Copenhagen with Sofie! Aug 9-14

Making our way to Copenhagen! We could either take a ferry or giant bridges-Sofie suggested bridges, so definitely going with that. We took the Storebaeltsbroen, which connects the islands of Funen to Zealand and is 18 km long and was built between 1988 and 1998. I love cool bridges!!

On the metro with Sofie- the girls were so happy to watch from the front seats.

Kongens Nytorv (aka The King's New Square) is the largest public square in the city. It was laid out by Christian V IN 1670 (and he put himself on a horse in the middle). I love all the old things in Europe-the history and seeing how things have lasted for centuries is amazing.

Hi Van!

The gorgeous harbor! Photo ops abound.

Which is better? Looking up or looking down the canal?

Lisbeth and Sofie wandered around with us.

Hans Christian Andersen lived in several of the buildings near the harbor during his lifetime-the red one is one of them!

Behind Lucy is the the Inner Harbor Bridge-lots of people and bikes. Bike highway. :)

The Palace and the guards.

Hullo, says Frank.

Frederik's church, also known as the Marble church, is a huge Evangelical Lutheran church near the palace, built in the 1700s. We didn't get to see the inside as there was a wedding inside, but we saw the bride and lots of folks all dressed up.

Sofie always had an attached girl (or three).

Oh, the bakeries!! I could have spent all of my time just eating from bakery to bakery.

Lil snack for later.

Violet was so, so excited for a double decker bus tour, I swear-even if she doesn't look happy here.

But these two are happy!

Lu was our map reader!

Hans Christian Andersen statue. We also did see the little mermaid statue, but alas, no photos. interestingly, the poor statue has been the focus of multiple political protests-she has been decapitated, painted red, limbs removed- etc. Poor gal.

Tivoli! One of the oldest amusement parks in the world.

Gardens with Christian V on his horse!

Wandering the streets.

And cute little alleys with cute little Violets.

Playground time.

Dragons!

Rosenborg Castle, where the crown jewels are on display. I wanted to go see them, but it was about to close. Too late!

Long days for this little girl, but she was a trooper. Though we may have had several episodes where she just decided that she wasn't going to move anymore. Here we are literally feet away from home.

This one might be my favorite.

So excited to hang out with Auntie Moni!

Going out for ice cream. Sofie and her mom Lisbeth and dad Michael are the most incredible hosts! Not only did they open up their home, but also fed us the best food, showed us their Copenhagen, played with the girls, taught us some Danish! We so appreciate the hospitality! Jeg elsker dig!

I was taking a picture of the sunset, and this girl just kept dancing in the frame. She looks superimposed on the background!

The next day we headed out of town to the Forest Tower-after a pretty walk through beech trees, we climbed up and up and up over the trees.

So cool!

There are trees growing through the center!

View from the top. It was so windy.

And so pretty!

On the walk back.

The grounds have gorgeous flower fields as well.

And a huge ropes course (which we didn't do) and a little ropes couse, which was perfect.

Them we went to find some trolls! Thomas Dambo has been creating these awesome structures all over the world, and while we were finding these, our friends Theresa and her family were finding some in Minnesota! This is Oscar under the Bridge.

Look at his arm!

And Little Tilde!

She is so excited to hang out with her dad.

More fun playgrounds! This keeps moving as you walk or run on it-the girls (and Josh) had such fun.

So much fun spending time with Sofie's awesome family!

Tired girl.

Tivoli! Built in 1843, the park has been amusing visitors for years.

Gorgeous peacock stage-the tail is a mechanical curtain. Here they have been performing Italian pantomime since 1874. Just not on Mondays, when we were there.

Sofie and girls!

We were on this great ride where you have a laser gun and have to hit the diamonds that you see through the ride-Josh got a lot of points.

Onto giant swings.

And a super cute ride with all of HCA's fairy tales, one of my favorite rides of the day.

Bumper cars are not for the weak.

I love Sofie's face!

So many pretty carousels too.

With giant giraffes!

This ride looks tame until you are on it and it is going SO FAST.

Frank on an airplane.

And cotton candy that is almost as tall as the girls!

That night Michael and Lisbeth fed us these gorgeous open faced sandwiches-Smørrebrød in Danish-that were works of art! They are usually a slice of rye bread with butter, then all kinds of different toppings (cold cuts, pate, eggs and shrimp, curry chicken, to name a few), and then garnishes galore.

To the (incredibly clean and fantastic) metro-there were always a few escalators to ride, which made the girls very happy.

To Christiania! Aka Freetown Christiania. A commune that started in a squatted military base in the 70s, there are now 700-1000 people living here, and Sofie told us a waiting list of 20 YEARS if you would like to move there. It is a community of artisans, artists, musicians and people who just want to live in their own view of freedom.

Green George!

Frank and George.

Lots of colorful graffiti

A fantastic artist's shop.

So fun to watch the artist at work! My sister Maleah has one of Marios Orozco's paintings at home, and I love them all so much! unfortunately the big, gorgeous one I wanted was out of my price range...but a girl can dream! Someday.

This is actually a kindy in Christiania-like a preK.

Love mass transit!

Another view of the great escalators of the Copenhagen metro.

More trolls! This is Sleeping Louis, ypu can walk in through his mouth to his belly.

And Hill Top Trine.

After the trolls we stopped at a beach where the water temp and the outside temp were 19 and 20C, respectively. I think Josh was warmer than we were in the water.

Is Frank trying to keep her feet out of the water here?

Sofie trying on Josh's mask-now Sofie's new mask!

The lovely Michael and Lisbeth's parting gift to the girls-their very own breakfast chocolate! (A Danish company, they make very thin chocolate that you eat on top of buttered bread. Chocolate for breakfast is a dream come true...

Had to recreate this picture of Michael and Frankie-the first one was from 2017 when they came to visit and Frankie was just under 1. Michael hasn't changed a bit! Frank, on the other hand...

Sofie had to go to work this morning-group hug! Till we see you again!!

We had such a great time with Sofie and Lisbeth and Michael and Emil. And happy 25th wedding anniversary to Lisbeth and Michael!

After we said our goodbyes and thank yous, we drove up north to Helsingør to visit Hamlet's castle and Holger Dankske.

Kronborg Castle, finished in 1585, rebuilt in the 1600s after a fire, captured by the Swedes in 1658, and then used for the army from the late 1700s to the early 1900s.

Immortalised as 'Elsinore' in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe, says Wikipedia.

Magda loves castles SO MUCH.

In the self guided tour, you are given the task of finding out who killed the King, and encouraged to question Claudius, Ophelia and Hamlet, who are in different areas of the castle. These folks did such a great job! Below is Claudius' self portrait-he told the girls that if they, too, dedicate themselves to the study of art, someday, they could produce such a drawing.

Isn't this fantastic??

Climbed up the tower.

Holger Dankse! The story goes that he is the sleeping Viking, who will awaken when Denmark needs him to defend the country.

Zoom on Van's face here. Hilarious.

Frankie the guard.

Pretty lizard on the castle walls!

Onto the ferry-to Sweden we go! See Kronborg in the background?