July 18th Our Scandinavian trip began with a snafu. The Connecticut Limousine failed to pick us up for the 12:10 PM limousine. Fortunately, this was the only problem of the trip and we were on our way on the 1:10 PM limousine. We still had plenty of time at the airport before our flight left--an hour late. However, we arrived on time. We met the Minnesota Gary Andersons as we boarded the flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. Sewing the ETBD patches on the back pack made us identifiable. Actually, we had pretty much narrowed down the possibilities too because of a large group from Globus and another large group being assembled to cruise.

July 19thOn our arrival at Kastrup airport, we managed to find a working ATM and then shared a taxi with the Andersons to Ibsens Hotel. Our room was ready so we dropped our things and took a short walk before returning for a nap. The hotel was newly remodeled and now had bathrooms in each room. This was our first Scandinavian bathroom and we were amazed at how small it was. It was only 4 foot square and included a toilet, corner basin and a shower. It turned out to work quite well.

After our nap we went looking for the Stroget (successfully), did some window shopping and ended up on a canal boat ride. Our polartecs came in handy since it was only about 60 degrees and breezy. After our ride, we walked to the other end of the Stroget and then went looking for RIZ RAZ for supper. We had a delicious vegetarian buffet. We headed back towards our hotel and then past it to the lakes which we later found out were part of an old moat around Copenhagen. We found an Internet café, Babel only two short blocks away from our hotel.

July 20th Today we were up to meet Yvonne Nielsen from rec.crafts.textiles.quilts who took us on a wonderful tour of Zealand the area just north of Copenhagen. Our first stop was at Louisiana Art Museum which is a lovely old building with modern attachments in a fabulous location. Not being fans of modern art, we still managed to find two pieces that we enjoyed. The first was a three foot high movable statue next to a bell (about two foot high). There was a switch which Dave, of course, pushed. Nothing appeared to be happening so he turned away and at that moment, the statue bangs the bell with its head causing Dave to jump a foot or two. The second piece was a film of a Rube Goldberg device but after 20 minutes we saw no end in sight and everyone was laughing with each new task. The compelling reason to stop at this museum is the view toward the water outside.

Our next stop was at Kronberg Slot (of Hamlet fame but not built until after Hamlet) where we walked around the exterior and enjoyed the views of the water. We had lunch on the terrace of a thatched cottage. Dave and I had smorrebrod and Yvonne had a club sandwich.

Our third stop was Fredensborg Castle where the Queen of Denmark has her summer home. We walked through the gardens and especially enjoyed her vegetable garden which was doing quite well this summer.

Our fourth stop was at Fredericksborg Castle but we just took a few pictures. Our fatigue was catching up with us. Yvonne left us at our hotel for naps which we desperately needed. Later in the evening we went to Le Bistro in the train station for dinner but it was full and we ended up at an Indian buffet at Scala--not a good choice. After dinner we found our way to Nynhavn and then back to our hotel.

July 21st After another delicious Viking breakfast, we walked to the National Museum and spent several hours looking at the exhibits--finishing up with lunch (more smorrebrod). After lunch we walked through the grounds of Christianborg Slot and continued to Vor Freslers Church in Christianshavn. We caught our breath and then began the climb of 400 steps to the top. Some of the steps were ladders. The last 50 or so steps were outside and it was quite windy but the view was wonderful. We still had time for a nap and then we met our tour guide, Jane Klausen and tour mates. At 7:00 PM a group of us went with Jane toward the Stroget with Jane pointing out some recommended restaurants. We tried to eat at Det Lille Apotek but it was booked so we ate at a Greek restaurant. I had mixed fish on a skewer, Greek salad, rice and ice cream for desert.

July 22nd Our day got underway when we met with Jane at 9:00 AM for a walking tour and a history lesson about Copenhagen. We learned of the historic ramparts and moats and then walked through some interesting squares to see some of the original architecture. Jane translated some of the street names for us: Skin Street, Meat Monger Street, Comfort Street. We finished up walking to the TI and the train station and made reservations for a sleeper from Bergen to Oslo. This time we ate successfully at Bistro (a large and wonderful lunch). In the afternoon we spent an hour or so at Ny Carlberg Glyptotek and then napped. We spent the evening at Tivoli.

July 23rd Our first visit found us at Rosenborg Castle. We spent several hours looking at royal knick-knacks and the crown jewels. We then walked to Stroget for Dave to sketch a street tile pattern and for me to look at Quilter's Paradise and Royal Copenhagen China. From there we walked around Amalienborg Palace and to the harbor front. We ate lunch at Zar's on Nynhavn. Dave had fried plaice topped with shrimp and caviar and I had smoked salmon and asparagus. The rest of the day is a fuzz except for the fact that we did laundry at Pam's Vask. Oh, I remember. We ate polser (hot dogs) on Stroget in the pouring rain and checked the Internet at Babel. Our plan to take the Night Watchman's Tour was rained out.

July 24th We were met at the hotel by our bus and driver, Fleming. After a driving tour of Amelienborg Castle and the citadel, we drove to Roskilde where we saw the Viking Ship Museum which displays the ships deliberately sunk in Roskilde fjord to deter an enemy attack. Besides the display of the "old" ships, there were workshops recreating the same designs. Our next stop was at the Cathedral (Domkirke) where 38 Danish kings and queens are buried. This stop included a picnic lunch of Danish breads, meats, herring, gravalax, fruits, vegetables, cookies and a Wienbrod (Danish pastry to Americans). After lunch we crossed the new bridge to Funen (to the tune of $500 approximately for the bus and all the passengers) and continued to Odense to see the Hans Christian Andersen Museum. I had anticipated seeing the Danish home the way he lived in it but it has been turned into a museum and his entire life is well-documented on the walls. In the garden, "The Emperor's New Clothes" was being performed in the garden. Of course we didn't understand the Danish but the play was still easy to understand.

We took the 4:15PM ferry from Svendborg to Aero and walked to our respective hotels. Some of us stayed at Det Lille Hotel (including us), some at Pension Vestergade and the remainder at Hotel Aerohus. All of the tiny hotels were quaint but the Vestergade had lovely antique furnishings. We had a group dinner at Det Lille Hotel with fried plaice. The evening culminated with the introduction of our buddies. After dinner we walked through town. Aero can only be described as the equivalent of New England's Nantucket.

July 25th Our day was occupied with a tour of the island of Aero. We climbed old ramparts, visited a church and its cemetery, scrambled down the chalk cliffs to the sea and visited an ancient burial ground. At noon, we returned to town and Dave rented a bicycle while I joined Carol, Norm and Marjorie and went for lunch, a walk, shopping, and a cappuccino and toured the Bottle Peter Museum to see the tiny dioramas in interesting old bottles. At 4:00 PM there was a choral concert in the local church--quite well done and then I met Dave for dinner. We joined Jane and many of the others for a mixed grill and red berries and cream (rod flod mid flog) at Mumm's. After dinner we walked down to the waterfront and watched the ferry arrive, unload, load and leave for Svendborg. We continued out to another beach to see the tiny beach houses.

July 26th We left Aero on the 9:00AM ferry but not before many of us made our purchase at the bakery--the line was out the front door.

The highlight of this day is our trip to Jane's parents' farm to enjoy a typical Danish Sunday dinner. The farm has been in their family since 1849, but its future is uncertain since neither Jane nor her brother, Jens (?) are interested in taking it over. We started with the herring course (three kinds) which also included red cabbage. The second course was liver paste which tastes better than it sounds. The main course was ham with a crunchy crust. Then, we went for a walk in the woods near the beach. We visited a "long dom" which is an ancient burial mound. After our walk, we returned to the house for desert, coffee and cherry herring. Maria, a local high school girl, brought out one of the horses and demonstrated his Andalusian riding style. We walked to a neighbor's thatched roof home and had iced tea in a beautiful garden and sat around a fire. We left about 9:00 PM to return to Copenhagen for our overnight train to Stockholm.

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