9: Copenhagen Full day 1

We arrived in Copenhagen last night at 18:00 and took the ("best in the world"!) Copenhagen metro to the center of town.  Checked into the Admiral Hotel.  Discovered a very friendly stretch of restaurants and bars along a Nyhavn waterway adjacent to our hotel.  The Nyhavn waterway contained a number of boats frozen in place.

We settled on a cozy pub that resembled the crew lounge on the inside of a sailing ship, with low ceilings and low lighting, sailing memorabilia on the walls.  We enjoyed a couple of Tuborg Julebyrg beers and shared a fancy world-fusion cheese burger.  The bill was around 200 Danish Kroner, a common price for one meal in the area.  

This morning we set out to explore the town.  Despite having a list of attractions and destinations, we opted to wander around a bit to soak up the environment.  We wandered up to a peculiar tower building, inside of which an art exhibit was setup in honor of Henri Rousseau.  One ascended the tower by walking a spiral brick corkscrew.  The tower, named Rundetårn, was used for a long time as a library and observation tower for the Copenhagen university.  There was a lovely view of the snowy city at the top.

We spent much of the remaining daylight walking through shopping areas, stopping occasionally to browse or to eat snacks.  Copenhagen, like other European cities has a very pedestrian-friendly environment, with whole districts dedicated to foot traffic.   

A hidyhole in the Rundetårn.

Another hidyhole.  Look at the slope of the brick corkscrew!  It would be fun to rollerblade down this thing.

Beautifully formed snowflakes on a window sill in the Rundetårn.

Rousseau had a friendly, cartoony, post-impressionist approach to art.  It was all very pleasing.

Jon had purchased some cool wool socks at a Copenhagen department store and decided to put them on while inside the art gallery.

Becky and the gallery.

Becky trying to break-in to a locked pew inside the church that was attached to the Rundetårn.  Fun fact: the Rundetårn held the church's bell in its loft. 

We were there!  Trying to navigate to the Denmark National Museum, which turned out to be closed.

Becky posing in front of a statue.  We don't know what the statue represents or anything.

Irish coffee with a rock candy stirrer 1

Irish coffee with a rock candy stirrer 2

A typical Copenhagen walkway.  Note that this snow is not slushy at all; the snow stayed entirely solid due to the very cold temperatures.  It was very soft to walk on.

Black bikes were everywhere!  

OMG look how expensive Red Bull is in Denmark!  Just kidding, that's about $4.

Becky and the city.

Jon and the city.  Watch out for those cars slipping all around.

One of many tasty treats: chocolate-covered waffle on a stick.  This lady was laughing at us because we had a hard time giving her the right combination of Danish Kroner coins and because we didn't speak Danish.

Jon modeling a sexy jacket in H&M.  Sorry everyone, he decided not to buy it.

7: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day

At around noon on Christmas Eve the snow started to fall.

We spent the better part of the day lounging around the house, watching ski jumping on Eurosport and eating plum bread.  We joined Jayma for a Christmas Eve church service at 16:00.  Afterwards, we attempted to eat at a Kebob restaurant but it was closed for the holiday (surprise!).

Back at home we watched A Christmas Carol--the one with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge (awesome)--and opened a couple of gifts.  It was still snowing when we went to bed.

Christmas morning began for us at 10:00 when Jayma pulled home-made cinnamon rolls out of the oven.  With Cinnabon icing, these rolls were incredible.  We all ate more than we should have and then went into the living room to open the remaining gifts.  Jayma/Santa had stuffed our stockings with goodies and left a cozy crocheted blanket under the tree.  Nice gifts!  

Spent the rest of the day preparing for our 7-day side trip to Copenhagen and Paris.  Christmas dinner was delicious.

  Jayma gifted Becky a pajama top and Jon a matching pajama bottom.   

Jon's gift for becky: a robot christmas tree ornament featuring a picture of 6-year-old AYSO soccer Jon 

Our stockings sandwiching a photo of Grandma and grandpa Holland.

White Chrismas!!!!

Jon's snowy foot.  This is why man invented the shoe.

Ellie The Elf in her Christmas sweater.

Jayma and her delicious cinnamon rolls.

Christmas dinner mmmmmm

6: Snowboarding!

Thursday, December 23, 2010: Day 8
Kandern, DE
Feldberg, DE


Today, Becky and I drove Jayma's car 1 1/2 hours North-East to a ski resort on the mountain of Feldberg in the Black Forest of Germany.  While not part of the Alps, Feldberg is still the tallest non-Alps mountain in all of Germany, piercing the snowy sky with 1493 meters of earth and stone--so we still have something to brag about.  


Road conditions were slushy but still manageable.  On the free-for-all stretches of the Autobahn, tiny Audis and Mercedes passed us by at 150kph (!) while we adhered to a more weather-conscious pace of  100kph.  It was a little surprising how impatient some drivers were considering the conditions.  Amid all the traffic, Jon handled the stick-shift VW like a champ.


Once at the ski resort, we rented snowboards and boots for 20E each, and then purchased ski-lift passes for another 20E each (not too bad!).  To get on the lifts, one just swiped their card at the stadium-style entry gate.


We spent about an hour going up and down the bunny hill since it had been so long since either of us had snowboarded.  Jon felt at home right away, while it took Becky a little while to shed her chicken feathers.  After getting a little frustrated of weaving around little kids taking ski lessons, we headed over to the main lift and rode to the top of the mountain.


The views of the mountain range from the ski-lift were beautiful, and it was fun to watch skiers and other snowboarders wipe-out below us as we ascended.  The day was remarkably clear and surprisingly warm, allowing us to shed our third layer of clothes.  


After our passes expired--at 1pm--we grabbed our sandwiches and other snacks from the car and had a picnic outside the ski lodge.  With the 3E refunds that we got from returning our ski-lift cards, we bought cups of scalding hot glüwein and consumed it with our food.  It was fun to sit and German-people-watch while we ate.  American dance club music played over the loud speakers.


We left the park around 2:30pm and arrived back in Kandern around 4:30pm (dusk).  We stopped at the supermarket to get some more beer!  Back at home, we played 14 games of Gin Rummy and then went to bed.


Overall, a very satisfying day, full of adventure.  Snowboarding was such a good experience that we vowed to take at least another trip up to the Sierras once we got home in January. 

Jon showing Becky how to "hang ten".

Becky jammin'

Jon jammin'

Jon bustin' a move

Becky looking cute before boarding into the camera man :oP

Becky and the Black Forrest, from the ski lift.

Jon and the township of Feldberg, from the ski lift

In front of the ski lodge.  Old lady on the right had a lot to say to us about barking dog belonging to younger lady on the left.

Tasty snacks yield jolly spirits.

Practicing telepathy with Jon: "Do you want a slice of my tangerine?  The juice pockets are extra juicy." 

The trusty TomTom guidance device.  Without Tommyboy to show us the way, navigating the German interchanges would have been truly frustrating. 

Jon driving the VW on a mountain road, fatigued after a long day of fun and hard falls.

Becky selecting beers at the super market (there were so many to choose from!)

Becky having selected several beers at the supermarket (she got so many!)

Mild brain aneurism, induced by the overwhelming variety.  The really good, German beers were off-camera.

5: The day that was not filled with the adventures we expected

Wednesday, December 22, 2010: Day 7
Kandern, DE
Rheinfelden, CH
Lörrach, DE

Today I woke all of a sudden because Jon was having a bad dream. At least it was already light outside and we both had a decent night sleep. We eventually moseyed downstairs for breakfast. Jon ate a pretzel he bought yesterday in Basel that was filled with a very potent garlic butter that lingered for a good while.

Our plan for the day was to go take a tour at a nearby brewery called Feldschlößen. It is a well known brewery in the region, comparable to Budweiser or Coors in the U.S. We arrived at the time that the website said there would be a tour only to find out that the tour only happens if you can schedule 15 people...or pay 250 CHF..and you had to let them know in advance of your plans. So much for that.

Since it was lunchtime we walked over to a restaurant that was directly adjacent to the brewery thinking since we can't tour the facility we will still taste the product. The restaurant was filled with toys and Christmas decorations everywhere. The table linens, chair covers, drapes and majority of permanent decor was all WHITE! It gave the room a very bright feel and we sat at a round table toward the back of one of the rooms. The food was good. Jon and I both ordered something that was like a sausage loaf with mashed potatoes and carrots, very tasty. To accompany our food we had beer of course. Jon ordered a pilsner and I chose a Feldschlößen Christmas variety. The waitress brought two of the Christmas beers by mistake, but that was okay because it was a good choice.

We were all full before we knew it and had the leftovers wrapped up to take home as we ordered one more beer before we left. Jon ordered a pilsner once again, but again the waitress brought two Christmas beers! Oh well...

After lunch it was already almost 3 PM!!!! Which means that it would be dark soon and we had to decide what we were doing quick! We drove to Lörrach, about 15 minutes back towards Kandern, to take a tour of the ruins of Burg Rötteln. It should have been a good day to do this because the castle is only open to visitors on days when there is no snow or ice. Today we actually saw the sun and there has been no snow for a few days now! But we were trumped once again because there was no one there when we arrived. We took a walk around the outside of the castle and took in the views of the city below right as the sun was setting. A spectacular site. Hopefully we will be able to come back and see it on another day.

Even though everything didn't go as we had expected, we still had a very enjoyable day overall.



The very white restaurant next to the brewery.

Feldschlößen!
The brewery is built to look like a castle on the outside, unfortunately this is about as close as we were able to get.
The horse had a big butt...so Becky wanted to slap it!

Jayma was able to capture a moment between us.

The Brug Rötteln at sunset.

What is wrong with this picture?

Snuggling on a park bench, looking out on the city below the castle.

Pleeeasse! Can we come in?!? It isn't snowy OR icy...and we have 3€.

You can tell this mortar was hand mixed...look!

Yes, dear prince, you may kiss my hand ;)