Copenhagen, Denmark

We pulled into port right on time. These Scandinavians aren't playing when it comes to being punctual! It was a beautiful, chilly day when we arrived. We made our way to The Palace Hotel, right on the main square. As we checked in, they played this crazy James Bond music and I felt like someone was going to come slip Alison and me a secret mission to go complete in the city. Our 007 never showed up, so we took the double decker bus from outside our hotel to tour the city.

The major stop on this route was the Copenhagen mermaid. Denmark is the home of Hans Christian Anderson, who wrote the fairytale "The Little Mermaid". She was cute, but it's odd to see which landmarks gain such attention! She is actually such a big deal, we were lucky to see her before she goes to Shanghai for the World Expo 2010! We then hopped back on the bus and decided to jump off again when we saw a big crowd gathered at the Amalienborg Palace. We hit perfect timing to see the changing of the guard. It's lots of ceremony and a cool site to see. We timed it perfectly! It only happens once a day, so pretty cool catch it. We crossed the street to see the impressive Opera House, as well.

The wait for the next bus was about 30 minutes, so we decided to walk for a while. We walked to a cute marina area with lots of outdoor cafes. These crazy people love to be outside on a pretty day, even if it's cold. They will sit outside and the restaurants even provide blankets to keep them warm! We then walked over to Christiania, which was a hippy community that formed in the early 1970s. We couldn't quite find the actual entrance to the community, so we walked to where we "thought" the next stop would be. Umm, no stop to be found, so we ended up walking back to our hotel. We got to see lots of the city and it was all worth the hike. One the way back, we walked along the Tivoli Gardens...an amusement park right in the center of the city that was founded in 1843. Sadly, we had one week until it opened, so that leaves something to look forward to on the next trip. As we walked up to the hotel, we noticed a band setting up…it was a group of Native Americans...that we saw last year in Ljubljana, Slovenia!! What one earth are the chances? Later, we found out there may be more than one group that travels Europe. Has anyone else seen these guys?

We took a quick power nap and tore up the snack bag like a pack of wolves then headed out to look for souvenirs and walk along the busy pedestrian area. My friend from HP Denmark, Lars, met us and showed us around town. Really, Alison ended up giving him a history lesson on the city…all from her keen listening skills on the double decker bus! We talked through a church, the winter palace gardens and met another beautiful pup named Freddy! He was to completely adorable and friendly!

Next, we went to the Hard Rock Café to get a pin for our friend Linda then stopped for yummy 'Danish' treats and visited a local pub to have a few drinks. We capped off the night with an awesome Italian dinner with a really sweet waitress from Bulgaria. Right as we were heading to bed, the sound of car horns blasted from the square below. I ran to the window to take a look and a bunch of guys ran from their cars up to a limo in the front of the caravan and tossed a guy, who I'm assuming was the groom, into the air a few times!! It was crazy!

We took off early the next morning and caught some unbelievable views of Iceland and Greenland on our way home! Another great trip…can't wait for the next tuck n roll!! J