Copenhagen

Bikers everywhere  - They have
their own lanes, their own stoplights,
and generally own the roads

Copenhagen was a comfortable and stylish stop in Denmark.  Everything was automated - from the luggage conveyor belt in the airport that automatically sensed when there was a gap to drop another bag, to the metro that ran about every 4 minutes automatically.  It's a clean, efficient, and very livable place that's laced with canals and bike lanes.  And, like Norway and Croatia, it's apparently a very honest one.  The trains and metro tickets worked off the honor system and the zillions of bikers cruising around the city trustingly employed only wheel locks when they prop their bikes up and walk away.

The opera house

The royal family of Denmark
 . . . and me

The city is small enough to be accessible and old enough to have a lot of culture to offer to tourists like us. Everything in this city seemed to be named after one of their kings who are all named Christian.  There was Christiansbourg, Christians Havn, Cristiana . . . you get the picture.  Denmark's is the oldest royal family in Europe and the many elaborate palaces, towers and gardens are testimate to the wealth they wielded in the past and present days. 

Thrones in Rosenborg

The crown jewels display
includes some very fancy guns

We spent our days wandering around the palaces, museums and parks and our evenings enjoying food and drinks.  We toured Christiansborg (the tower, the royal chambers, the ruins and the stables), admired the Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Saviours Church), wandered through Christiana without taking pictures of the pot dealers, paid our respects to The Little Mermaid, gaped at the royal riches at Rosenborg, savored the food in Ny Havn, admired the many boats along the canals (Colin is also a sailor), wandered through the Gliptotek, strolled the famous Stroget, circled the Opera House and Playhouse, breezed through the National Museum, and ate our way through Paperoen.  One day, we met up with one of Colin's friends, Nanna, who agreed to show us her city . . . except we ended up showing it to her :) 

Nanna, Colin and Julie in Ny Havn

Paperoen - a warehouse filled with
gourmet food trucks.  We need one
of these in Houston!

A view of the spires from Christianborg
tower

Pictures inside Christiana are still
verbotten because pot is technically
still illegal, despite the many dealers

A memorial to Danish soldiers

The humongous organ
at our Saviours Church -
Note the blue elephants

The famous and underwhelming
Little Mermaid

Nanna did introduce us to the traditional Danish curry herring open face sandwiches.  In fact, the food in Copenhagen was top notch, as you would expect from such a cosmopolitan city.  Our first meal was at a fancy restaurant that served modern Danish tapas and some of the best composed and executed drinks I've ever had.  It's a good thing we also enjoyed the free food and wine at the hotel or we would have felt the pinch of the Danish prices.  Thank you Colin for the hotel upgrade, the laughter and the companionship on this leg of the journey.  

It's official

Best. Bartender. Ever.
He's a PhD Biochemist candidate.  Drinks were
precisely prepared with syringes and beakers

Next stop: Belgium and the Netherlands