Ahhh…the semester abroad.  While Candice and I didn’t have that opportunity when we were students (back in the day), we had heard wonderful stories through the years from friends who visited their college-age children as they were studying abroad.  When Andrew was accepted into the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) for this semester, we immediately began planning a trip to Copenhagen. Scandinavia had been on our bucket list for years. When Claire was able to join us during her spring break for the first week, the 10 days in Scandinavia promised to be a wonderful family adventure.

Now that we’re back home and I’ve downloaded my 350+ photographs, I’ll put together several posts over the coming days to capture our time in Copenhagen and Stockholm.

For the first week, we stayed at a wonderful apartment on Nyhavn street in Copenhagen (shown at the top of the post). With Andrew continuing his urban studies concentration while abroad, we couldn’t have had a better city guide.

The first couple of days we focused on getting acclimated.  Wonderful markets, the active pedestrian street through the heart of the city, beautiful architecture, visits to the Marble Church, and the great view from the top of the historic Round Tower helped us get our bearings.

It was great to share time together as a family and explore this beautiful city.

Over the course of the seven days we went to several terrific museums.  The Danish Design Museum was a real treat, given our family’s interest in design, planning, and preservation.  But I laughed out loud when I read the following in Patrick Kingsley’s interesting book How to Be Danish:

The fixation with chairs reaches almost comical levels here. As if in a furniture mausoleum, visitors to the museum process past a serpentine line of chairs that never seems to end. Chair after chair after chair; it is like an eery, empty, hyper-extended doctor’s waiting room.

Here’s an example of what Kingsley is talking about.

All of us made time, while we were in Copenhagen, to visit Rosenborg Castle, home to the royal family. (We caught a glimpse of the Queen while out for dinner one evening.)

Finally, our last evening in Copenhagen coincided with our 32nd wedding anniversary.  Claire had left for London, but Andrew joined us for a celebratory meal at Amadeus.  As you would expect of the Browns, we ate very well in Copenhagen.  No, we didn’t make it to the world’s best restaurant (Noma), but we did get to a great Michelin-rated eatery for lunch (Orangeriet) among several other excellent spots.

Over the next week, I hope to add new posts about the World Heritage Site at the Roskilde Cathedral, thoughts on urban design in both Copenhagen and Stockholm, organs of Scandinavia, views of Stockholm, and whatever else strikes my fancy.  So keep looking.

More to come…

DJB

Image: Canal in Copenhagen by DJB