June 12, 2004 - Copenhagen
With a threat of rain today (it showered intermittently
yesterday), we decided to stay in the city rather than committing ourselves
to long walks in the countryside. After a couple of aborted (rain)
attempts to launch ourselves on the bus tours of the city, we both noticed
that the jet lag we had evaded yesterday had finally reached us--evidently
it had been held up in Heathrow, like our luggage. We took lengthy
naps and set about touring around 1430 (2:30 p.m.). Using nothing
but shoe leather (well, sneaker rubber), we saw an amazing amount of the
city before getting back to the hotel at 1900. (It feels so great
being places that keep time the way I do.)
After a fairly hefty hike, we stumbled upon the
Jazz Cafe, and had a light lunch while listening to Miles Davis--the really
mellow stuff that came after his bop period and before "Bitches Brew"
and the harsh stuff that came later. The owner/cook/waitress turned
out to be a native Dane who had married an American and had lived in the
U.S. a fair amount. As the only customers in the cafe (turns out
she may have been planning to close), we had a wonderful conversation with
her about Denmark, the U.S., and cross-cultural matters in general. We
appreciated even half an hour of "depth" experience in the culture as distinct
from the broader-but-superficial experience that most of our hiking around
and touring provides.
One of our targets in our walk was the world's only
Museum of Erotica (sociologists get to do anything), but our respectable
cover was the Round Tower nearby. This church-appendage is a wide
tower containing a spiralling ramp inside, allowing you to walk up to the
top, with a cathedral view and an art gallery along the way. The
top of the tower, was the prize, however, with fabulous views across the
city in all directions. I was able to photograph all the steeples
erased the day before and we got to see much more. Here's a sampling
from the 53 new photos I didn't accidentally erase. (An upsetting experience
that I have successfully put behind me, as you can no doubt tell.)
After wandering around the area (don't get me
started on the Museum of Erotica) and meandering our way back to the hotel,
we stopped in the train station for a beer. Leaving the station,
I was struck once again by how much the Danes use bicycles (and how few
obese people you see).
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