Hello from Copenhagen!
After a reasonably uneventful flight, I landed at around 5:30 in the airport in Copenhagen. Oh, I will say I impressed myself with my packing. 9 days with a carry on! Woop! Amazing if I do say so and a major upgrade from the gynormous bags I used to pack. Wowza.
Anyways, back to the trip.. I landed and made my way to the terminal 3, where I read I can get metro tickets. I sent my friend a message and after three tries, figured out how to get a ticket. No sleep, jet lag, ticket machine in broken english.. yeah.
I headed to Copenhagen for a wedding, meeting with my friend Heather and her wonderful hubby Joacim from Sweeden. My 'date' for the wedding is my friend Marie. Marie and I met around 15 years ago-- we worked at the same company, and met in Connecticut for a training class- she lived in Boston and I lived in New Jersey. We enjoyed each other and kept in touch, so when I moved back to boston 6 months to a year later, we reconnected and became friend. Not long after, maybe 6 months later, she moved back to Sweden, which was where she was from. I visited her a few years later, and then saw her when she visited Boston, but we hadn't seen each other for around ten years. It was so exciting to reconnect.
After my fun with the ticket machine and trying to determine if I need one ticket or a three-zone pass, I made my way downstairs to where the real action is. The large space had the entry to the metro, train, other flights and had lots of milling people. I went up the escalator towards the metro and saw Marie at the top of the stairs! It was such a wonderful moment.
She got in a few hours earlier and had made it to the hotel already, so she guided me through the metro and around the windy streets to the hotel. Our hotel is ok-- nothing impressive but was more affordable than the hotel the wedding is at and wonderfully right next door! We could actually see the entry to the hotel from our window!
I took a quick shower and changed and we were on our way to dinner. The hotel recommended Hotel Zeleste, a five minute walk. We had a wonderful dinner of half a lobster and mussels, and a tiramisu with strawberries and rhubarb. Sounds strange but it was incredible.
As we were eating, I was telling Marie about the bride and groom, Heather and Joacim. Next thing I know, I look up and Heather is walking towards us! The dinner for her group was at the same restaurant! I wasn't sure when I'd be in or how i'd feel so we didn't join, but she was upstairs in a private room and saw me through a window! She came down to say hello and meet Marie, and shortly after her husband joined us.
We walked around the Nyhaven area, a very touristy area with lots of restaurants and pubs along the canal and waterways in Copenhagen. It's beautiful and actually what I expected Amsterdam would look like with some of the pastel or brightly colored houses (Amsterdam is very similar, but the colors more muted.) There were a lot of sailboats that looked very old/historic and are beautiful.
We walked a bit then stopped at the Copenhagen Admiral for a drink (the wedding hotel). No sooner do we get settled, but Heather and Joacim show up! Of all the gin joints in all the world.. (a la Casablanca..) Of course, this was their hotel so not quite as surprising, but funny nonetheless! We enjoyed a bailey then headed back so I could pass out.
Day 2:
We slept until 7 (!!!) and got ready to head to the group breakfast at their hotel at 8. It was a huge spread and yummy, with the traditional breads, cheese, meats, nutella (oh, nutella) and a spread of fruit unlike anywhere I've ever seen! There were some veggies and some traditional US breakfast items like eggs, oatmeal, bacon, sausage and yogurt. We grabbed some food, met some new folks and family members and chatted a bit, then headed out on the town.
We wandered towards the area we wanted to start in and ran into the Christianborg Palace. Christianborg Palace is the seat of the Danish Parliament, the home of the Prime Minister's offices and the supreme court. Interestingly, it's the only building in the world housing all three branches of a government. The palace has three eras of Danish architecture, resulting from two serious fires. The first in 1794 and second in 1884.
It was impressive so we decided to tour it, and got a multi-ticket to the palace, stables, ruins. The palace was gorgeous. We never did find the stables and after two tries decided it wasn't meant to be, nor important, and moved on. We did tour the ruins and found that the palace had been rebuilt twice, the last time having burned in a massive fire.
Christianborg Palace is the seat of the Danish Parliament, the home of the Prime Minister's offices and the supreme court. Interestingly, it's the only building in the world housing all three branches of a government. The palace has three eras of Danish architecture, resulting from two serious fires. The first in 1794 and second in 1884.
We walk in the direction we thought was headed towards Rosenborg Palace, but saw Tivoli in the distance so decided to go there. Tivoli is a huge amusement park, and the interior is impressive. We didn't go in but did look through the fence and the rides are very geared to children and are quite impressive.
we then walked to Rundetarn, the round tower and stopped first at the kerk, the pinkish church that the crown prince Frederick married in. The tower was built in the 17th C as an astronomical observatory by one of the Danish kings. The tower was a steep climb on a sloped path and was really fun. It afforded great views of the city at the top, a view of a hole leading to the bottom from near the top, and some inner workings of bells that used to be there.
We grabbed a snack at the Joe and Juice (funny as Marie's husband is Joe, so she was lucky enough to walk with a cup courtesy of a very friendly barista), and headed on to Rosenborg Palace (or Rosenborg Slot), when it started to rain in earnest. We bought tickets and walked the palace. Then we went through the treasury to see the crown jewels. We wanted to tour the King's Garden and Botanical Garden which were recommended, but it was absolutely pouring and my umbrella was of course back at the hotel. so we went back to the hotel and rested before the evening's festivities.
We got ready and headed to the hotel, right next door. The wedding was a wonderful mix of Swedish custom and American. We stood in a reception line with fabric draped over the floor and rose petals. The pastor (Heather's uncle) and his wife walked the aisle, followed by the mother of the bride and father of the groom, then Heather and Joacim. The ceremony was beautifully done, poignant and funny. We then had a reception line, some champagne and light hors d'evoeuvres.
Then we were seated and the Swedish wedding began. It was several hours of many funny toasts, hazings by a college friend and a school friend, and loving words from family members. [Note: the college friend hazing was accompanied by a booklet of hilarious photos of the 'Prince of the North' and his lifetime preparations for his lovely bride, and ended in a song that was hilarious!!] The meal was wonderful, wine great and dessert was a cake featuring a photo from their US wedding, and a traditional Swedish cake made of egg and water (think a lumpy-looking tower of a concoction like pavlova, though not as sweet), called spettekaka.
We sat at a mixed table, with Heather's cousin, her 7-month old baby bedecked in pink tulle, and one of the most best-behaved and adorable babies ever, her mother, Joacim's college friend, a few other Swedes including a lovely woman named Lotta that we really enjoyed.
Lotta told me that the word 'kiss' in Swedish means pee, so every time people would clink glasses so the bride and groom would kiss, she set me off in fits of giggles. Heather and Joacim had a lot of fun, and went through lots of different kisses throughout the night including some dances, dips and chases. It was adorable.
The baby was so wonderful and Marie held her much of the evening. We warned LaMonica (her mom) that we may need help extracting the baby from Marie, as she was having such a great time with her. Some begging, crying and wine did the trick. :)
Swedish tradition is that you cannot leave before the bride and groom, who stayed until around 2, and Marie, Lotta and I closed the joint. Yes, me. [I am very much a morning person!] A late-night snack was offered, another Swedish tradition, and people gathered outside in the larger room to talk. The dance room was nice with sloping ceilings, but was quite warm. Oh, I should mention that Joacim is quite the dancer, and I was very disappointed that my phone died so I was unable to record his enthusiasm. Quite a show!
True to form, I went to bed around 3:30, wired and woke at 7 very happy with myself. It is going to be a long day of course as I want to spend as much time with Marie before she leaves and hopefully not sleeping. :)
We are readying to grab some breakfast and start out day!! Have a good one.. I'll be back on to share the day a bit later.
Sam
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