Flooded by Red & White

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Unfortunately our flight left Dallas late putting us in to Amsterdam an hour and a half later than planned and put us at risk of missing the connection to Copenhagen unless it was delayed. I made sure we were packed and moving as soon as that aircraft door opened. We were lucky in that the AMS airport didn't dump you into a customs hall immediately after deplaning so we power walked our way across the airport. We may not have been the absolute worst gate pair connection in the airport but it was close. We went from the far end of G through the mall of an airport through a respectably short customs queue to the departure gate at the far end of D. It was at a minimum a mile walk. Glistening we rushed up to the gate where we could see the plane still parked. Friendly KLM agents assured us we had time as a large group of connections on an inbound Detroit flight were late as well so they were holding the plane. Thanking our lucky stars we boarded with plenty of time to get situated and for me to watch them through the window load bags.

Our quick flight to Denmark was pleasant and KLM gave us a tastey cheese sandwich as a snack. A different feeling from AMS, CPH was smaller and easier to maneuver with us leaving without even seeing a customs agent. An easy to follow walkway brought us right to the metro where we only had one transfer to get us to our stop nearby the hotel. A simple checkin and we were settling in and changing out of our airplane clothes.

Tired and hungry, we set out to explore the area. Taking advantage of a recommendation from the front desk we sat at a patio restaurant for a tasty, healthy lunch. Nearby we could hear pleasant jazz music, observe an unusually large volume of people with red and white clothing, and watch people whizz by on their bicycles. Turns out this weekend is a jazz festival, today was a quarter final Euro 2020 soccer game between Denmark and Czech Republic, and bikes are the preferred mode of transportation in the city.

After lunch, I wanted top get our requisite Covid test to return top the US over with sip walked the short 2 blocks to the testing site to find a massive line. Instead of waiting, we opted to explore first then return for the test. We walked along the pedestrian friendly low traffic volume streets admiring the architecture until we came to a bunch of fun looking government buildings and Christiansborg Palace. This included the Royal Library / Det Kongelige Bibliotek which was an interesting mix of modern infrastructure and old. We grabbed refreshing beverages afterwards to enjoy whole sitting outside watching boats full of families and soccer fans cruiser up and down the canal as well as groups odd fans partying before the match. Refreshed we continued our walk past Borsen over to the pedestrian shopping district, Strøget. An impressive number of shops lined this people only road. I personally was eyeballing the tasty looking ice cream shops that existed every couple feet. Dragging due to only getting about 2 hours of sleep on the plane, Alex and I returned to the hotel for a quick nap.

Three rejuvenating hours later we headed out. First stop was to get the antigen test while the masses were preoccupied by the soccer game. We breezed right in and twenty minutes later walked out with documented negative results. My plan for the evening was to explore Tivoli, the second oldest amusement park in Europe so we headed for the park. The ticket agent recommended not going into the park today as much of it was blocked off for a large screen showing of the soccer game filling the area with many fans. Instead we ate at the food court that looked into the park as the game finish watching the fans go crazy. For some reason, the fans in Denmark adopted the Seven National Army song by the White Stripes as the chant for the team. It blared over the speakers as the crowd went wild when Denmark won.

Still craving the ice cream from before, Alex and I walked over to the nearest churro and gelato shop for dessert. It was perfect timing to see the masses gather to celebrate the win and move inside to wait out rain. The energized fans could care less about the rain and continued to celebrate. In fact, the celebration lasted long into the night. We could hear them from our hotel room late into the night.

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