Copenhagen, Denmark

As an ex-patriotic salute to the fourth of July, we headed off to Copenhagen, Denmark for a weekend with our buddy Joel. So instead of fireworks, smores and the lake, we celebrated with beer, hot dogs, bike rides and even did a little swimming in the Baltic Sea...so basically the same, minus fireworks. Although it wasn't for lack of attempt. Our first night, we trekked across the city to catch a light display at the reknowned Tivoli Park, an old-fashioned amusement park, but missed the show. Instead we wandered down Europe's longest pedestrian street with a 6-pack of Carlsberg in hand (drinking in the streets is encouraged. There are even beer stands next to public fountains.) and headed off for a late night evening at club Vega. When we sauntered out at 3:30am, it is like we had fallen asleep sipping martinis....it was soooooo light out. Here is a shot of Lou on the way home:

On Saturday, we wandered a few blocks to the colorful Nyhavn harbor that is filled with cafes and restaurants. Hans Christian Andersen lived here where he penned his first fairytale. The street looks like it is out of a fairytale and probably served as good inspiration along with the Carlsberg.

After people--watching in the harbor and grabbing some caffeine in a nearby farmer's market, we took part in a canal tour of the city. We highly recommend this as it is a great way to see the contrast in architecture between the old and new. As a whole, Copenhagen had a very progressive and modern vibe. We both wish Minneapolis or the US in general was clued in to public biking. There were literally platforms built up for bike riders along every road and even public bikes that you could just hop on and go. It makes sense and the people seem really happy to have such freedom and not be stuck on the freeway.

One of the best parts about our visit to the city was the jazz festival. Everywhere you went, whether a neighborhood square or the Rosenborg Have, the massive public garden, had a stage set up with really impressive jazz ensembles playing all of the crooning classics. http://festival.jazz.dk/ It made for a really beautiful atmosphere while we wandered the historic old town.

For dinner that night we sat down at Cafe Victor, which was widely praised in lots of our travel research. It was a nice meal that had a great Parisian atmosphere, but may not have been quite worthy of all of the accolades, especially for the price. After dinner, we went out for a drink and were then so exhausted from the beating sun that we took one more stroll by Nyhavn and called it a night.