be temporary, so it was built of wood and covered with a façade to make it look like stone. The first bathtub with running water in all of Denmark was installed in the royal residence and was intended to be soothing for the mentally ill king. But he was afraid to go down the stairs to the room where the bathtub was located so he never used it. Instead, it was reportedly used by the queen as a location for rendezvous with her secret lover.
• The statue in the courtyard is of Frederick IV sitting proud and strong atop his horse. But in reality, Frederick was an alcoholic whose drinking rendered him incapable of ruling and he died at age 42 of “lifestyle-related causes”.

We had lunch in a cozy spot in the pretty Nyhavn area. It was blustery and cold outside, so we were glad to warm up inside, and Christmas music was playing. I was determined to try traditional Danish food, even though it didn’t sound incredibly appealing. I ordered the Christmas menu, which included 3 types of fish, brie, and a rice dessert. I even ordered the traditional Schnapps, which was recommended to accompany the meal.

I love brie, so that was tasty, but I wasn’t a big fan of any of the fish. Sidenote: apparently herring used to be so plentiful in the sea around Copenhagen that you could scoop them up by hand. The Schnapps pretty much made me gag! But the rice pudding was good. I had been warned that Copenhagen was very expensive, but we still weren’t prepared for the cost of the food. I think this was the most expensive lunch I have ever had, about $125!!! Turns out that is really about par for the course in Copenhagen. A few weeks ago in Berlin I was meeting some new friends for coffee and I was talking to another American about how expensive Berlin is. A lady from Denmark piped up incredulously and said how cheap everything is in Berlin. And now I understand why she has that perspective. Food in Copenhagen seemed to cost 2-3 times what it would in Berlin.

After lunch we stopped back by the hotel to add layers before heading out to the main event, Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli was beautifully decorated for the holidays. Everywhere we looked were lights, Christmas trees, and beautiful winter scenes. There was fake snow in some of the scenes to make up for the glaring lack of actual snow. There was a Christmas market at the entrance in a Nordic theme, complete with sleighs you could sit in and cover up with a fur blanket and sip a hot gluhwein which, unfortunately, we didn’t get to do because the kids wanted to head straight for the rides. 

We shelled out the big bucks for wristbands for unlimited rides and the kids were off! They rode the swings twice and the galley ships twice before discovering their true love – the roller coaster.

They rode the roller coaster over and over and over, at least 15 times. With the light crowd they were really able to take advantage of the wristband and maximize their rides. It rained on us some, but only off and on so it wasn’t too bad, and there were overhangs that we could stand under. There were also come cozy indoor places to hang out and get hot food and drinks while your children rode the rides; our kids are a little too young to turn loose in the park, but I could see that being a very pleasant way to spend an evening if they were a few years older. We ended up staying in the park for about 6 hours! I was so happy to see the kids having so much fun. They have been under a lot of stress for many months and haven’t been able to do much that is purely for fun and is totally under their own control.

Saturday we decided to split up. The kids and Dan wanted to go to the science museum and the planetarium; I wanted to go to a history museum and the zoo. With our Copenhagen cards and Google maps, it was easy for us to go separate ways. I went first to the Museum of Copenhagen, a strange little museum near our hotel. I was hoping to learn about Copenhagen’s history and culture, but the exhibits were strangely specific. For example there was an exhibit on immigration to Copenhagen, but instead of telling the broad story of how the city was populated from different nationalities and the different conflicts presented by immigration, there were a whole display of individual people and their stories, like “This is Christina. She is a nurse that came to Copenhagen from Great Britain, etc.” I did learn a tiny bit about how originally the area was heavily influenced by Germany and was German speaking, but as the people began to develop a sense of Danish nationality German speakers and German things fell out of favor and began to be rejected.

There was a large display called Green Copenhagen about the city’s efforts to be environmentally conscious and also the way people use parks and outdoor space, but again this topic sounds more interesting than the actual display was. I did learn that it rains on average 113 days per year, almost 1 out of every 3 days. With global climate change the city’s sewers are being overwhelmed by the large amount of rainfall and the city is trying to implement rooftop gardens and other tools to absorb all the moisture.

The most interesting thing about the museum was an exhibit called Copenhagen Underground. It consisted of lots of artifacts that have been found over time underneath the city. It’s interesting to think how there is such a small amount of land and it has been around for so many years, that things are continually being torn down and rebuilt in the same space. Every time ground is broken for a new construction, there is the potential to find articles that have been buried over the previous generations. Copenhagen has very wet soil, which I would think would cause things to rot underground, but apparently somehow the moisture is responsible for allowing items to be preserved. So on display were leather shoes from days gone by, an intact wig, a German lotion bottle from the days of the German occupation of Denmark during World War II, some bones that had been carved into blades and used as ice skates, and even a human skull with a hole in its top, presumably left over from the early days of Havn when heads were displayed on stakes outside the village to deter invaders.

Next I headed to the zoo and was able to enjoy it in the sunshine for a little while. I loved being there by myself and being able to stand and watch the animals for as long as I wanted to, without anyone rushing me on to the next exhibit. I spent a long time watching the 3 beautiful lions, just overgrown kitties lazily lounging in the sun. At one point one female was in the tree and the other sat just beneath, idly batting at the tail of the one in the tree. There was also an exhibit with three gorgeous tigers.

I watched the chimpanzees for a long time.

They are picking up the flooring to look for food, which
had just been dropped from the ceiling.

They were amazingly agile, swinging with grace up, up into the rafters and quickly across the whole room. There were several babies in the group which were easily carried on backs or stomachs. Everyone knows how “human-like” chimps are, but nevertheless it was touching to watch mother and child cling to each other in an embrace. 

I also spent a lot of time with the baboons, who were less human-like but equally intriguing. I watched a family where a mother was painstakingly grooming a child, while a baby continually pestered the child, biting and pulling his tail and his arm. Reminded me of siblings at our house! The spider monkeys were entertaining too, racing around their enclosure at an alarming speed and tumbling over each other in play, like kittens but at twice the speed. These monkeys scared me though, because they reminded me too much of the monkeys in Kenya. When I approached the window I think they were attracted to my bright blue umbrella and a whole bunch of them gathered in the window pressing up against it. It gave me the heebie jeebies.

Isn't the giraffe's skin beautiful?

One of the main reasons I went to the zoo was to see the polar bears in the Arctic exhibit, but unfortunately that exhibit was closed for renovation and the male polar been had been relocated because they think the female might be pregnant and the don’t want him disturbing her. The female was supposedly still on display, but she was hiding.  Too bad!

As I wandered around the zoo I realized how many animals I have been fortunate enough to see in their natural habitats throughout my life. Hippos, giraffes, lions and zebras on safari in Kenya, sea turtles with their beautiful flapping motion underwater in the ocean, wolves in Yellowstone, bears in Glacier, crocodiles in Florida, kangaroos in Australia. I love animals, and I love the idea of sharing the world with the incredible diversity of species.

Sometime after I entered the chimpanzee exhibit indoors it began pouring rain, so that when I left the building I left in a downpour. I had brought my umbrella so I was still able to make my way around, but before long my shoes and pants were soaked. Luckily there were lots of indoor exhibits so that I could periodically escape the weather, but by mid-afternoon I was ready to get out of the cold rain. I took the bus across town to see Christiansborg palace, the office of the Danish government. Unfortunately, I took the bus in the wrong direction. Once I realized my mistake, I hurriedly got off and accidentally left my umbrella on the bus. Darn!

Christiansborg is another example of building over and over again in the same spot and unearthing history. You can visit the ruins underneath the palace and see remnants of the original castle of Bishop Absalon who is considered the founder of Copenhagen, and also remnants of the first Christiansborg palace, which was built on the same site. This ill-fated palace was the most splendid and expensive palace in Danish history, but it only stood for 52 years before it burned to the ground. The fire started in an overheated stove pipe in one of the bedrooms and quickly spread through the empty spaces behind the walls into the fireplaces, filled with wood, that were in every room. The fatal blow was when the fire spread to the attic, where the stores of dry wood were kept. The whole palace went down in flames quickly, along with all the treasures of the kingdom. Nine years later, the palace was rebuilt on the same site, only this time not quite as splendidly and with protections against fire, including iron fire doors and fire-fighting supplies like axes and buckets. But, sadly, just 54 years later this palace also caught fire through an overheated stove pipe. The fire department was called and they arrived quickly, but despite the precautions the fire spread quickly through a series of secret tunnels in the palace that the fire department was unaware of. In addition, the fire had started underneath the Great Room of the palace and the firemen were denied access to that room by the palace custodian, who didn’t want them tramping through it because the floors had just been polished!

The final stop of the day was the Tycho Brahe Planetarium, where I met the kids and Dan after their day at the Experiencieum science museum, where they got to pretend they were bobsledding, ski jumping and ice skating, as well as try lots of other more typical science-y exhibits. 

Haley is figure skating!

At the planetarium we saw a 3-D movie about D-Day in their theater. I didn’t know much about D-Day, and it was fascinating to learn a little about the complexity of the planning that went into that day. One of the things I hope to do during our time in Berlin is to read about and study World War II, and visit some of the pertinent sites here in Europe. Dan and I both came away from the moving thinking we’d like to visit Normandie, but probably when the kids are older. It is thought-provoking to be living in Germany and to read a book (my book club just read War Brides) or watch a movie about the horrors of WW II. You don’t have to think too hard to identify some examples of atrocious national behavior in US history (slavery, displacement of native peoples, etc.), but Germany bears the weight of having been responsible for more than 60 million deaths worldwide. Of course most people alive now had nothing whatsoever to do with that, but still I wonder if it is a burden on the national conscience. Maybe someday I will be good enough friends with some of the Germans here to talk to them about it.

After the movie we went looking for food near the hotel and decided to try Vietnamese food, which I had never had. The kids were skeptical, but we all ended up cleaning our plates! Haley had been craving fried shrimp and kept asking at the restaurants if they had a shrimp basket. ☺ Well, here they had fried shrimp with a sweet chili sauce that the kids devoured. Also a big pot of soup with meatballs, fresh herbs and noodles, and a rice noodle dish with chicken, chilis and peanuts. So good!

I have to admit my spirits are deflating a bit as we head back to Berlin. We are going back to a cold home with no furniture and our stuff spread all over the floors because we have no closets or cabinets and haven’t even had time to tidy it into piles. However, I’m thankful for a few nights in a bed off the ground with appropriate heat, and I’m feeling a little bit recharged to take on the next round of tasks, first on the list being to get ready for Christmas! Tuesday our belongings are supposed to arrive from Missoula, so it will be like Christmas a bit early. I can’t wait to have more than 4 shirts in my wardrobe! This morning we received an invitation to have Christmas brunch with some new friends on Dec. 26. I am overwhelmed by the kindness of a few people who have reached out to us early on; I certainly didn’t expect to receive these kinds of invitations so early in our stay. I’m going to try to keep a positive joyful attitude this week and keep Christmas in my heart, even though it’s so different from other Christmases in the past. Celebrating Christmas in a church we like and spending it with new friends will give us plenty to be thankful for.