Lovely Ladies of the Lijn

Copenhagen girls' weekend was brilliant!

Couple of my Holland America Line coworkers were in Copenhagen over the 4th of July weekend for a ship inaugural and had one evening and morning to play. So, I thought, why not jet over there! I spent a long weekend though, as it is still 6-hours of travel for me. In fact, I had my first experience with the Dublin night bus. My flight left very early in the morning. So I could pay for a $150 hotel room in which I would only sleep a couple hours or take the night bus on which I slept a couple hours! It leaves Waterford at 1:30am and arrives at Dublin airport at 4:30am. Very comfortable actually. Direct flight from Dublin was 2 hours though - awesome!

My overall impression is that I wasn't as blown away by Copenhagen as I have been by other cities. It was lovely, but a lot of the buildings were pretty blocky-dull-grey-bad 80's architecture. We went on a canal tour Sunday morning, which was a much better view of the city - many more of the historical buildings are along the canal. As well, the people are beautiful and the food was fantabulous.

I arrived late morning Friday, pretty tired, but okay. First on the agenda was food, and I found a cafe serving traditional Smorrebrod - delicious. These are open-faced sandwiches that you put together yourself; mine had roast beef, but smoked fish is more traditional. Then I walked, and walked, and walked! CPH is great for walking - tourist area is completely flat and pretty compact. When my feet got tired, I got on the canal bus - a flat little boat connecting the north- and south-canal city areas. When the rest of me got tired, I headed for my hotel - nap and shower, and I was ready for my Independence Day dinner.

By the way, view from my room was great: Tivoli with Sweden in the background!

Back to my Independence Day dinner. Hot dogs? No. Burgers? No. Tapas!!!! Okay, not traditional and not Danish, but I was a country girl in the big city, cut me some slack! And I was rewarded.

Saturday was another hot, beautiful day. I didn't mention that I forgot that the rest of the world has summer. I arrived Friday morning in my dark pants and black, long-sleeved t-shirt to mid-70s and humid! I had one appropriate shirt which got a lot of use.

I first explored the Carlsberg museum. The founder of Carlsberg brewery was quite the art collector, and his collection was the foundation for the museum. Some amazing works including mummies and the Kiss. Also a great central atrium for enjoying coffee and cake (for a mere $15 - I haven't mentioned prices - scary).

Time for lunch - maybe just a quick one, as breakfast was huge. Another CPH tradition - the hot dog stand. Next on the agenda was Christianbourg Palace, one of four royal palaces in the city. I chose this one because it has ruins of several older palaces in the basement and was built in Copenhagen's architectural Golden Age. The Prime Mininster resides there, but none of the Royal family. They do use it for state visits and dinners, so you have to wear these leather slippers over your shoes - classy!

Then I got the text - the girls had been released. I headed back to the hotel and walked into a lobby filled with former coworkers (feeling gorgeous). Hugs and hellos all around, US treats, quick change, and we were off to a night on the town. We walked the Stroget to Nyberg, civilised hour with local beer then off to an Italian restaurant for a lovely dinner overlooking the canal.

A few beers later, we flagged down a couple bike-taxi's for a quick ride over to Tivoli. After much more walking, some of the group hopped on a roller-coaster while Eastside Queen and I held purses. After a week of almost no sleep, the girls were done, so back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we enjoyed our canal tour, then I had to wave goodbye to the bus. I had to fight some big homesickness and decided a bike ride was just the ticket. Little Mermaid up close, the Kastellet, Rosenbourg palace and some decidedly not tourist areas all made my list of destinations that afternoon. A sushi dinner topped off the weekend splendidly, and then Monday morning I headed back home.

It was such a treat have a weekend of being silly with the girls (don't get me wrong, Ireland has some silly girls; I just haven't connected with any of them, yet). I got my yearly dose of hot, sunny weather (to be fair, we've had a nice couple weeks in Waterford, but not even close to as hot). I got to add a country to my Europe list and see some very, very dear Seattle friends.

(Here is a link to all photos).