London and we fly to Denmark

This weekend was an unpacking, sorting mail, laundry and grocery store situation.  The jet lag was real, but getting better.  On Saturday afternoon, Adam and I went to The Play that Goes Wrong at The Ruth.  It was my Mother's Day gift and we loved it.  So funny!

Sunday I did family history with Marie Louise (we mostly chatted and caught up on the news, but also did some good work too).  Sunday dinner was a perfect summer meal: steak, corn on the cob, roasted asparagus and strawberries.  Emma looked at all our pictures (deserves sainthood) and then we had s'mores and played Herd Mentality around the fire pit.  Emma is the only one who kept score because no one else cared so we decided she won.

Now back to the story:

Wednesday, June 18

We sat on a park bench in the little square outside our hotel and ate the breakfast we bought at Mark's and Spencer's (checking another important thing off the London to do list!).  I got a sticky bun and some fresh fruit and analyzed the bun like I was Paul and Prue.  I think it would have measured up.  After that we took a walk in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park and I paid 20 pence to use a bathroom so I could wash my very sticky hands or else they would stick to Adam's.

The pictures don't capture the loveliness of the morning, but I had to try.

We went to St. Paul's cathedral.  There was a display there remembering the efforts made during the Blitz to protect St. Paul's.  It was pretty incredible.  There was an around the clock crew that put out fires during the bombing.  I can't imagine what it would have been like.  There were 57 consecutive days of bombing!  On the day the war ended, there were 10 church services held in St. Paul's, with 3000 people in attendance at each one.

We crossed the Millennial Bridge to go to the Tate Modern.  Adam took a panorama shot.  (Notice the guy walking his dog, twice.)

I love the Tate Modern in the same amount that I dislike having my picture taken.  So Adam sneaks up on me.

Here I am, enthralled with a Matisse.  (I loved it so much I bought a t-shirt with it--you may see it in upcoming posts.)

We ate lunch again at Pret.  We sat on a sidewalk table and analyzed the shoe choices of women who were walking by like it was our job.  After lunch, we went to Big Ben and Westminster Abby.  

We didn't stay there long because it was super crowded.

A woman stopped us and asked us if we knew where the Abraham Lincoln sculpture was located.  I don't know if we looked American, approachable or knowledgeable. 

(But Adam knew where it was, of course he did.)

Our last stop on the whirlwind London tour was the British Library.

There were groups of children on field trips all over London.  Mostly they weren't wearing school uniforms so I don't know if they were summer camps or whatever the British equivalent is to that.  Walking into the British Library, I saw one such group--they seemed to be about 4th grade age--with their no nonsense teacher.  She was telling them, "...so this means, we aren't going to run, we aren't going to climb, we aren't going to jump."

The treasures gallery is one of my favorite London places, but on that particular day, I was pretty enamored with the water fountain in the library as well.  It was hot and I was thirsty.  We saw the illuminated manuscripts, the Magna Carta, notes and letters from the Beatles and Jane Austen among many other treasures.

Between that and the amazing art, I was feeling pretty good about humans and what they can do.

Inside the treasures gallery we ran into the group of children from earlier.  Their teacher had had them doing some kind of assignment and then she was leading them away.  A few of the boys stayed behind and ran and belly flopped onto the padded benches where they had been sitting.

So children are children everywhere.

In the evening we flew to Copenhagen.  It was a short hour and a half flight.  As we were landing, people started putting on jackets and scarves.

They weren't wrong.

It was breezy and chilly.  Everything felt very quiet and very, very clean.

It was about 10:30 PM and full daylight.  While we were waiting for the bus to take us to the rental car place, a woman stopped Adam and asked if he would talk to someone on the phone for her in Danish and translate it into English.  Being the quarter Danish that he is, I think it made him feel pretty good.  

(But he was no help.)

We drove to Hillerød.  It was late and the reception desk was closed.  The hotel didn't have a parking lot so Adam was trying to figure out where to park and sent me to try to figure out the hotel.  In a series of missteps that must have looked hilarious to anyone that was watching, I finally figured out how to get inside the hotel and I pushed a button and there was a recording of someone speaking Danish and that's as far as I got.  Adam joined me and we were finally able to get a room key from a little dispensary situation and went to our room.

With that, we were ready to take on Denmark.