Brinja's Visit

Last weekend the fabulous Brinja came to see us in Copenhagen.  She and I have been friends forever--we met half our lives ago on an exchange trip between our two high schools (Brinja is from northern Germany), and have stayed close ever since.  It was so wonderful to see her again--she is one of those friends that I am able to synch with immediately, even after years of not seeing each other.

We had all kinds of fun catching up, playing with Alex, and exploring Copenhagen together.  Here is the proof:

Brinja and Alex, Feeding the Ducks

Brinja and Me, Back in Nyhavn

Brinja and Alex, In Christiania,
A Hippie Community 

Russ, Alex, and Me
In Christiaina

Brinja and Me, Shopping on Stroget
The Trendy Shopping Area of Town

Brinja's visit marked our first experience as hosts in this Danish home, and it was very surreal having a guest who knows more about how to get by around here than we do. Her knowledge of how things are done in this part of the world helped us to unravel some of the mysteries of Northern Europe that have confounded us since our arrival.  For example:

Q: Why is our new comforter exactly the same width as our bed (with absolutely no hang over to accommodate the bodies that may be sleeping under it)?
A: Because when we measured it to be 140 cm, that is not a bed size theme like "Full" or "Queen" at home.  So since we bought everything in the 140 cm size (including sheets and comforters), everything fits just exactly on top of the bed. Bummer.

Q: Why can't we find a kitchen rug ANYWHERE in this city?
A:  They don't do kitchen rugs around here.  If you spill water on the floor, wipe it up.  If you want something soft to stand on while you wash dishes . . . Man up?  I dunno.

Q: How can we join the breakfasters of this part of the world in eating soft boiled eggs?
A:  6.5 minutes in boiling water, rinse briefly in cold water, enjoy!

So we did some learning, some laughing, some site seeing, and had an all-around really fun time.  It was so great to have Brinja here, and we have been missing her all week.  Come back again soon Brinja!

Family Outing!

Last Sunday we threw Alexander's nap schedule out the window and hit the cobblestones in search of some Copenhagen style fun.  Our destination: Nyhavn (pronouced "Newhown" as far as I can gather, and meaning "New Harbor").

(Please ignore the man adjusting his waistband in the above photo.  Not the greatest pic, but it was the only shot I took that captured the overall landscape of Nyhavn).

According to my guidebook this harbor was made in 1673 as a centrally located unloading dock for merchandise coming into the city. It was once a seedier area of town filled with bars, brothels, and rowdy sailors.  These days it's a picturesque tourist destination lined with colorful houses, adorable cafes, and lots of big boats to point out to small people.

Here we are enjoying our outing:

We made our way home through the central square in the city, and marveled at this wild dragon fountain:

And there you have it.  The first of what I am sure will be many touristy outings with the fam in this fair city.

We Are Here:

We did it!  After many months of contemplation, a false start or two, a monumental move out of Los Angeles, and a very long plane flight with a very little boy, we have finally arrived in the Land of the Danes.  Two weeks in and here I am: Jojo in Daneland.

But what have you been doing in Denmark, Joanne?  What sites have you seen?  What foods have you tasted?  What friends have you made?  Tell us, tell us, of your grand adventures!

And so I shall . . .

Our first grand adventure was getting here.  We began our journey at San Francisco International airport on Friday, July 2.  See, here we are:

I was a little nervous as to how young Alexander would handle the trip considering it was not only a trans-Atlantic multi-stop venture, but also his first plane flight ever!  We had been asking him for weeks ahead of time "Do you want to go on an airplane, Alex?" to which he would always reply with a bewildered and adorable "Yeah."  Finally our departure date arrived and as we drove to the airport Russ asked Alex once more "Do you want to go on airplane?" This time Alex replied "Boat."  Sorry kiddo, but in the 21st century we fly to Europe.  And we did.

Turns out the boy is a traveling champ.  In fact the women seated in front of us complimented him at the end of the flight to London on what a well-behaved passenger he had been.  Did you get that?  The people seated right in front of him, and therefore the direct recipients of any seat kicking, screaming, and general toddler misconduct actually had positive things to say about him after a 9-hour flight to London.  What a good boy we have.  (I will not detail the 30+ minutes of intense screaming he dealt to the passengers on our flight to Copenhagen).

So after a long and time warp-y travel day we arrived in Copenhagen on the evening of Saturday, July 3.  We grabbed the hugest taxi we could find (because hello, we are going to be here awhile and we brought a ton of stuff!), and found our way to our new home.  Russ ran out to grab some essentials to get us through the first night:  Milk and a pizza.  Bottled and fed, we were all dog tired so we went to sleep.

The next morning we joined our good friends (and now upstairs neighbors) Sixten, Lene, and their darling young Lucca, in the garden for a very Danish breakfast of muesli with yogurt.  And so it all began.

The two weeks since our arrival have been a blur of sleep deprivation (baby jet-lag is no joke) and learning our way around this cute apartment and this lovely city.  It's been quite a different experience from my previous travel adventures, as this time we are really not tourists.  The top sites on our list so far have been Irma, Fotex, and Netto (all grocery stores), the nearby toddler playground, the bakery, and our own backyard.  I have yet to wander a museum, eat out at a restaurant, or buy an "I ♥ CPH" t-shirt.

I do intend to do all those things, and then some, but I've got to fit them in between nap time, snack time, and bath time, because, oh yeah, did I mention I'm doing the full-time mama thing now?  That's sort of the point of this whole experiment:  Russ gets to focus on wooloo, I get to focus on our cutie-patootie dude, and we all get to chill out and relax in a happy fun time of family togetherness and love and rainbows.  ;-)

It has been quite a lot of work to get here, but I am feeling like it just might actually end up being worth all the effort.  I think we're going to have a pretty fabulous time in Denmark.  I will keep you all posted as the adventure unfolds . . .

In the meantime, I leave you with this photo sampling of our activities to date:

Exploring the local playground:

Getting caught in an unexpected downpour:

Laundry Day:

Grabbing a snack from the fridge:

Planning our next outing: