Superlatives from Copenhagen - Just Wait and See

Now that the laundry is done – well, at least clean and in the hampers if not folded and put away – and we’re over the jet lag, we’ve taken a couple of nights to reflect on our journey. Thought you’d like to read our overall impressions of our trip in a superlative kind of way. Thanks so much for reading!

“What’s the best thing you did?”

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art – unanimous!

The museum had supplies for kids to create their own art based on exhibits in the museum.

Biggest Waste of Money –

Hotdog and Fanta at a street vendor. (Ellen) He charged us over $10 for the Fanta and the hotdog was gross.

I'm not eating THAT! — I’m not eating THAT!

It’s a weird bright red color covered with mustard and “fatty pig parts” (we later called those bacon), mustard, onions and did I mention the pickles? Yuck!

LegoLand hotel (Sarah, though she loved staying there!) It was about $500 for the night. We could have stayed for less and been really close to the park. It was a cute room though.

Funniest Moment

Middlefart! (Sarah) – Yes, that’s name of a town and we couldn’t control ourselves laughing about Topfart, Bottomfart and Middlefart. Or Leftfart, Rightfart and Middlefart. Or our favorite – Hotfart, Coldfart and Middlefart!

Can't make this stuff up. — Can’t make this stuff up.

Nine translations for Ketchup on the packet (Ellen) – Look closely at this ketchup packet. There are nine different translations for Ketchup and they all actually say Tomato KETCHUP! Contrast that to the fact that when we were at the train station, we couldn’t find a single sign translated into English and you’ll understand the IRONY of this.

Scariest Moment

Walking down a seedy street looking for dinner (Brian) – We moved past the tatoo parlors and into most likely drug zones before we realized it and turned around. We thought we were following the directions to a restaurant.

Having the Metro doors close on Sarah (Ellen) – She didn’t understand the need to get in quickly or it would be gone. I yelled more sternly than I think I’ve ever yelled at her, “GET IN!”

Haunted Ride at Bakken (Sarah) – A creepy looking girl turned into a ghoul unexpectedly. Yikes!

Runner up – Nearly getting a fine for not having bought the right ticket on the train. Fine would have been $750! Don’t worry – the story will make it to “Most Absurd.”

Most Frustrating Moment

Not being tall enough to ride the spinning ride at Bakken (Sarah)

Walking around pulling the luggage and pushing Catherine on the rough roads (Brian)

Brian pushed/pulled the luggage, we all wore daypacks and Ellen pushed Catherine. Made for a tight parade.

Closed elevators making us have to push and pull Catherine up and down stairs (Ellen)

Best Unique Use of Technology

Door Codes at Urban House (Ellen) – Our hostel didn’t require keys. At check-in, they emailed you a code and room number. You simply went to your door and entered the code. Upon check-out, it reset to a new code for the next person. And it was all managed by a computer at the front desk.

Cameras on the airplane (Sarah) – We could watch take-off and landings as well as see the land beneath us.

Best Travel Magic

Airplane Food (Brian and Sarah) – Yes, they really both loved the beef stew and potatoes.

SAS rep taking us to the lounge (Ellen)

Living the life when our flight was delayed.

Most Absurd Moment

Getting Soaking Wet (Sarah) – When it rained on us in Tivoli, it poured! We were so wet it didn’t really matter that Sarah wanted to splash in puddles all the way home. I can only imagine how a kid must love the freedom to do that.

Moving the Wheelchair to Make Room for Bikes (Ellen) – We bought our tickets for the train to LegoLand and I told the woman we had a wheelchair. When we got on the train in the right car, we parked the chair in the area where seats fold up and took Catherine back to our seats on the train. The train attendant told us her chair couldn’t go there because they needed that room for bikes! When I asked where it should go, she actually made us take it off the train at the next stop and go load it into another car! Thankfully, some nice (non-Danish) guy helped Brian do it.

See all the bikes? Catherine got to stay in her wheelchair this time.

Buying a Train Ticket (Brian) – We bought our ticket for zones 1, 2, 3, 4 and while coming back from Louisiana Art Museum, we learned from the train attendant that we were in zone 40 and our ticket was no good. We had read the fines were $750 (making this a runner up for Ellen’s scariest moment!) and fortunately, the attendant showed us some mercy when we expressed utter confusion. You look at this map and tell me if you wouldn’t have been confused! We had so much difficulty on the trains we finally routed ourselves away from Central Station and opted for the Metro. Much easier!

Red is 1, Blue is 2, then Yellow is 30 and Purple is 40. Who can even see that? — Red is 1, Blue is 2, then Yellow north of Red is 30 and Purple north of that is 40. The Blue south of Red is zone 3 and the Yellow south of that is zone 4. What? And who can even see that?

Very Favorite Food

Waffles with Cream (Ellen) – OH – MY – GOSH!!! These are amazing and I wish I had taken a photo for you to see. Imagine 2 crispy waffles, buttery, shaped like a boat with cream in between them. You can’t. That would be one reason to go back. They had made them since the 1800’s.

Chicken Nuggets at Bakken (Sarah) – She said they were something really special and gobbled them up quickly to go ride more rides.

Hamburger Steak and Gravy at Bakken (Brian) – I guess it was worth all the back and forth of “Where shall we eat?” prior to choosing the place. Whew!

Best View

Tivoli from the Skychair Swing Ride (Sarah)

Sweden and the sea from Louisiana Art Museum (Ellen)

Countryside out the Window of the Train (Brian)

The Most Craziest, Awesomest, Interesting, Silly, Cool Thing

Tivoli Show (Sarah) because they made sailboats sail on the stage

Doesn't this look exactly what you imagine Tivoli to be like? — Doesn’t this look exactly what you imagine Tivoli to be like?

Penguins (Sarah) – They were visible from the roller coaster at LegoLand when it went through a tunnel. It really was a pretty cool idea.

Funhouse Bakken (Sarah) – The floors moved and stairs were set at odd angles making it extremely difficult to walk. We walked very slowly initially and then Miss Confident, Sarah, ran through it the second time.

Music Demo at Louisiana Art Museum (Ellen and Brian) – We listened to a 3 piece ensemble on the lawn of the museum overlooking the water to Sweden. We realized one of the men was “playing” his computer. As he moved his body, his computer was producing sounds in parallel. If he waved his arms wildly, the music was fast and loud. If he wiggled his hand, the music might actually be the sound of raindrops. Then he would sweep his arms in large arcs and the music would sound like waves. It was very interesting. Afterward, I asked if he’d ever used the system with kids with disability. He said he’d never thought of that and asked us to bring Catherine over to try it. Sweet success. Catherine moved to make the music herself. Wow. That was worth the price of the airfare. I’ll be looking him up to see if there is a way we can play with a copy of it. Turns out… he is the guy who wrote the software! I love when the world works like that.

Advice to Other Travelers

Go to the amusement parks – especially Bakken. (Sarah)

Stay outside the city – much nicer. (Brian)

Figure out how the transportation system works as soon as you get there. (Ellen) Pick up a map of the whole system at the airport when you arrive. We found it our last day!

Advice for Wheelchair Users

Have patience.

Work out before you go if you’ll be the one pushing the chair.

Embrace the wobblestones.

Finally

We believe there is a lot more world to see before we’d head back to Copenhagen. We had a great time and accomplished our 2 objectives, so that makes for an excellent trip. Most important – we learned we can do it again. Where shall we go next??

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