Copenhagen in Style

Dear Peregrine and other grandkids or family

On Tuesday August 28 Grandma and I walked to the bagel shop next to the bakery along an old narrow street near our hotel in Copenhagen to have breakfast (at about lunch time, since we had slept in after our traumatic day and late night) and consider what we should do next.  We decided that we should go to the Europcar rental office that was about a mile from our hotel and see if they could exchange our damaged car for another one to drive through Sweden to Stockholm.  They were sorry to hear our sad story and had us fill out a damage report describing the car robbery and sent us to the airport about 20 minutes away to exchange our rental car for another.  The first car they gave us at the airport was a manual shift car, but we thought driving around the city streets and country roads would be easier with an automatic shift car; we were thankful they did have an automatic shift car to give us.  Before leaving the airport we stopped at the airplane terminal information counter to see if we could get our Copenhagen Pass cards which we had purchased at home and printed out the vouchers- but the printed vouchers had been taken by the robbers.  They were able to use the vouchers on my phone to verify that we had purchased the cards and gave us our 3-day pass cards for the museums and tour bus and canal boat rides.  We drove back to our hotel and parked the car in the courtyard of the hotel.  Many old buildings in Sweden and Denmark have a courtyard- with the apartments or offices built around the courtyard.  An arched walkway or driveway is used to get into the courtyard from the street.  Our hotel was using the courtyard as their small parking lot, but the driveway was so skinny that I wondered if our rental car would fit.  Grandma helped me carefully steer through the narrow arched entrance and we just barely made it through.  We realized that God had helped us take another small step by giving us another car and our passes for the museums- but would we have any time left to see any of the Copenhagen sights?  And would we be able to continue our trip to Sweden?

After resting in our room we decided to visit Tivoli Gardens, which was just two blocks from our hotel, across from the train station.  Tivoli Gardens was one of the first amusement parks in the world, built by one of the kings of Denmark in 1843 to give the people living in Copenhagen a fun place to go with their families; Tivoli is celebrating 175 years of food and fun and singing and dancing this year. Tivoli has rides, shows, music, dancing, with many restaurants and cafes and snack shops, and souvenir shops.  Because it is open in the evening we decided to walk to Tivoli and see if we could find a nice place for dinner.  We found a very nice place with colorful decorations and a covered patio with lots of windows to see the gardens all around the dining tables.  We ordered a salad and a sampler of Danish dishes- a small smorgasbord on a plate with several different meat dishes.  We were glad we decided to share the meal because there was plenty for the two of us.  We walked through Tivoli gardens after dinner and heard a singing group on one stage and later saw a mini-ballet on another stage.  They had water fountains and many different flowers and plants in pots and trees along the walkways.  We looked in some shops and enjoyed the colored lights as the sun went down.  We sat and relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of the gardens and were thankful we were safe and had some peaceful moments together. 

Dinner in Tivoli Garden

We walked back to our hotel and had a chance to look around our room in the Alexandra Hotel.  Our furniture was distinctly Danish- with simple wooden chairs, a desk, tables and a bed.  There was a newspaper in the room that explained that the hotel was filled with famous Danish designer's furniture from the 1925-1975 period.  The owners wanted to preserve the Danish furniture- as decorative art- so they went to used furniture stores and bought this "old" furniture that was actually "modern" furniture. Our room had furniture designed by Borge Mogensen.  So we hadn't yet seen any museums in Copenhagen, but we were sleeping in style in a furniture museum hotel!  That was a surprise! After taking a closer look at our furniture, we prepared for bed and prayed together- thanking God for helping us recover from our disaster and asking Him to guide us and help us keep going on our trip. We were expecting our package that Meadow had sent Monday night from Sacramento to arrive at our hotel the next day.  I still had plenty of insulin in my pump, but would my supplies arrive on time?  Could we trust God for another day?

Danish Furniture Collection at our Hotel

Perrin- you had something bad happen to you when you jumped off the picnic table and broke your arm.  But God helped you when your dad took you to the emergency clinic and the doctor helped you when he gave you medicine and took an x-ray and reset your arm and gave you a sling.  And you were able to go to school with a sling and then your mom helped you get to the doctor again and he put a cast on your arm.  A cast provides a strong protection for your bones to heal.  Day by day God helped you and your mom and dad helped you and your teacher and kids at school helped you- so that you are recovering and your bones are healing and you are going to school.  And that is just like how God was helping us recover and continue with our trip.

We got up Wednesday and looked again at our  "famous" furniture and walked again to our bagel shop and bakery for breakfast.  The hotel clerk had agreed to sign for our package since it was medical supplies, so we could have one day to see Copenhagen.  We went to the canal boat ride to see the City from the canals and the harbor- this was a great way to see lots of the buildings and churches in a short period of time.  The clerk called just before we got on the canal boat to tell us that our package had arrived, so we saw the Copenhagen sights with peaceful hearts, knowing that our package with my insulin and other supplies had arrived safely! Thank you God. After the canal boat we toured the Thorvaldsen art museum with lots of large sculptures and wall murals.  And we went to the National museum that had historical furniture and art and church artifacts from all over Denmark.  We had lunch at the museum café and saw the Christiansborg palace kitchen in the basement- the palace reception rooms were closed that day for some function.  To end our one day of sight-seeing we rode the double-deck tour bus that took us all over the city streets, so we saw some of the buildings from land that we first saw from the water. On our way to dinner near Tivoli Gardens we stopped at the Hans Christian Anderson museum that had dioramas describing the life of this author of fairy tale stories who lived in Copenhagen.  We stopped at a café for coffee/hot chocolate and chocolate cake- since I had refilled my insulin pump reservoir and changed my needle site- so I had plenty of insulin for dessert!  As we returned to our hotel we knew that God was with us and that He had provided everything we needed to continue our trip back to Sweden-starting the next morning. 

Perrin- we had a hard experience- having all of our clothes and travel supplies taken.  But God had helped us recover and change our minds about giving up and going home.  Aunt Meadow told us "Don't let the robbers take the rest of your trip away from you". I know that some days you feel sad and discouraged and feel like "giving up" or quitting when things seem hard for you- like something upsets you at school or you have trouble getting along with Paladin, or Taliesin knocks down something you have just built.  When something sad or bad happens, close your eyes and ask God to help you- let Jesus be your strength and courage to continue.  Let Him carry your burdens and comfort you with His love.  God was our refuge and our strong tower of protection (like a cast) in Copenhagen. 

Love, Grandpa and Grandma