Back in the Burg

After traveling 18 hours from Copenhagen with 11 bags and a bicycle box, we are safely back home in Williamsburg, VA!  The flights were just fine and believe it or not, we were charged $0 for all of that luggage.  I like to think my "Kindly Brontosaurus" technique worked on the airline agent.  Read about the technique here.

The Kindly Brontosaurus Really Works

Much Worse than It Looks

As you may recall, we moved to Copenhagen on December 27th last year.  Well, when we returned to Williamsburg, it was well over 90 degrees (+32 celsius), our AC was broken and all of our beds were made up with flannel sheets!  This was a nice surprise though.  

From Our Neighbors, Jessica & Dave

We arrived home on Labor Day Weekend and were able to enjoy the last days of summer vacation at the pool.  Luckily, we were here for the annual talent show, and Gaius got to open the show, which is our tradition.  He performed skateboard tricks!

Opening the Talent Show

This is my favorite time of the year here.  In our Downtown neighborhood, there is always something fun going on,  On Friday, in Merchants Square, they held the annual Farm to Table Dinner.  We didn't attend, but I walked over to take a picture of the table.  This event seats over 400 people at one table!

"Table for 400, please."

On Saturday morning, we like to walk over to our Farmers Market which is two blocks away from our house.  I was thrilled to find that the bouquets contain tuberose, the most gorgeous smelling flower.

Williamsburg Farmers Market

Last night, we attended the Kiwanis Shrimp Fest.  It's an annual festival that we love to attend.   It's a great place to reconnect with people we don't usually see.  Plus, the raffle at the end is always a lot of fun.  This year, we brought Gaius' best friend, Arvin with us.

Shrimp Fest!

It's amazing how fast these boys grow!  I took this picture of the two of them just before we left for Copenhagen.

December 2017

Today is one of our favorite monthly events, Second Sunday.  It's an art and music festival that takes place in our neighborhood.  They set up one of the musical stages right in front of our house!

Today is Second Sunday

Art & Music

Gaius is back to school and will be starting hockey practice next week.  He is also keeping up with his skating at our local skate park.

Our Local Skate Park (Video)

One of the drawbacks of this time of the year is that it is Hurricane Season.  You may have heard that Hurricane Florence is headed our way at the end of this week.  Don't worry.  We will be fine.  We're loaded up with water, wine and snacks.

På Gensyn!

We'll Never Be Royals

One of my favorite things about living in Copenhagen is that the Queen and I are neighbors.  I mean, she's not living right next door to me.  But you could say we're in the same neighborhood.  At the very least, I'm "Queen Adjacent."

Way back in January, after the New Year, Gaius and I saw Queen Margrethe and waved as she drove by in her golden coach.

Just like Cinderella

Queen Margrethe can trace her lineage back over a thousand years to to the first Danish Viking rulers.  She is a descendant of Harald Bluetooth, after whom Bluetooth technology is named.

Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II is the first ruling queen of Denmark, ever.  There was another Queen Margrethe (the first), but she was only queen because her son was too young to rule.  They actually had to change the law in order for this Margrethe to become Queen.  

Did you know that in order to be King of Denmark, your name must be either Frederik or Christian?

Queen Margrethe is more than just a pretty face.  She's also an accomplished artist.  She paints and is a designer, among other artsy pursuits.

Queen Margrethe was born during the German Occupation of Denmark during World War II.  Her nickname is "Daisy."  When she was born, the jeweler, Georg Jensen presented her mother with a broach in the shape of a daisy to celebrate the birth of the princess.  I have earrings and a necklace now that match that broach.

Daisy Earrings

My second encounter with Queen Margrethe was on her birthday.  I went down to Amalienborg Palace and she came out on her balcony with the entire family to wave hello to the crowd.  The sweetest thing was when the entire crowd sang to her.

The Royal Family

Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary have four kids.  Their younger kids are enrolled in the Danish public schools.  In the morning, I've been told that you can see one or the other of them riding bikes alongside their younger kids on the way to school.  Isn't that cool?

På gensyn!

Peanut Worthy

Whenever we travel, we always bring along a can or two of peanuts from the Peanut Shop of Williamsburg.  They are an iconic product from our home town and a specialty of our region.  We bring them as a thank you gift to our hosts and we give them to people who have done nice things for us.  We brought 2 cans of peanuts with us when we first arrived in Copenhagen.  We quickly went through those peanuts, and so our neighbors the Crooks brought us 3 cans more.  So, who is peanut worthy?

Say Thank You with Nuts

Can #1 - The Big Kahuna
We gave our biggest can of peanuts to our favorite Danish family, the Erks!  That's not their real last name, but that's how we call them.  Long story.  Mads and Jess have been good friends to us.  They take such good care of Gaius when he is with them.  I've heard the best music and had the best fun with them.  They even invited us over for a traditional Danish dinner!  They are definitely a peanut-worthy family.

"The Erks"

Can #2 - In the Groove

Not sure if you knew this, but Gaius plays bass guitar.  He's pretty good, so we felt bad that we didn't allow him to bring his instrument to Copenhagen.  Luckily, Jon T., a teacher at his school, offered to lend Gaius a bass guitar for our entire stay in Denmark!  He even let Gaius keep it through the summer!  We just returned the bass to Jon a couple of weeks ago, along with a can of peanuts!  People in Copenhagen have just been so nice to Gaius.  They really seem to "get" him here.

All About That Bass

Can #3 - A Friendly Face

One of my all time favorite places in Copenhagen is the outdoor market, Torvehallerne.  It's a foodie paradise.  My favorite place to eat there is Hija de Sanchez, the internationally famous taco stand.  Gaius has a friend there named Lyon.  Every time Gaius passes by the shop, Lyon always hooks him up.  They talk about skateboarding and all kinds of other interesting and cool things.  They just like to chit chat.  It's so nice!  One way we have made this huge city feel like home is by finding friends in little corners of the city.  It's so good to see a familiar face.  It really makes us feel like we belong here.

Amigos

Can #4 - Friends in High Places

One of Gaius' favorite places in Copenhagen is ALIS (skate shop) WONDERLAND (skate park) in Christiania.  Benjamin is our friend who works at ALIS.  He's so nice!  Earlier this year, all Gaius wanted to do was buy a new deck at ALIS.  Unfortunately, there was a delay with the delivery of the new decks, so Gaius had to wait and wait.  Benjamin gave Gaius a deck (for FREE) so that he could have a board to skate while he waited.  When the new decks came in, Gaius was all over it!  On the back of Gaius' new deck is a "Where's Waldo" type cartoon featuring all of the people you see in Wonderland.  So cool!  Benjamin doesn't know it yet, but he is peanut worthy.  Lucky guy!

Benjamin & Gaius

New ALIS Deck - Can You Find Benjamin?

Can #5 - Her Name Means Beautiful

Linda is a cashier at my local grocery store, Super Brugsen.  I always go through her line.  When we first arrived here and she noticed I was a regular, she always ended our transaction with, "See you tomorrow!"  Linda has given me help with Danish recipes.  She always has a smile on her face.  But now, when she sees me, she says, "How much time do we have left?"  I'm going to miss her!  We have some new neighbors that just moved in.  I think I'll recommend that they go through Linda's line from now on.

The Lovely Linda

In addition to the can of peanuts, I'm also giving Linda the rest of my Hot Hands hand warmers.  You know, cold hands, warm heart.

På gensyn!

Kindness of Strangers

We are heading home soon.  I've been sitting here thinking about all of the fun times we've had this year and all of the nice people that we've met.  One thing that I have found again and again is that Danish people are very kind and thoughtful.

KINDNESS #1
Back in May, I took a trip to Kalundborg (other side of Zealand) to hang with my friend Jessica.  Kind of like a girls weekend, but just one overnight.  

Jessica's Little Cottage

This is a Danish thing.  Check out how the shower is directly over the toilet.  For real.

Toilet Shower

It was SO HOT, and Jessica and I went on a crazy hike.  We wanted to see the lighthouse which was like 25 kilometers away.  We headed out on the trail and were doing just fine.  I remember seeing signs warning about wild bulls.  That was a bit worrying, but hey, we kept on going. 

Hikers

Wild Bulls

Following the Trail

And then we got lost.  We found ourselves at a little camp site where there was water (thank God!) and bathrooms (even better!). But we had lost sight of the trail markers.  So, we headed in the direction we thought we were supposed to go, but then doubled back to the campsite.  It was so hot.  We decided to have lunch at the campsite.  Jessica is such a good mom, she packed us a cute picnic lunch.  A friendly danish couple asked us what we were doing there.  "We're on a hike.  We want to go to the lighthouse."  They looked so concerned for us!  They told us that the lighthouse was really really far away.  "It's very very hot today.  There's a winery just down the road.  Why not go there?"  Why not indeed!

The Winery

The Cute Lunch

We got a couple of glasses of wine.  Then we checked out the art gallery that was there.  See those two bottles of wine on the table?  There's a story there.  But I'll never tell.

Two Bottles of Wine

While we were in the gallery, I looked out the window and spotted the friendly danish couple, Peter and Kirsten.  They came back for us!  They were concerned that we'd try to go to the lighthouse which they thought was dangerous due to the heat and the distance.  They told us that they were driving to the lighthouse and if we wanted a ride there, they would take us.  Jessica asked if they'd give us a ride to her car so we could follow them.  And they did!

Kirsten & Peter

Following them to the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse!

Beautiful Views

View from the Lighthouse

KINDNESS #2
Christopher and I like to have cocktails on the canal by our apartment.  There is a cute little picnic table down the block from our apartment that we like to go to.  Here we are at our special spot having dinner with our cousins.

Our Spot

One day, Christopher and I were there and we met one of our neighbors and started to chat.  Bent is an older gentleman who lives in the apartments right above this spot.  We were really enjoying his company, but I had to use to bathroom.  I excused myself and said I was just going to run home to use the bathroom.  Bent, who I had just met like 5 minutes earlier insisted that I go up to his apartment and use his bathroom.  He put me on the elevator and said, "Go to the second floor.  It's the apartment on the left.  Go on in."  So I did.  How nice is that?  I was just out on the canal a few minutes ago and spied Bent on his balcony enjoying the view.

Our Friendly Neighbor

KINDNESS #3
I have already written about my Danish Angel.  She's the woman who returned my wallet to me after it was stolen and she found it on the Strøget.  We still have no idea how she managed to track down Christopher's phone number to call us about it.  She went above and beyond the call of duty to return my wallet to me.

My Danish Angel

That's it.  Three acts of kindness.  I couldn't leave Denmark without telling you about them.  I just love it here.  People ask me all the time what I'll miss most about Denmark.  It's the people.

På gensyn!

Skateboard CPH

Where can you find Gaius from noon - 7 pm (4 pm - 7 pm on school nights)?  At the skatepark!  I'm looking at this Copenhagen Skateboard Spotguide, and it lists THIRTY FIVE skate spots in Copenhagen alone.  Gaius has been to quite a few. 

Working on 10,000 Hours

The Nordhavn Concrete Wave is actually at Gaius' school.  He used to skate it during recess.  That would never happen in the U.S.

Skateboard Ramp at CIS (Gaius' School)

In the Winter, when it was dark and rainy, Gaius would sometimes go to the indoor CPH Skatepark.

CPH Skatepark

Another great spot to skate indoors is in Christiania at Wonderland.  Wonderland is a classic Copenhagen spot.  It has an indoor bowl and also an outdoor DIY concrete park.  Gaius goes before 6 pm.  After 6 pm, they let people smoke.

Wonderland

Skating the Bowl at Wonderland

Gaius has some good buddies at ALIS, the skate shop that owns Wonderland.  Here he is with the founder of ALIS, Albert.

Albert, one of the Founders of ALIS

Here is Gaius with Benjamin, who works at ALIS.  Gaius and Benjamin were both born on June 6.

Gemini Power

They love Gaius so much at ALIS.  They put his old deck up on the wall.  Gaius will now be a part of ALIS Wonderland forever!

Gaius is now officially a part of ALIS

ALIS is more than a skate shop.  They have a clothing line and they build skateparks all around the world.  Learn about ALIS at https://alis.dk/pages/about-us

ALIS Skateshop

ALIS Wonderland

Here are Gaius and Dallas at a skate spot near Fisketorvet shopping center.  There's also a swimming harbor at this mall.  See the red and white lifeguard tower in the distance on the left?

Skate Spot Near Fisketorvet

Another skate spot that's near a swimming harbor is Islands Brygge.  You can go for a skate, jump in the harbor and finish up with some ice cream!

Islands Brygge

Gaius' favorite park, his home base, is Fælledparken.  That's where he met most of his friends in Copenhagen.  It's also where he had his birthday party!  Here he is skating the pool at Fælledparken (video).

Pool Skating at Fælledparken (Video)

Flyout at Fælledparken

Birthday Party w/ Skater Boys at Fælledparken

There is graffiti at every skatepark.

...and Girls

Israelplads is in Nørreport, next to my favorite foodie hotspot, Torvehallerne.

Israelplads

Sidewalk Skateshop and the skatepark Enghave Plads are right next to one another in Vesterbro.

Sidewalk Skateshop

Enghave Plads

Across the harbor in Refshaleøn are Port 4130 and Reffen (Levis' Spot).  Gaius is attending his second week of skateboard camp at Port 4130 this week.  He's having so much fun!

Port 4130

Skateboard Camp

To get to skateboard camp, Gaius takes the harbor bus (ferry) and rides his bike up the hill to the camp.

All Aboard!

Disembarking w/ his Buddies

Here is Gaius working on his rail slide at Skateboard Camp (video):

 Practicing a Rail Slide at Port 4130

Gaius and Dallas skated in this contest at Reffen (Levis' Spot).

The contest was fun, but rigged (IMHO).

Skateboarding has really fostered Gaius' independence.  He can get to all of these parks using public transportation on his own.  He really only needs us there for when he skates internationally...

Here he is with Dallas, on the way to Malmo, Sweden to check out a skatepark.

International Skaters

Stapelbadosparken - Malmo, Sweden

Helsingør Skatepark was a bit closer to home.  Gaius says this is the largest skatepark in Denmark.

Helsingør Skatepark

The Oslo Skatehalle in Norway was gorgeous.

Oslo Skatehalle

DIY Skatepark - Oslo, Norway

Gaius also skated in Berlin, Germany.

Skatehalle Berlin

Berlin

CPH-BER and Back Again

It looks like we've got our work cut out for us.

35 Skatespots in CPH

Skills

På gensyn!