11: Copenhagen/Paris travel day

After a very lazy morning of packing/TV/baths, we took the Copenhagen metro to Lufthavn (Danish for 'airport', pronounced something like 'loof-in', weird†), arriving at the terminal fifteen minutes prior to noon.  After discovering that we misread our itinerary (we thought the flight departed at 14:30 but really it didn't depart until 16:00), we lugged our bags over to an  escalator and found a cozy hang-out spot upstairs.

† A quick note about Danish pronunciation: every consonant that would have strong pronunciation in English is glossed over and ignored in favor of the soft vowels and phlegm sounds.  

Bottles of Carlsberg pilsner and Tuborg Julebryg (Tuborg Christmas Brew, yum) were on sale for a fair airport price of €5, so we bought a few and passed the hours drinking and playing cards at a table by the window. Around 14:00 we got hungry and ordered Bacon Whopper meals (with an upgrade of beverage to Tuborg Julebryg for only €2) from Burger King.  Neither of us could remember the last time we had eaten Burger King prior to this experience.. and when they were offering beer on tap as part of a combo meal, neither of us could pass it up.

Come 16:00 we discover our plane was delayed due to fog in Paris.  By 17:00 (after dark) we were in the air.  All in all, we spent 5 hours and 15 minutes in the airport. 

After landing, we took the RER B train from Charles d'Gaulle airport into the heart of Paris.  We checked in to our quaint, centrally-located hotel, Hotel Prince.  What a great balcony view of the street!

We walked 10 blocks to the eiffel tower for a glimpse of the city.  Ordered crepes and hot wine from a food stand next to the Seine river:  Jon ordered a plain nutella crepe and Becky ordered a deluxe ham/cheese/egg/hotdog/french-fry crepe that could have fed a family of 4.  

The streets emanate such culture! Looking forward to the rest of our stay.

A view of a central Copenhagen square.  The glass pyramids offer a view down into the metro station.

Delish Tuborg Julebryg at our window table in the airport.  Carlsberg pilsner in the foreground.

Jon's salt-laden right shoe.  I blame it on the snow control in Copenhagen.

Goofing off 1

Goofing off 2

Goofing off 3

Burger King and beer!

The oblong spiral staircase in our Paris hotel.

See? We're in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower glowed a brilliant gold at night.

Massive crepe and hot wine

A view of the foot of the Eiffel Tower.  Typical E.T. knick-knacks for sale in the foreground.

The view from our hotel room balcony.  We didn't spit on anyone, promise.

10: Copenhagen 2 / Malmö day trip

Woke up at 9:00 this morning and took a train from the airport to Malmö, Sweden.  

Spent the day wandering around.  Happened upon another art exhibit, though this time the art was very modern and homo-erotic, weird. 

Walked through a graveyard (a cemetary has a church next to it).

Had coffee at an Espresso House, which like Starbucks in the U.S., could be found once per block in Malmö.

Had dinner at a Pilsener Urquell (Czech beer brand) restaurant in the cute Lilla Torg (little square).  Becky's beer/beef goulash was palatable but Jon's fried pork knuckle almost turned him vegetarian.

Overall, the city of Malmö felt like Copenhagen's twin.

Enjoying a Caramel Apple Pop on the train ride to Malmö.

A frozen fountain (!) in a city square

Becky and the art gallery.  That woman in the corner studied the stick for over 20 minutes.

Becky's inner child 

Malmö had the filthiest snow!

Giant lamp in the Lilla Torg.  It's illuminated at night.

"My glühwein is too small and too grapey" :( 

Becky's beer/beef goulash.

The scene of a murder?  No!  It's Jon's plate after an attempt to eat the enormous pork knuckle. GROSS.

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