Before heading to the airport, we took a walk through Carkeek Park to get a last look at the Pacific Northwest in full spring splendor.The deciduous Big Leaf Maples on the bluff have leafed out and salmon berry flowers are blooming. At Carkeek, canes arch over the paths making tunnels that dapple light below and break the green with spots of bright pink. The Olympics and Rainier even came out to say goodbye, their snowcaps reflecting brightly in the spring sunshine. All in all it was a good day to be in the pnw.
After a hearty breakfast, a momentary panic of lost shoes, and packing, bagging and taping my backpack within an inch of its life, Max and I headed to the airport.
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| The packing process 1, 2 and 3 |
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The flights were happily uneventful, one plane was comfortable, one was not, turbulence is scarier now than when I was a kid (I learned flying into an Iceland rain storm).
It's worth noting a vital travel tip here. Learn, remember and plan for what I will call your "last straw". A "last straw" is a some variable that you absolutely need to be going right for you to be a functioning adult. Mine is hunger for example. I can deal with acute exhaustion, small spaces, even crying babies to an extent but if I have to deal with those AND an empty stomach I turn into a blathering baby myself. I become less rational, quicker to anger, and much less compassionate for other people that's for dang sure. So the tip is to learn what your "last straw" is and plan for it as much as possible, especially while traveling.
Twelve hours after leaving sunny Seattle I landed in sunny Copenhagen. Wandering through the airport to the one door the terminal I opened it and found a hall lined with dozens of quiet, expectant people waving small Danish flags. I stopped, worried I had accidentally exited the door that the Queen was about to come through, but saw that their eyes had already slid past me to others exiting. These were just people waiting for their loved ones and waving the flag is a general celebratory thing to do like flags on the fourth of July but for any celebration.
I also noticed right away that everyone, e v e r y o n e looks amazing. Completely put together, indescribably posh and relaxed in the national ability to put together a coherent outfit. I had a similar shock arriving in Croatia I remembered too late; choosing a travel outfit for optimum comfort, looking like Carmen San Diego's more practical cousin Janet North Seattle.
After a bit of a communication kerfuffle I found the way to my friends April and Rowan in the apartment on D- where we are staying with their high school exchange student Sofie and her boyfriend Emil. We are right in the middle of the city a few blocks down from the old town. The largest street in Copenhagen is nearby and thick with bikes, busses and cars. Right on the other side of the road is the old town, buildings in bright colors, close on either side of small, cobblestone streets. The apartment we are staying in is small and comfortable with tall windows that look over a large long courtyard the size of a soccer field. Sofie says the Nazis used these buildings during part of WWII and they were bombed pretty extensively because of it. They were then rebuilt and now house dozens of families. Now they have a twelve year waiting list because of their central location, she and Emil managed to get on the list when it was only three years long.
Today is April's birthday and this morning we were awoken by Rowan, Sofie, and Emil singing happy birthday and festively waving Danish flags. In the kitchen they had prepared a picture perfect breakfast of parfaits, danishes, bread and tea. It was lovely, a wonderful first breakfast away from home, I felt incredibly welcomed.
Later, the five of us walked along one of the urban lakes to one of the tallest buildings in Copenhagen. The general style of the city is to have long row buildings, side by side the length of the street, 5-6 stories tall with neat windows in rows. The buildings circle an inner courtyard, service area or parking lot usually. The skyscraper is slowly making its way into Copenhagen though, and we visited one the Emil works in, going up to the view deck on the 18th floor for a 360 degree view of the city. With another sunshiney day and a light breeze we could see all the way to Sweden!
Copenhagen is very green with lots of old parks, ponds and lakes supporting animal life, on the walk we saw many water birds nesting in the reeds along the shore including a pair of swans. Mocking birds, doves, pigeons and crows swoop through the courtyard constantly for such an urban area. From the roof we could see different collections of neighborhoods grouped by architectural style, organized by streets all in bright colors and often sporting tiny roof balconies with people enjoying the Saturday sunshine.
Later this afternoon April and I went for a walk in a park nearby and came home to a surprise birthday party with most of Sofie's family. With big smiles they serenaded April with a sonorous Danish birthday song before we tucked into two delicious cakes. April's 24th birthday has been full of surprises and friendly faces for sure.
Sofie is able to make helpful things and people appear out of nowhere and proved it again by borrowing April, Rowan and I bicycles for our stay. Her big gifts to April were tickets for the four of us to go to a dance performance tonight across town. At dusk we unlocked our steeds and prepared to commute like the Danes do. There are more bikes Copenhagen than cars, bike infrastructure and support is just as large and important as any other infrastructure, this is known in the design world as BIKE CITY, so riding bikes and riding them well is important for us to manage. Unfortunately, the three out of towners are not so experienced and had bikes made for ladies at least a few inches taller than ourselves which made us look a bit like baby horses riding bikes made for giraffes. We wobbled up to speed tried not to disrupt normal traffic too much.
Biking through Copenhagen at night after the show was lovely if a little daunting. The evening was quintessentially springy- crisp after a warm day. There was very little car traffic and we rode home through the calm city. Tomorrow we are driving into the country to visit Sofie's parent's and see a bit more of the country outside Copenhagen . I am excited and sleepy. Goodnight!
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