6.22.08 (Sunday) Copenhagen

Sunday, June 22^nd

Forecast: 68F high with 10% chance of rain

This morning we woke up at 8:30am after a soundless and deep sleeping night. We took quick showers and then set off to explore more of Copenhagen. This was our last day in the city and we hoped to make the most of it. So, we lugged on our heavy backpacks and headed towards Osterpark. This park was just northeast of our hotel and offered a view of beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, while we were walking around the park, it started to rain! It would continue to rain off and on all day.

After strolling through the park we made our way to the Rosenberg Castle. The castle/palace was much smaller than we had anticipated but nonetheless it was spectacular on the inside. My dad paid extra to get a ‘photographer license’ so that he could take pictures inside the palace. (I have added these pictures to the ones Jon already posted) The walls in most rooms were covered in gorgeous textiles. The palace was even complete with a glass and porcelin room! In the upper level three thrones were displayed. One is said to have been made with the horns of a unicorn.

When we exited the palace, it was still raining outside. Our next destination was to walk through the adjoining park, King’s Court again. We walked through the park on our way to the Marble Church. Since the church was closed yesterday when we walked by, we thought we would try it again today. The church was open for visiting. When we walked in we were immediately entranced by the stunning gleaming of the marble stones and high vaulted dome ceiling. We realize how this dome can be the third largest in Europe now!

Our next stop was to find a place to eat lunch. My parents now have experience on this: It is not as easy sometimes as it might sound to find a place to eat while you are traveling! My parents spotted a restaurant called Nyapen where we ate lunch at. Jon had the lobster soup and I had a large burger. Everything was delicious.

While we were eating the rain had stopped, but as soon as we were done and started walking again the rain began as well! After the satisfying meal, we headed towards the Royal Theatre then we walked south a bit in search of a souvenir shop. We had not seen a souvenir shop since we arrived in Copenhagen, so we hoped we would find one before we left! It is surprising that we had such a hard time finding a souvenir shop, because every other place we have been to have had no problem finding a shop. In fact, most of the time we see too many stores and then that makes our decision really difficult when it comes to picking out a souvenir.

About a half hour later, luckily Jon spotted a souvenir shop! Since it was still raining, and that it was one of the only shops we had seen, we decided to take our time in selecting a souvenir. Jon got a shot glass that says Kopenhavn on it and Katie got a rock with the Little Mermaid on it.

Relieved that we had found a place to get souvenirs, we wandered back into the rain in search of a place to rest our feet. The only place we could think of was to walk 15 minutes to the train station. Once in the train station, all the benches were filled with people who probably had the same idea as us. Thankfully though, in the back of the station they had several steel beams lying down. We used the beams to sit on.

By this time, we had seen more than what we had hoped to be able to see. So, once our feet were rested we walked to the Glypoteck where we were able to walk through a meticulously manicured garden. Then, we walked to the Christianberg Palace. In the area surrounding the palace, we walked through a small arch entry way into a garden with a beautiful fountain. Here we rested our feet … again. (My parents were such troopers they never ‘needed’ a break – I was the one that would make us sit down. It is difficult to keep up a quicker pace with a bag that weighs 10 – 15 pounds.) Then, we walked through the center walkway of the palace and caught a glimpse of the ‘sand’ garden. The area was under construction, hence the sand.

Then, we walked to the Absolute Ice Bar. Unfortunately, since it was only 5pm there were not a lot of people there. This made the whole place look deserted! So, we decided to walk to City Hall. When we got to the square we found a bench to sit on (the rain had stopped at this point). A European Charity Band group was performing in the square. Most were part of the band, but there were even some singers!

At 6pm we headed to the train station where we said tear-filled goodbyes to Jon as he caught his train to the airport. Since Jon could not miss more than a couple days of work in such a short time period, he opted for the flight back to Uppsala. I continued onward with my parents catching a 7pm train from Copenhagen to Amsterdam.

I had a wonderful time traveling with my parents (though it was EXTREMELY difficult to be away from my husband!). We toured Amsterdam, Paris, and Munich together before meeting back up with Jon in Berlin. It has been quite a busy past couple of weeks and we will be even busier from now until we