Scandinavian Trip Part 1 - Denmark

Ever since Liên posted beautiful pictures of Norway on FB, I’ve been wanting to go there. The trip to the Scandinavian countries was booked in January.

A number of unfortunate events happened just weeks before the start of the trip. My mother fractured her L1 and temporarily moved in with us. A fracture of a tooth led to a root canal treatment and a new crown. A suspected food poisoning and possible stress made me violently ill. In the end, everything fell in order and I was on the way to Denmark with Kathy and Ngoan.

On the last day of August, we opened a champagne bottle to toast our upcoming vacation and my mother’s recovery from her fall. Then Tom dropped us off at the airport to begin our journey of adventure and friendship bonding.

Traffic was good. There was no line when we checked in and dropped our luggage off at the SAS terminal. We got to our gate with plenty of time to spare. We found comfortable sofa seats of Starbucks to relax in before boarding.

It was a direct flight to Copenhagen. Sleep eluded us, but we were comfortable and well-fed with a beef dinner and a breakfast.

We were taken to Imperial Hotel where we stayed for two nights. Although it was early morning, our rooms were ready. The hotel even gave us breakfast. At the suggestion of Kopi, our tour guide, we fought jet lag by taking a walk around town. We had planned to check out the boat cruise, but decided against it. We opted to walk on foot to be able to see more of the city. What we noticed was the large number of bikes on the road. We later learned that cars are very expensive and therefore people use their bikes for transportation all year round. The Danes are known to be fit and happy.

We crossed the canal to the Christianshavn part because Ngoan was interested in seeing it, but we did not spend too much time there. Besides running out of time, it started to rain. We came across the Christian Church, but it was closed to the public. By chance, we came back via the Hans Christian Andersen Boulevard. Kathy and I both said we didn’t feel tired, but when we got back to our room, Kathy fell asleep with the phone in her hand. I made myself a cup of tea, but didn’t drink it before I couldn’t open my eyes anymore. I woke up very hungry which amazed Kathy. She thought after having 2 meals on the plane and a breakfast at the hotel, I shouldn’t feel hungry at 3pm Copenhagen time. 

We found a pho restaurant a block from the hotel and had dinner there before enjoying a welcome drink with the group in the hotel dining room. Kathy and Ngoan stayed to chat and get acquainted, while I headed back to my room for the night.

At breakfast, I learned to love the Danish pastry which I didn’t have the day before. I’d have it again the next morning. Then we went to sign up for the 3 optional tours before going on the included city tour led by Ida. We were at the Amalienborg Palace which is the winter residence of the Danish royal family and the site of the Changing of the Guard, the Gefion Fountain with a statue of the Norse Goddess Gefion who turned her four sons into oxen because the Swedish King Gylfi promised her the territory she could plow in a night, the iconic Little Mermaid statue based on the fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen, and the Christiansborg Palace which is the seat of the Danish Parliament. At the Little Mermaid, we saw a man arrested by the police. At the Christiansborg Palace, Ida pointed out a tapestry of modern world with pictures depicting current events and contemporary historical figures, including the Beatles, Gandi, and Hitler among others. There is an empty space at the top right corner of the tapestry where Ida said we could write our own story. I’m not sure if Ida quoted a source or came up with this on her own: “We make history every time we breathe. We will be part of the tapestry.” Ida adores her queen and thinks she can walk on water. She doesn’t have the same view about the crown prince.

In the afternoon we took our first optional tour, riding on the bus along the Danish Riviera. We stopped at the Kronborg Castle, which is the model for Elsinore in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, before going to Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerod. We learned that palaces were places to live in, whereas castles were more for defense. So castles would have moats and canons, but not palaces. At the Frederiksborg Castle, we visited the Chapel where coats of arms are displayed on the wall, including one for Eisenhower who became a knight of the Order of the Elephant of Denmark, the National Museum, and the Knight’s Hall. We learned about a king whose queen died of a broken heart. After her death, he married his favorite mistress who later left him for his German general. He tried to accuse her of witchcraft but she was never convicted. We learned about a “mad” king whose wife was executed for having a daughter with his German doctor. Kathy thinks the daughter was his because she had a strong resemblance to him and his legitimate son. We learned that beds were short because people didn’t lie down on them, for fear of being taken away by Death. We learned about a king who stayed in bed all the time because he had the right to do so.

We had dinner at Tivoli Gardens. It was a beautiful place that we didn’t get to see in the day time. Via FB, I learned that Jorn, a member of our congregation, used to sneak in Tivoli Gardens for concerts when he was young.