our own personal tour of CPH

Even though we had great intentions to wake up at 7am on Tuesday so we did not waste a single moment of the day, intentions were not enough to wake our slumbering crew. I guess we were all three worn out because we did not rise until about 830....but we still had plenty of time to have an incredible day!!

After a breakfast buffet at the hotel, we set out for our walking tour of Køberhavn.
This was the same path that Mads and I took last January, so it was incredible to see everything again, but this time through the eyes of someone who is about to make Denmark her home, instead of through the eyes of a visitor.

Our first destination was to see the most photographed woman in the world... and although some of my family may think that I am describing Jess (since she is CONSTANTLY TAKING PICs OF HERSELF!!!), it's not.....
Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid has such a presence in her position in the harbor. Although her physical size is not all that big, it is so amazing to watch tour bus after tour bus empty out so its passengers can stop for a photo in front of this famous lady!

After seeing the Little Mermaid we passed several other sights on our way to the Royal Residences of Queen Margaret and her two sons. (Did you know that Margaret is only the SECOND QUEEN in the history of Denmark??!! They have always had MEN in charge!!) Mads gave Jess all the pertinent information she needed to understand how this constitutional monarchy thing actually works... but I think she was most intrigued by the young men whose duty was to guard the royal family! (yes, she even noticed how HOT a few of them were.... and I don't mean body temperature either!!)

The greatest moment of the day HAD to be when Jess kept talking about how much her legs were ITCHING her!! Between all the walking we were doing and the cold air, she was continually scratching her legs as we walked, but then I think she finally just could not take anymore and in the words of the movie "Pretty Woman", she "kopped a squat" right in front of the statue of FDR! She had us ROFL!

The day continued as we made our way through NYHAVN and the rest of historic CPH...including the church where Crown Prince Frederick and Mary were married a few years ago.... Then her favorite part of the day really began as we entered Strøget
...the Danish version of the Champs-Elysées in Paris... all the shopping a girl could ever want. Her task: FINDING CLOTHES THAT MADE HER LOOK EUROPEAN! It was so fun to watch! I have to admit that she did a pretty good job in her efforts!


Our afternoon ended with a train ride back to the hotel where we napped for an hour or so before heading to dinner at the home of Mads' brother in Lyngby, a suburb of CPH. Dinner was great... another chance to interact with his family -- They were GREAT...especially Emma, the 2 1/2 year old niece who kept us quite entertained all night. She only speaks Danish and kept referring to Jess as "him"...she was a DOLL! But before the night ended, she had decided that Jess was her new best friend! While Jess and Mads played with Emma, I got to spend most of the evening holding Kasper... Mads' 5 week old nephew... it was incredible!!
Thomas and Heidi (his bro and sister in law) were so sweet...had made a meal specially for this crazy vegetarian who Mads had brought home! I felt so welcomed and so connected to them instantly! We talked about everything imaginable !!
The night ended around 9 and we headed back to the hotel to start packing our things in preparation for our flight the next morning.........
which I was dreading.

I won't go into how I felt the next morning, preparing to leave and return to Texas... those of you that know me well already know just how I was feeling (and how I am still feeling). but hey...
Vi vil komme iggen til danmark ind seksogtredive dage!!!