Kobenhavn a ball!
Godaften! I just discovered that the hotel's free wifi works in my room as well as the lobby so I can update you all from the comfort of my bedroom.
I'm having a lovely time here in Copenhagen even if it is proving a little chilly. The flight was brief and uneventful except my heart wept for one poor girl who was petrified of flying and had a hard time when we hit some turbulence. I hate flying too. I also almost literally wept as I've begun reading Flowers for Algernon which is beautifully written and so poignant that I keep wanting to cry. I had to put it down half way across the North Sea and read something else instead.
My card worked fine at the airport so I have money and the train was relatively easy to figure out so I made it to my hotel unscathed. I went for a potter around town and wondered if I'd really left when I saw the likes of Top Shop, Urban Outfitters, and H&M. Either that or I'd gone to Ireland such are the number of Irish bars. But after a while it all looked more Danish. And very pretty. And everyone seems to be able to tell I'm English just by looking at me. It must be that look of "resigned bewilderment" we all wear, if Andy Hamilton is to be believed.
Today I set off for The Little Mermaid and had my first real wienerbrod (Danish pastry). I tried ordering in Danish and the girl serving me switched to English straight away and asked which I wanted. I pointed at the biggest pastry I could see and was informed that my chosen food was not a wienerbrod. So I let her choose for me. I tried to pay compliment to her language skills in that typically English self-deprecating manner declaring that "everyone's English here is far better than my Danish!" and then she told me she was Swedish. Oops.
Anyway, I found Dan Lille Havfrue sitting on her rock with lots of children climbing on her. One thing I've noticed is that all the really tiny children here wear those little snow suit things. It's very cute. Emma would go nuts.
After lots of walking through pretty parkland I decided I was too cold and hungry to walk much more so I popped into a genuine Scandinavian Netto, bought some groceries, and caught the S train back to the hotel to snaffle them.
Rejuvenated, I walked around the corner to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek which is Copenhagen's answer to the British Museum or the Met and stunning to boot. It centres around a pretty, covered winter garden filled with plants and running water. I walked through that and checked out the Egyptian stuff first. They've arranged the mummies in the basement and the access is down a dark staircase so it almost feels as if you're descending into a tomb. It was a tad creepy as I was the only person down there. When I'd had my fill I wandered through the French impressionists and ancient Rome and Greece before heading back outside to the snow.
Hamlet's castle tomorrow!