The Beginning

After a long grueling, cramped in Economy, but smooth flight through the night, we arrived in Amsterdam. We wandered the airport till we figured out how to read the signs on the long walk to our connecting flight to Copenhagen. But, it felt good to shake out of our blurry, sleep deprived state. When it was time to board, we went out the door to a crowded, standing only bus that took us out on the tarmac to board. The plane was not quite ready so we waited with doors closed, standing on the bus as it got warmer and a bit smellier by the minute. I stared at the floor and did Lamaze breathing and was just about to start beating on the door when they opened up and at least let air in. I began to question the fun of traveling, but air worked wonders.

From the air, Amsterdam looked like a lovely area with lots of patchwork green fields, canals and boats.  It was a nice short flight from there into Copenhagen and then we were proud to figure out the train system with the help of a very kind ticket agent. Again, we were crammed in on the train with no seats left, standing with our luggage, but it was cooler, the people were friendly and the scenery was interesting. Copenhagen is six hours ahead of us, so it was already late afternoon.

Finding our way out of the station to make sure we were headed the right way to our hotel was a little bit of an ordeal. We are sure the old guys sitting on a bench in the station were very entertained as they watched us go back and forth several times to the north and south entrances as we "discussed" our opinions.

We pulled our heavy suitcases and carried backpacks through a light rain at least 1/2 a mile to our hotel wondering why we brought so much. Add to that the cobblestone and brick sidewalks which made it even worse with suitcase wheels sticking and me in sandals that kept twisting.  I wasn't my cheeriest self, but we finally checked in to our quaint hotel that made me think of Mackinaw Island. The young man in charge was so welcoming and helpful. We are lucky so many people speak English and so many of the signs have English words at the bottom. We unloaded, felt the excitement return and started out to enjoy the evening and make the most of our short stay here.

 We certainly got our miles in today as we walked seeing the fascinating sights. There were so many beautiful old buildings, quaint side streets, pubs, cafés, and interesting shops. 

I had to have a picture with Hans Christian Anderson who wrote The Ugly Duckling and The Little Mermaid. 

Then, because it was a Friday night, there were markets set up with the most delicious choices and lots of street performers. 

There was so much to see. As examples, there were two Native Americans in leather fringed clothing playing spiritual flute music that just drifted on the wind and a drum line with a crazy girl all in gold on stilts dancing in the lead. The whole Friday night, partying atmosphere gave us energy to finish our night in a festive mood. 

We finally stopped in a Scottish Pub for dinner with a Danish Beer, Mexican dishes, and an American Folk Singer, while the table next to us laughed and chatted in French! Is that international or what?!

 Needless to say, we crashed as soon as we returned to our hotel. Bob was asleep before I turned off the lights. Our adventure has begun!