Living in London

Our corner room in the Royal Hotel	Mercantilism lives!	A courtyard in the heart of the city

Because our room was not ready when we arrived on Saturday morning, we decided to venture out of town to visit Louisiana, the Museum for Moderne Kunst, er, I mean Art. We loved the museum (a small but very impressive collection) and the beautiful site. However, we were most impressed with our own ability to navigate the train system (without help) given how totally and completely exhausted we were and that the ticket machines and all the signs were completely in Danish.

When we checked into our room and did some research on the hotel, we were surprised to learn that we were staying in a work of art!  Arne Jacobsen was one of the greatest Danish architects, and in 1960 he completed his masterpiece: the Royal Hotel and every single thing inside it (including the silverware). We had a delightful corner room and the windows and mirrors made it feel as though we were floating high above the city.

On our last full day in Copenhagen we went on a city tour with a guide who walked us through the downtown area from the perspective of the 18th and 19th centuries. Denmark is a very small country with 1/10th of the land mass of California but it is ideally located at the entrance to the Baltic Sea. As a result, the enterprising citizens of Copenhagen learned very early in their history that trade and mercantilism would be a key factor in their success. This link to business and commerce is still very evident in the city today.

We spent the evening (sans camera. Doh!) at Tivoli, the city's very old and famous amusement park. Visiting a theme park is rarely on our list of things to do but Tivoli was unexpectedly charming. Very small, with a blend of old-fashioned rides and games with modern favourites. Everyone (and the numbers of young were easily matched by the old) seemed to be really enjoying themselves. We had a fine dinner featuring classic Danish food.