First of all, it was SUCH a great trip. I had an amazing time, visited some incredible cities, but most of all, really enjoyed the time with my parents. I'd just like to say that while it was a great vacation, we missed you Tommy and Bets. And for those of you who have visited Sweden/Denmark and are wondering if I saw a particular place or did a culturally significant activity that can't be missed, I can answer your question right now, yes w
e saw it and yes, we did it. Many of you reading this blog have never traveled with my family, but those of you who have will understand when I say, we Bradys know how to pack it in!! There was nothing in or out of the guide book that wasn't covered. Brady family trips are always incredible but not for the faint of heart (or foot). We're talking long, arduous days of sightseeing including every palace, theater, museum and house with cute windows (sorry Jane) that can be found. Now, I'm not complaining at all, in fact I have inherited this trait for vacation execution from my parents and am pre-conditioned to a no-break, no-rest, excursion. But that isn't to say, that these trips are incredibly relaxing, on the contrary, I find it a true vacation to be with the people I love that know me the best. And that is what makes a great trip (that are a really good chocolate store...you know which one I mean mom).Anywho, on with the trip details.
Our first stop as I mentioned earlier was Copenhagen. Because we did so much in every city, I've decided to break each blog down into a top 5 list (including funny stories or interesting sites or observations) in order to keep my rambling to a minimum (have you seen how long my blog posts are getting??? I must think I'm really interesting). So here goes nothing...
- Value for money
- Bikes!!
- Danish...sweet, sweet, Danish (pastries, not people)
- Architecture
- General awesomeness
Copenhagen is an amazing city and I have to be honest, I fell completely in love with it as soon as I got off the train. I think I made my parents nervous by saying somewhere around 50-60 times that I'm moving to Copenhagen. In the first few hours, and continuing through the next several days, I was pretty sure I'd never been to a cooler city. Everything, from the people, to the architecture, to the food, it was all amazing and I was hooked. I was doubtful I could find anything wrong with this wonderful city and was perplexed how they'd been able to keep this place a secret (only 1.2 million people live there...pretty small on the world scale). After finding out it was recently ranked #1 on the "Most livable cities in the World 2008", my reaction was only to say "duh". And then we went to dinner the first night and I was faced with a cruel reality...all this comes at a price, and that price is RIDICULOUSLY high. So for any of you who have been to Copenhagen, I'd love an "Amen" on that point. WOOOWEEE, it's a spendy little town. So anyhow, the point is that I'm starting a "Get Kate to Kovenhagen" fund. And yes, we take AmEx.
Bikes
This technically falls under the category of "General awesomeness" but I was so inspired by the biking that I gave it it's own category. Now, it doesn't help that I currently live in Bangalore, but I actually shot a 5 minute short film on one street because I was BlOWN AWAY by the lack of cars. Seriously, there aren't any cars! I told Shek
ar, my driver, about this last night on my way home and he laughed out loud (honestly, I don't think he believed me...hence the video). Everyone bikes everywhere. And for those of you who know a little bit about Copenhagen, it's a city broken up by canals, so obviously, there's lots of bridges and boats, but most of all, there are bikes. And they have big bike lanes everywhere so people can ride on the street. Not only that, but the bikers all follow the traffic laws (I'm actually campaigning for them to come to Mpls and explain it to our bikers...) and not only that but according to traffic laws in the city, they usually have the right away over everyone else. What a way to encourage biking!!! My parents and I ended up renting bikes one day and riding all over the city (its not a huge city so don't be too impressed) but it was probably my favorite day. I completely recommend it. I added some pictures of us on our bikes so you can see how cool we look :)Danish Pastries
Wow. Just, yea, wow. I'm not sure I can drum up the words to explain this better, but being someone who loves the sound of my own voice (and the sight of my own typing)...here goes: Our first morning in Denmark, we enjoyed potentially the best breakfast ever at this cute little house right alongside a lake. Filled with meats, cheeses (those Scandanavians love their brie. Seriously, it's everywhere), and oh holy monkeys...pastries. I have never been big into pastries, especially Danishes. I was wrong, I was so, so wrong. Instead of being tough and sometimes crunchy and dry, they are just...wow. Go, if for no other reason than to eat wonderful pastries. There is also a bakery not too far from the breakfast house that also numbs the mind. That's all I can say for now.
Architecture
When we originally booked this trip, I had a certain image in mind of what Denmark and Sweden would look like. Very modern style architecture, straight lines, sort of IKEA-like (based on it being a Swedish company) but I was shocke
d when I arrived. The architecture of the buildings all over the city was varied and overall, impressive. I was really blown away. More an more I've been paying attention and have just been captivated by different types of structural design and execution and to be honest, I was amazed in Denmark. It had a mix of old charm (Rococo and Baroque style) but also some very modern buildings. I took WAY too many pictures, you'll see them all once I upload them into my album, but I'll add a few throughout this blog so you can see what I mean. It was truly a beautiful city full of interesting and unique buildings.
General Awesomeness
- Nyhavn - this is a main drag is Copenhagen that is right along a canal (picture on the left). The basis of the entire street is that it's a walking street (no cars)
and also that it's just full of restaurants and bars. In the summertime, people just sit out on patios and next the water, have a beer, grab a bite and mingle or just people watch. Every city needs one of these (and the daylight thing until 11pm helps as well) - Tivoli - Tivoli is a "world-famous amusement park" that is basically filled with a ton of restaurants, some punk teenage kids (every amusement parks has them), and a few rides. We went on our last night, and honestly, we had a blast. We had a beer, ate organic hot dogs (yikes!) and rode a roller coaster. It was a blast!! Mom, because I love you and hate embarrassing dad outside the family confines, I have not included the picture from the actual roller coaster ride i
n the blog and instead included the adorable picture of you and dad on the right. It was pretty comical though and I have both copies :) - Danish companies - Maersk and Carlsburg. The largest shipping company in the world, who I became acquainted with during my time as a Business Analyst and Carlsberg beer. Nice work Denmark.
- Water/Parks - because of the canals and then the beautiful parks and flowers everywhere, Copenhagen just feels so alive and, well, awesome. It really is the combination of all the above but I would be remiss if I didn't call out specifically the greenery and the...bluery (of the water). I took way, way, too many pictures of flowers and stuff, but seriously, I was impressed.
From Copenhagen we took the train the Malmo, Sweden...but that is for the next blog.
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