We arrived in Copenhagen later than hoped, due to the train delay, then spent the first hours getting transport tickets, visiting the Tourist Info TI which was about to close at 4:00, and wandering around Radhaus (City Hall) square looking for a number 23 Bus. Bus 23, where are you? Recommended by the TI person as the best way to our hotel, it was a phantom.

Holding the map in one hand, orienting with Danish street signs, and asking several strangers for the Number 23 bus left us exhausted and frustrated. We finally flagged a taxi. The driver seemed surprised when we told him where we were going, but he delivered us to the Maritime Hotel in about 2 minutes for only DKK77 or $11. We had been close all along!

The Maritime is a very nice tourist hotel: clean, safe, inexpensive. Its major advantage is its location in the middle of Copenhagen. The hotel lies between the City Center and the Royal Quarter and three blocks from Nyhavn. These three areas hold many sightseeing spots, and we took advantage of their proximity.

Along the canal, Nyhavn boasts an historic area of brightly painted buildings frequently shown in photographs of Copenhagen. The Nyhavn (New Harbor) is actually the old harbor.

After a nap, we searched for food, having eaten only bananas and trail mix on the train. The colorful buildings in Nyhavn now house many restaurants with outdoor seating along the sidewalk. Many restaurants but they only offer four cuisines: smorrebrod and traditional Danish dinners, steak, fish, or pasta/pizza all with very similar menus. We randomly chose Hummer, and the choice turned into an amazing foodie meal.

Rikki, a woman we saw on the train, also stood with us in the transport office, so we had a nodding acquaintance. As we sat down at Hummer, Rikki walked past our table. Third time was the charm. I invited her to join us for dinner at Hummer.

She accepted and we had company for the meal. After a starter of crab blini topped with roe, we ordered three different dishes: pan-fried cod in smoked butter, fish and chips, and moules (mussels) frites. All were simple, beautiful, and beyond delicious. I have never seen that many mussels in a serving.

Copenhagen is called the Nordic Foodie capital and proud of it. Copenhagen restaurants have more Michelin stars than all other Scandinavian cities together. Three days provide too little time to sample all the food in town, but we would certainly give Hummer 5 stars.

For breakfasts, we drank coffee with luxurious fresh croissants. We ate smorrebrod at the Magazin department store deli for lunch one day.

The next day, we visited the Trovaldsen Food Court noted for its variety of temptations. We made healthy choices at Smag: a salad bowl with 4 picks from the 20 vegetable salads, 2 exotic dressings/toppings such as white bean purée or chili hummus, 3 sides of mushroom-balls, chicken satay, and corn falafel with fantastic bread. Two salad bowls were delicious but not cheap—about 300 DKK or $40.

On our last night, we went back to Nyhavn and randomly picked Venezia pasta/pizza restaurant. Actually we had randomly picked a different Italian restaurant, but after 10 minutes looking at menus and no sign of service, we decamped to Venezia. That turned out to be a wise move.

We ordered carbonara and gnocchi and burratta/tomato salad. The service was superb, the food was excellent. The gnocchi were so light they almost floated off the plate, but the rich cream sauce held them down. Carbonara was equally rich with the same cream sauce and a salty kick from the prosciutto. The creme de la crème sauce alone earned a 5 star rating.

In between those superb dinners, we had another non-so-healthy treat in Nyhavn. Warm mini-waffle topped with your choice of ice cream seems to be a popular delight (or maybe just popular for Copenhagen tourists). We decided to go with the flow. Admittedly, this is not our typical food choice, but when in Copenhagen…..

The Royal Quarter

We had two full days of sightseeing in Copenhagen. On Saturday, in the Royal Quarter area, our first stop was at the Amalienborg Castle, the official residence of Queen Margrethe II. A small museum is mostly about the royal family life. The Castle is laid out around a large paved courtyard and contains the royal residence and some related government offices.

We were slightly disappointed that the Queen was not serving afternoon tea for us, but perhaps she had royal duties attending the coronation of Cousin King Charles III in London.

In the afternoon, about half a mile away, we entered the Rosenborg castle and 10-acre garden.

The exterior, interior, and grounds have been maintained and turned into a museum with original furnishings and amazing displays: silver and gold serving pieces and jewelry, ivory carvings, porcelain, coins, swords, and gifts to the royal family from around the world. In the basement was the treasury which holds and displays the royal crowns, jewels, and other gold royal possessions. “Ostentatious” comes to mind—17th and 18th century feudal privilege and vanity are on display. All this wealth came from Denmark being a leader in world trade.

Between the Amalienborg Castle and the Rosenborg Castle, a design museum was shown on the map. This was the highlight of the day. Danish Modern design has inspired and still influences architecture, graphics, fabric, printing, and art. The museum displays the historical aspect of 20th century design and the direction of design in the 21st, emphasizing ecological adaptations.

Many exhibit inspired our quilting and woodcut printing hobbies. Simplify, simplify, and repeat are the guiding principles.

Chairs have been a mainstay of Danish Modern design. At an estate sale in 1990, we bought a Finn Juhl Chieftain chair and 6 Finn Juhl dining chairs. The Chieftain chair is a classic featured in many modern design publications. But its wing span made it hard to fit into any room. Eight years ago, I donated the chair to the Dallas Museum of Art for their 20th Century design collection. Someday, I would love to see it on display.

We had a short visit to the Museum of Copenhagen which tells the history of the city, important people, and important facts about the city. One exhibit featured the Danish graphic artist Antoni whose simple, sharp, colorful cartoons influenced graphic arts for more than 50 years.

We know that we could not see everything worth seeing even if we stayed a full week or month. However, the list of things we did not see in Copenhagen seems particularly long: Louisiana Art Complex an hour away; Freetown Christiania, an independently governed community within Copenhagen; the modern art SYMK Museum; the Danish Resistance Museum; the Museum of Denmark; the Architectural Design Center; Tivoli Gardens; day trips to three or four places outside Copenhagen . . . and the list goes on. More time and more energy were needed.

The final morning a taxi carried us to the Station an hour early without looking for Bus 23. Actually Bus 26 was the bus that went close to our hotel and was designed the “sightseeing” route bus. The cab was 10 minutes late, there was road construction, and it was morning rush hour. We still got to the station in plenty of time to find the correct ramp, locate the train car, and claim our seats. A successful exit from Copenhagen moved us toward our next stop in Goteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden.

Extra photographs

Our trip to Copenhagen began with a tram to Amsterdam Centraal Station where we caught a train to Hamburg. The distances from Amsterdam to Hamburg to Copenhagen appear short on the map, but they are not—by rail are almost 12 hours with Hamburg only half way.

The start of the trip was a little hectic. We had reserved seats but somebody was sitting in them, Everybody was just sitting anywhere. Since the train was not crowded, nobody seem to care.

We changed trains at Hanover, a major junction where many people were waiting for connections. Apparently a previous train to Hamburg had been canceled, leaving a train-load of all people anxious to be on our scheduled train. The Hamburg arrived late, a rush ensued. People were crowding anywhere they could get on. Luggage was stacked everywhere it should not be. It was equal opportunity train mashup.

Since we were unable to get to our reserved seats, so we stood up most of the final leg of the trip. A chatty woman going to Hamburg to visit her ailing partner found a seat for Becky for a part of the trip.

Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is an impressive edifice and example of gigantic train stations across Europe. All 12 tracks handle trains coming and going from early to midnight. I thought maybe 20,000 people traveled through Hamburg per day. Becky looked the number up; I missed it a little. Approximately 720 trains move up to 450,000 travelers per day, making Hamburg one of the most frequented passenger railway stations in Germany.

The Continental Hotel was across the street from the station. We asked for directions because we had exited the wrong door from the station which was two city blocks long . The hotel is in the photographs—not the large fancy one— but the small one labeled Continental to its right. Our room was on the 6th floor which had a separate elevator—penthouse at last. Not really, but the room was clean with a good bed, hot water, and a balcony.

After standing for most of two hours, our legs and backs were exhausted. As soon as we checked into the hotel, we checked out for 4 hours of deep sleep. I woke at 7:30 pm and went foraging in the Wanderhallen food court that serves thousands of train travelers. Subway is there, Dunkin Donuts is there—along with every possible ethnic food choice. The Middle Eastern cafe had the freshest looking food and best prices: a vegetarian plate with halloumi for Becky and a chicken shawarma (like a gyro) for me.

Repacking for the journey to Copenhagen was the evening’s task. We were up at 6:00, buffet breakfast, 7:00 in the hotel, and at the station by 8:00. We were determined to claim our reserved seats for this five hour trip: 104 and 107 in Coach 8.

If you do not claim seats, people sit in them, and you have to convince them that they are in your seats. After standing yesterday, we were willing to make people move so we could have seats. Standing up from Hamburg to Copenhagen would not be fun.

The train was on time, there was not a crush of people. We found our correct seats and settled down for 5 scheduled hours to Copenhagen, which turned into 6 due to track maintenance work and some other problems with train schedules. The train arrived in København, and we were ready to enjoy Danish wonders.

Tulips set off the tourist season in Amsterdam with an amazing patchwork of colorful fields around Keukenhof. The world-renowned Vermeer exhibit brought tourists a little early this year. It’s a busy spring for Amsterdam and the Netherlands! Every venue comes with the warning that it will likely sell out.

We visited Keukenhof in 2017 and there were plenty of tourists then—often standing in front of tulips that we wanted to photograph. We did not get tickets for the Vermeer because all tickets were gone by the time we decided to travel. We found one tour that included Vermeer tickets for $150 a head. Tempting but no!

We had reservations for both the RijksMuseum and Van Gogh Museum. The RijkMuseum features the grand masters of Dutch art. The skillful painting of realistic domestic and historic scenes with such grandeur and portraits with such emotional depth is amazing. We just don’t really enjoy them very much. We walked quickly through the central galleries where several hundred people viewed Rembrandt’s monumental work “Night Watch” from behind a protective screen.

Other galleries offered some glorious and unexpected gems. For example, in an out-of-the-way gallery on the third floor, we found an exciting exhibit of 20th century art and artifacts, spanning Arts and Crafts, deco, moderne, industrial, and art nouveau design. In addition to a display of modern chairs and a sleek complete single-engine airplane, we were surprised at works by Escher which were realistic, but stylized, woodcut prints and lithographs— very different from the tessellations and mind bending graphic puzzles he developed later and is famous for .

Another exhibit focused on World War II art and artifacts related to the resistance movement and people’s lives. One of the most touching was an alphabet book created for children by women who were in a concentration camp.

We got into the Van Gogh only by joining a tour. Tour guide Jo was very knowledgeable about Van Gogh’s life and art, his financial and emotional struggles, his often cantankerous relationships with other artists, and his death steeped in controversy. What really happened those last two days of his life? The official record and the unofficial reports from those who knew him reveal gaps and inconsistencies. His brother Theo died about a year later of “a broken heart.” The task of preserving and promoting his art was left to his sister-in-law and nephew, also named Theo.

Van Gogh began painting in the accepted style of the day, but soon was experimenting with other approaches to subject and technique. In Paris he met many French impressionists who showed him their work and encouraged his efforts. But his work was moving toward a style so radical in composition and color that he was not able to sell it. He traded paintings with Gaugin and others resulting in an impressive personal collection.

The dozen self portraits which opened the exhibit served Van Gogh as exercises in composition, painting techniques, and color combinations. The exhibit ended with works of artists who influenced him and of the many who were influenced by him, including Vuillard, Bernard, and Kees Van Dongen. After a long museum day, we ate poke bowls at Umami restaurant next to the hotel and turned into logs, having logged almost 20,000 steps.

On the third day, we took a stroll across the canal to an area called the “nine streets” with many shops, boutiques, cafes, and coffee shops (code for marijuana). We encountered many fragrances but did not inhale.

A canal tour for the afternoon took us past many of the important sites in Amsterdam. The audio system was not so good, but the boat glide was relaxing.

Late lunch was at Zorba the Greek restaurant where we had fantastic main dishes of Moussaka and Vegetable Forno, Greek salad, and two waters totaling 55 Euros (about $62). If that seems expensive, it was actually relatively inexpensive for a sit down lunch in a nice restaurant.

We also enjoyed looking at buildings on the street and along the canals. Amsterdam, an old city, has striking examples of architecture from many periods: Neogothic, Victorian, and modern.

In the afternoon, we had two hours at the Stedjik Museum which contains 20th century art primarily from Dutch artists. Warhol used a photograph which he silk screened the photograph about 30 times. The photograph is of an assault and but the horror of the scene almost disappears with the repetition. Becky appreciated the design and techniques of a huge fabric woven with packaging wrappers from different products.

As we walked around Amsterdam, we were amazed at the number, variety, and speed of bicycles and bicyclers. If you accidentally or absent-mindedly stand in the bike lane, you risk limb and life. We soon learned to look left, right, left before crossing the bike lanes. I was unconvinced that tourists should be pedaling with Amsterdam traffic and speedsters.

We spent the week getting clothes washed, errands run, prescriptions filled, and everything eventually packed. Becky coordinated the Girls EMpowered (GEM) celebration at Upward on Thursday—a fine time for all the girls, teachers, and United Way representatives. Then we could concentrate on finishing reservations and stuffing our bags.

Our aim was to minimize luggage weight and number. We packed only one suitcase for clothes and shoes and one carry-on for medicine, glasses, technology, a book, and travel materials. We reduced weight about 10 lbs each: Becky’s suitcase weighed less than 30 lbs, and mine less than 40 lbs after some serious debate and deletions.

Interrailing, our travel provider, customizes train-based vacations in UK and Europe and makes all the train, ferry, and hotel reservations for the places you want to visit. They also offer links to packages for day trips, local buses and trams, and sights/sites based on your itinerary. All the arrangements are set up so that we can concentrate on the fun parts.

The plane trip was Asheville AVL to Charlotte CLT to Philadelphia PHL to Amsterdam Schiphol AMS lasted from 2:30 pm Monday to 11:00 am Tuesday —total of about 24 hours in transit.

All planes were full, full, full. Amsterdam arrival was a couple of hours late because the pilot and copilot were delayed getting to Philadelphia. The flights were uneventful if flying across the Atlantic Ocean at 590 mph and 40,000 feet can be counted as uneventful.

From where I was sitting, I had a view of the toilets on the A320; many people were baffled by the inward folding door. Some people pounded on the door until they accidentally managed to hit the push here sign marked with an up arrow. A few stepped back, studied the door, and hit the arrow. A few asked an attendant. The attendants or travelers just opened the door for some. Others gave up—which seemed like a bad idea.

Upon arrival in AMS, we took the train from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal, the transport hub of the Netherlands and Amsterdam. We stood in line to get our GVB tram/bus passes, jumped on a tram, and rode to Leidensplein junction near our 3-star tourist hotel—clean, safe, spartan, and well located to the Museum Quarter which is our focus in Amsterdam.

After check-in, we scouted the neighborhood for food and drink. Cafe and restaurant food is very expensive so we plan to picnic from grocery stores with an occasional sit down meal.

A small grocery was just a few yards from the hotel; we bought deli sandwiches for lunch in the park on a canal. Two copper-feathered ducks became very friendly, faintly quacking, edging closer, hoping that some morsels would find their way toward them. The closer they got the more demanding they became. Oh the dilemma! Should we feed the ducks or not? What do you do?

After 24 hours of travel by plane, train, and tram, exhaustion overwhelmed us. As a result we plopped ourselves down to read for a while and go to sleep. Very deep and long sleep was important in anticipation of a busy day on the Museumplein tomorrow.