c-c-chilly!

one nice thing about copenhagen (and you should keep track, because so far i don't too many nice things to say about copenhagen) is that our hotel, like many, comes with breakfast. except it's the biggest hotel breakfast ever, and it all comes from europe, so the butter/cheese/fruit is better. 

i mean, where have you ever seen soft boiled eggs at a hotel breakfast before? with a selection of egg cups??

after breakfast, we decided to do our usual: wander the town and try to see a few sights. only one problem. 

yeah. it's balmy out. by the way, the ice breaker boat comes through here everyday. it doesn't seem to do much good. 

doesn't he look all sweaty and hot? 

i myself am in danger of heat stroke. this is Nyhavn by the way. and it's very cute. 

here's something i should probably go ahead and mention right now-- i am actually very optimistic. i always think things are going to be better than they reasonably can be. so despite reading weather reports, i assumed copenhagen would be fine because.... well, mostly because i wanted it to be fine. but guess what? 

i hate being cold. i hate skiing, i don't want to go sledding, and if you throw a snowball at me, i will throw a rock at you. the only good thing about snow is snow days, and if you're not a teacher or a school kid, there's not a thing good about it. i know-- some people are snow bunnies and are going to jump all over me about this. it's fine-- you do your thing, and i'll do mine. which mostly involves tea and shelter. 

you know what else i hate about the cold? layers. i have on a pair of tights, a pair of leggings, 2 pairs of socks, jeans, 2 tank tops, a long sleeve tee, a long sleeve button down and a wool sweater... and that's UNDER my coat and sweater scarf (thanks, colleen! you're a goddess!). i'm having flashbacks to ski lessons in elementary school and that feeling of being trapped in your clothes. yech. 

all the little kids i've seen here are wearing snowsuits, and i WANT one.  here is a kindergarten class on a field trip. i don't envy those teachers, though. imagine the bathroom breaks...

first, of course, we went to see the little mermaid, because that's what people do in copenhagen. she's all over the place. and she's back from korea, so there's that. 

that face? that one right there? that's the "i just saw a mermaid" face. 

proof. 

in my guidebook reading, i came across a curious fact. many of the attractions are closed jan-mar. but i couldn't understand why things were open in december, but not january. like canal boat cruises. i mean, if you have a covered boat, why are the cruises closed? 

now i know. you can't take a canal cruise in february, because boats don't work on ice. 

this is a part of the citadel, which is a part of the ramparts that defended copenhagen in the 1600's. nearby is...

st. albus' church. 

one person i respect and admire immensely is winston churchill, and it appears that i'm not the only one. here's his park:

and here he is. but i really wish they hadn't cast timothy spall to play him in "the king's speech". while spall's performance was excellent, i still see him as peter pettigrew. and now i think winston's kind of a rat. 

changing of the guard at amalienborg palace. queen margrethe was in residence, so they pulled out the miltary band and everything. i want one of those hats; they look so cozy. if you like the royals, you should read about HRH prince frederik and his wife. she's australian, and when she becomes queen, she'll be the first australian queen ever. think about that. 

i'm not pregnant. that's the wind. 

denmark likes to tease that they are the only national guard that requires a police escort....

ryan likes their purses. i like they fact that they are armed, and still have a police escort. 

here's another kid in a snowsuit, and a big black dog to add to our collection. i think the dog was cold; he cried all through the changing of the guard. i wanted to do the same. 

little danish playground, so cute. 

and another fellow american. 

this anchor was built as a memorial to the danish sailors who dies in WWII. incidentally, did you know that when germany invaded denmark, much of the navy was elsewhere? and most of the sailors fought under british command for the allies? now you do. 

 then we went to the amber museum. i like amber for 3 reasons: 1. amber rais pierce is the coolest, and i get to know her. 2. my aunt worked with the scientist who inspired jurassic park, and still works with dinosaur dna, though not from mosquitos in amber. 3. it matches my new hair. 

amber has been an important commodity in scandinavia for a long time. they called it baltic gold

here are some unlucky critters: 

so much for that theory...

this is the largest piece of amber ever found. but a piece of it broke off, so while it's still the largest piece of amber ever found, there used to be a larger one. 

and here come some pretty things you can make out of amber: 

this makes me sad. i really want to know what happened to the pieces, and what did it look like?

and then we bought some jewelry for some very special people, but they will just have to wait and see if i'm talking about them. 

here i am in front of the royal theater. you'll just have to take my word for it. 

you know, for someone who's not the biggest fan of authority, ryan sure does like to take pictures of european police cars....

did you know denmark invented legos? did you know legoland is here? did you know it doesn't open till may? it's okay though. the lego store RULES! and they have the most amazing lego sets i've ever seen. just scroll right through, if you don't care for toys. 

i am not ashamed to admit that i really, really, deeply wanted this hogwarts set. 

until i saw the diagon alley set. then i wanted them both. 

i got a lego dobby on a key chain. he's pretty cool. 

lego golden snitch!

flying lego ewok!

he's about as tall as ryan. 

and that wall was made from lego.

you have to be over 16 to even attempt the tower bridge. now it's not so immature! 

and you can build fallingwater. 

this nyhavn was much warmer. 

there are 3 walls like this. every circle has a different type of lego. i saw children playing in the bins. i would not want to be the lego sorter each night. 

even medival legoes can buy herring. bully for them!

speaking of herring. after lego world we went to lunch: 

yeah, not there. here's a fun fact: i don't eat things from the ocean. previously, i mentioned my near-vegetarianism. i don't know why i make fun of ryan for being picky; i'm just as bad, and in fact worse in some parts of the world. 

i am so happy we're inside. 

ryan is happy because that beer he's holding?  that's his new favorite beer of all time. it's a tuborg classic. he said it was better than bud light. i love that man. 

we got smørrebrød for lunch, which is an open-faced sandwich. only....

mine was not a sandwich. it was a beautifully composed plate, but it wasn't a sandwich. so i'll have to try again. 

ryan got fried fish and shrimp (there is a piece of bread under there). guess what else came on it? only about 3/4 cup of mayonnaise. ryan would probably have preferred a pile of dog poop on his plate; that's how much he hates mayonnaise. and you can't just wipe it off. if it touches his food, he won't eat it. so much for the shrimp. then he peeled the fry part of his fish, and ate it. i wish i had taken a picture of his finished plate. it looked awesome. 

mine was deep-fried camembert. i don't know if anyone's ever deep-fried a chunk of french cheese for you, but if anyone ever offers, tell them one's enough. 2 chunks of deep fried cheese the size of my fist is a bit egregious. and that's black currant jam. and it was yummy. 

after lunch we went to the old stock exchange: 

see, i don't buy this quote. it's the STOCK EXCHANGE! it was built to make money! don't try to bring the glory of god into it, sheesh. 

after this, we went back to the hotel and i took a nap. being frozen exhausts me. 

then we went to find dinner, which was daunting because: 1. i'm pretty sure i hate traditional danish food (sorry. i'm sorry. i just do), 2. it's about 10 degrees outside, so 3. the idea of walking until we find something is just... it's so unfeasible. so we found a danish/italian/mexican place. i'm not kidding, the menu was 12 pages long and in 4 languages. luckily my "menu italian" and "menu spanish" are quite good. 

ryan's steak and fries...

unfortunately, taco may look different here. and i know-- it's my own fault. WHY would you order mexican food in denmark??? 

looks pretty. not... not good. not disgusting. just... not good. 

look what my scarf can do! you may call me babushka (and thanks again, colleen-- this is my most prized possession right now. other than my lego dobby, or course.) hey guess what else? we might be cutting out trip to copenhagen short! this is great news for my extremities!!