Copenhagen

So last month Dustin had a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark and we bravely tagged along!

Here is Camille in the "bassinet" on Scandinavian Airlines. Oh my gosh, I fretted so much about this plane ride! First of all it was her first long flight (about 8 hours) and Dustin and I were seated about 12 rows apart. I called the airlines weeks ahead of time to confirm the bassinet and try to get us closer together. I even called the next day to reconfirm the confirmation! And guess what? The same guy answered! After my sch-peel he was like...didn't I talk to you yesterday? Embarrassed, I was like yeah...luckily he was super cool about it and totally reassured me saying "I'm here to help you, that's what I do" Wow...I couldn't believe it! I'd say it's extremely rare to actually get a person to help, let alone the same person, but that's Scandinavian Air! Other airlines could learn a lesson or two from them! Pretty awesome!

I have to say she did pretty darn well! This is her on the flight home...flirting it up with this cute little guy the whole time. Also I didn't have to worry about Dustin and I not sitting together...for both flights when the poor lonely person realized their seat was smack dab in the middle of two babies for upwards of eight hours...they graciously gave up their seat to switch with Dustin and move 12 rows up to an aisle seat behind first class. Amazing the generosity of others right? Ha, I've never seen a person agree to a seat change faster than those people!

Here is our hotel...Bella Sky...a super modern and sleek place with lots of interesting features. I think it took Dustin (an engineer) and myself a good half an hour to figure out how to work the shower!

This is what you see when you walk into the lobby...it's a plant wall...we got a kick out of this guy pruning the wall!

Here's a view from the ground looking up at the sky bridge connecting the two towers.

Here are some condos/apartments that you can see from the train, just a short walk from the hotel.

The architecture of these places out in the "suburbs" is drastically different from the old world feel of the downtown area, which reminds me of Prague a little bit.

Okay...so coming from Austin where it's been in the 80's in November and still into December I was totally unprepared for the weather in Copenhagen! I did notice on the weather report that it looked like rain everyday so at least I brought a rain cover for the stroller and we definitely got our $9.99 out of it!

Here's what she looked like under all that lovely plastic...all bundled up, cozy warm in her sweet teddy bear "coat". She did so great, being dragged all around the city...after a few days we got into a little routine and she quite enjoyed being bundled up for the walk to the trains and then onto the bumpy cobblestone streets. That's when she would catch a little nap, then when we got to wherever we were going she would be happy in the baby bjorn.

Luckily for us, our friend Bethany was there with her husband and we hung out everyday! I have to say that I couldn't have done half the things we did if it weren't for Bethany! She jumped right in there and helped so much even changing more than one poopy diaper! Aunt B is the best!!

Here is just one of the cafe's we had lunch in before heading to a design studio across the street.

Aunt B and Camille!

They had some really beautiful cafe's there, each one more quaint then the next and with some of the best specialty coffees and hot chocolates I've ever had!

Notice Camille's super cute bib! It's like a little bandanna..that's how they do in Copenhagen.

We visited the castle, Rosenberg Slot, which was really cool and in the basement we got to see lots and lots of jewels...it was amazing...they wouldn't let you take pictures inside and they didn't want Camille to go down into the basement either because they have "sound alarms" and a loud cry from her might set them off...so Bethany and I took turns holding her while we each took a moment to venture down there and ogle at the amazing sparkly stuff.

Just to give you some perspective I believe it's like 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. in the above picture. Their days are extremely short and so it got dark really early. Having Camille on a weird schedule, we didn't manage to get out of the hotel until about noon each day, so we only got a few hours of daylight, which starts to mess with you after few days.

I took this picture of the guards at ease, through the gates to the castle.

Another day we went to the Louisiana museum, which I think was an avid art collectors home whom after his wife's passing he opened up his home to visitors. The museum is named after her. The house was located on the most beautiful lake with lots of trees. There were many really interesting design and architectural displays.

and sculptures

The guys were able to meet us one night in downtown Copenhagen and we were able to tell them all about our adventures on the trains...for having one of the highest rated public transit systems in the world...is pretty darn hard to figure out...with all the zones and pricing! Bethany and I inadvertently took what should have been a very expensive train ride for virtually nothing! Lucky for us the train official took pity on us or just thought we were hot babes and let us go without a fine! Oops! We eventually triumphed and conquered the Copenhagen train system...so if you're planning a trip...give us a call and we can show you how to navigate it too! 

Yes, that's our baby in a bar! We soon learned that if you want to do anything after 6pm on a trip you have to take your baby with you! 

This is taken from the town square with the Cafe Nordon to my back

Bethany and I went there just about everyday of our trip...I regret not taking any pictures of the inside...it was absolutely gorgeous inside...and so cozy...perfect for a nice warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate after a cold, extremely windy day of sightseeing!

This is the train station where we spent lots of time getting from place to place!

Did I mention that cycling to and fro is very popular here? 

Towards the end of the week Dustin had some time off and we were able to go sightseeing together and we took this boat tour.

It was a little stinky in there, but nice and toasty warm and Camille seemed to really enjoy it!

The port.

From Copenhagen it's just a short 30 minute train ride to Malmo, Sweden. So we thought we'd get another stamp on Cami's passport...but we didn't even need it...it was easy peasy to get there and back.

Okay so hopefully I won't offend anyone, but the food in Copenhagen wasn't the greatest, but Sweden was another story...this was definitely the best meal of the trip. 

Our view of the square from our cozy little spot at this great little bistro.

After hours of shopping...pause for gasps from people that know Dustin. Cami was pooped! Dustin and I were on a mission to find some great souvenirs from our trip...plus Sweden was a little less expensive.

My sweet girl was such a trooper! She's the best little traveler!

I hope someone is impressed with this...for a trip for one week with a baby in tow this is all we brought! Two suitcases, two carry-ons, and a gate checked stroller/carseat....we didn't even check a bag people!

The story goes that Disney's little mermaid was inspired by a statue found in the waters of Copenhagen, which I missed with the camera when we were on the boat tour! Oops! But I got a second chance in the airport! For they had a replica right on the way to our gate! Perfection!

I want to end by saying something Danish, but honestly I didn't even attempt to grasp any part of that language! Usually when we travel we can find some similarities to phrases we've heard before...but not so much here...to me Danish sounds like German with a Japanese accent, if you can't imagine that.

Stay tuned for our next adventure! And thanks again to Bethany for being such a great travel buddy, hopefully we can do it again someday!!