CPH - Thursday

On Thursday, we met Auntie Jules at the canals for a canal boat tour.  It was cold and windy, but also beautiful.  Ellie was a hot commodity, literally, because it was a whole lot warmer when she and her cozy blanket were perched on your lap.  It was very exciting to pass under the low bridges.  Ellie made sure we ducked our heads well in advance.

After that, we explored some more of the city, eating and shopping along the way.  I have now found my true home away from home in the form of a store called Illum Bolighus -- a department store for amazing home design.  It is probably a good thing (for our bank account) that this store is not in the US.  As we were leaving, there was a giant crowd outside the Royal Copenhagen store (next to Illum).  Some of them looked secret-servicy.  Then we remembered our canal tour guide saying the US foreign minister was in town. Then we realized that this probably meant Hillary Clinton!  So we waited along with everyone else.  If you look carefully at one of these photos, you will see Hillary back inside the store, in a black and white suit jacket.  We also have a really good video of her leaving the store, but won't be able to post it here (and you probably don't even care that much).

Last but not least, Auntie Jules and Ellie had a sleepover while the rest of us went to the. best. restaurant. in. the. world.  Again, literally.  It's called Noma and we ate about 25 courses of perfection.  The one course I passed on was the fish in the pastry.  You'll see Eric enjoying it below, though.

CPH - Wednesday

On Wednesday, we went to check out Aunt Jules and Uncle's E's place.  We walked around their neighborhood (Frederiksberg) and had lunch.  Then when Auntie had to get to work, we headed to the botanical gardens and Rosenberg Castle.  We didn't get to take any photos inside the castle, but the rooms were incredibly ornate and well preserved.  There was a moat and guards and everything else castle-like.  There were even thrones in the throne room as well as royal jewels in the "treasury" which was deep beneath the castle.  Finally, Ben and I stopped at an open air market and Ben tried smorrebrod (traditional open face sandwich).

ps - Does that bus say what I think it says?

CPH - Tuesday

As alluded to in the last post, the weather changed.
Cold, windy, rainy.  Hmm... where does that sound like?  Except here it's windier.  And colder.

On Tuesday, we took the bus to meet Julie at Norreport. We had lunch together and explored the Stroget (longest pedestrian only street in the world).  In one of these photos you can see how they park bikes in particularly busy areas.

We came across a beautiful tower which we ascended via a winding ramp.  The tower was completed in 1642 as an astronomical observatory.  Now, there are some pretty amazing views of the city.

Monday's arrival to CPH

On Monday morning, we flew 3 hours to CPH where Nommy, Poppy, and Uncle E were waiting for us. We hopped on the train and made our way to the flat that Aunt and Uncle found for us to stay for the next month.  When no taxis were at the station, we decided to walk with all our luggage to the flat.  The flat is amazing and totally Scandinavian in style.  Here are a few photos, I'm sure there will be more.  Best of all for Ellie, there is a trampoline in the courtyard and a giant park on the same block.  For dinner, we headed to a great pizza place, though Ellie fell asleep on the way and didn't wake up until we got home.  Also obvious is the beautiful weather that greeted us.  (spoiler alert: the beautiful weather did not last).  Oh, and by the way, Auntie Julie is super duper pregnant.  Due in a couple weeks!

Iceland - Part II

The sightseeing continued last week (Sunday).  We found a tree wearing a sweater and Ellie also got a new stuffie (stuffed animal), a very silky seal.  We took at great bus tour called the Golden Circle -- saw sights including where the north american and eurasian plates are pulling apart, ginormous waterfalls, and geysers (pronounced: geezer).  From the photos, you won't be able to tell what time of day it is.  The sky just never got dark.  The last photos are from our departure morning.  We were up Monday morning at 3:30am and the shuttle bus picked us up at 4:30am, so we could be at the airport by 5:45am.