Tour guide Reimerh

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Some how my normal body alarm still worked in a different time zone. Despite the late into the night honking and cheering as a result of the Denmark soccer game win, I was wide awake at 7am. It took Alex about another hour to stir so I did some online research for what we would do today.

Once Alex was up and we both were showered, we headed down to the lobby for a pleasant breakfast. The hotel had a fun mix of fresh fruits, pastries, hot foods, and cold meats & cheeses. With the beautiful temperature outside, we ate it on their back patio. After a quick trip back to the room for our items and to fill our water bottles, we took off to explore.

I snagged us some day metro passes to shuttled us across the city center to the historic fortress, Kastellet. A peaceful stroll through trees along a motel took us around to the entrance of the fortress. Surprisingly to me guards were posted because it is actually still an active military location. We entered and followed the path along the top of the outer part of the fortress to see some stunning views of the city and park area while dodging runners and dog walkers. As we finished the loop, I brought Alex back to the external path to continue around the fortress again so we could stop by the Little Mermaid statue in recognition of Hans Christian Andersen who spent most of his life in Copenhagen. We're also saw a group in a park celebrating the 4th of July with a picnic. Their table was covered in red and blue balloons as well as American flags. Fun to see that in another country.

Finishing the path back to the metro brought us to a big park which I had us walk through to end up at a nearby castle - Rosenborg. We bought tickets to go inside and explored the home of Christian IV. Security was pretty tight since there were many valuable pieces on display including the past crown and jewels in the basement treasury. Unfortunately due to Covid, the second floor was blocked off but we still saw the ground and top floors. Though I did get in trouble for trying to climb the stairs when the indicator they installed was red. In my defense, there was no sign indicating what it was for. By the end of the tour Alex's feet were tired and it was soon time to meet up with his EHG co- worker Reimerh, so we walked to the closest metro station to maneuver our way back to the hotel to meet up.

We found a bench in the shade nearby to rest at as we waited for Reimerh. He was getting a COVID test like we had done the day before as most places require one to enter. The castle checked our results before letting us buy a ticket. With us in tow, Reimerh led us back over to Stroget for lunch. Unfortunately, his recommended choice was closed. So we wandered further into the shopping district and found a restaurant worth a mix of dishes included what our advertised as Danish plates. However, we quickly learned as we started listing off our choices to the waiter that we wouldn't be getting what we hoped for. Due to the game yesterday, the restaurant was out of many key ingredients so all we asked for was unavailable. So instead we ordered some appetizers to go with the drinks we already had received. The name of the restaurant, Nova, reminded me of another disastrous experience which I shared with the guys. In college I was told about the Chevy Nova failing to sell in Spanish speaking countries due to Nova being so close to 'no va' which would roughly translate to 'not going'. Interesting trying to validate the brand online I learned that was not true. Thanks college.

Finishing up our snacks, Reimerh fulfilled our nerdy side by taking us to an amazing store with games, figures, and manga. In reality, it was three separate buildings that made up the store with others in the area being developed. There I found the best souvenir ever - a board game called Copenhagen! So of course I had to purchase it. Pleased with one success that afternoon we went to plan B restaurant that Reimerh recommended... add luck would have it, the place was also closed. We ended up at the Italian restaurant nearby instead. Good choice in the end. Full from good pizza, Reimerh proposes a trip to the Botanical Gardens. I was excited as that was on my list to set as well.

A surprisingly short walk away we explored the gardens. However, our was later than we expected and the indoor part was closing in 15 minutes. So we negotiated with them to still go in to see the butterfly garden. Many very pretty butterflies in a warm greenhouse. I got some fun pictures as well as a little sweaty. All the nature walking was rejuvenating.

When done we wandered back toward Tivoli, the second oldest amusement park in Europe. On the way we made pit stops in souvenir shops to fine an ornament for the Christmas tree. I found one of the little mermaid statue and she was holding a Danish flag. Win! At Tivoli we explored the park filled with rides, carnival style games, and food stands galore. We refreshed ourselves with drinks and tasty treats. I tried a fun strawberry tart while Alex & Reimerh opted for waffles with ice cream. Tivoli was also celebrating the 4th by having American muscle cars throughout the park. I was amazed by that - almost as much as I was baffled by the amount of Teslas I had seen. I was then in even more awe when Reimerh informed us of the hefty 150% tax on cars.

Late in the day, Reimerh had to leave for his hour long treck back home by train and bus so we walked him to the train allowing us to see the station. Exhausted ourselves by the over 28k steps and 12 miles walked, Alex and I returned to the hotel for rest. A short nap later we realized everything was closed for the day so watched a little TV and rebooked my ambitious 6 AM flight to Amsterdam to the next one at 11:30. At any rate, Alex may not ever speak to me again if I cut his sleep short, woke him at 4:30 for a flight, and had him walk all over Amsterdam too. Probably a better choice for our marriage. I am still looking forward to seeing the city again after the last 15 years may have changed things. If not, we have Interesting architecture and tasty food to enjoy.

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