Jennifer Ludlum Braverman worked with Jim in the Emergency Department and then with Sandy in the PACU at Lahey Clinic. She then met Igor Braverman while working in the PACU as he was an anesthesiologist. We have watched them through their courtship, marriage, childbirth and parenting of Sophie. Jennifer and Sophie visited us in London in 2019 and they all visited us in Seville in early 2020 just before Covid. Igor took his first trip to London with Jennifer and Sophie as covid was waning in 2022. They then visited us in Munich during the summer of 2023. We are now happy to welcome them to Copenhagen as our first houseguests.
In less than an hour from touch down they were at our door by 7:52 am after a direct overnight flight from Boston. The road ends about 100 yards from our front door. This is taken from our 7th floor balcony.After a brief orientation to our accommodations we felt it was best to keep them moving to overcome jet lag from an overnight flight. We took the bus a few stops to explore Nyhavn. Here is Sophie in front of a home where the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen once lived. It is now a gift shop. They bought some souvenirs which included a nice Copenhagen jig saw puzzle that they gifted us with as we are very close to finishing one we bought when we arrived.Jim intently listens to Hans as he reads one of his tales.Jennifer did all the bookings (we love guests that do that) which included a private canal tour. She wisely booked a smaller canal boat ride that had a cover knowing the forecast called for rain.We were all cold and tired and appreciated the warm blankets that Captain Tony provided. He welcomed us to “summer in Copenhagen”.You can see Jennifer nodding off here.Trying to overcome jet lag and adjust to a 6 hour body clock time change is so hard.Tony was a great guide and very funny. We regret we did not get a photo of him as he had to navigate the boat while exposed to the rain. Because the boat was small we were able to get under many low bridges and see more of the city’s architecture. This cool condo building was once the site of a shipyard.The Copenhagen Opera House was designed by the renowned Danish architect, Henning Larsen and donated by A.P. Moller and wife Chastine Mc Kinney who are owners of Maersk Shipping. It was a gift to the Danish people. Tony told us there was a big dispute and much controversy in its design as the donors were opposed to it having any windows. This was the compromise they came to. It is among the most modern Opera Houses in the world and also one of the most expensive at a cost of 2.5 billion US dollars at its completion in 2004. Some feel it resembles a spaceship that has landed in the city. What do you think?There are 17 marinas in Denmark and the wait for an available slip in this one on a very popular canal can take years.We motored by the Church of Our Saviour to show them the tower where we climbed all 398 stairs to the steeple with the last 150 steps located outside.The Circle Bridge opened to the public in 2015. It is a unique structure which from a distance resembles the masts of sailing ships. Three of the five circular platforms rotate horizontally when larger boats need to pass.The Copenhagen Library is a modern waterfront building which opened in 1999. Locals refer to it as “The Black Diamond” because its polished black granite cladding and irregular angles glisten like a diamond on a sunny day.
The Braverman’s left nasty weather in Boston and brought it to Copenhagen. Jim was the only one brave enough to pop out of the boat and take pictures in the drizzle and eventually he was too cold. There were a lot of beautiful photo ops not taken due to the weather.
Day two of their visit we took a bus and underground Metro to Tivoli Gardens which was our first Metro experience in Copenhagen and it helped us learn how to navigate the city. In this photo Igor and Jenn are posing in front of the Dragon Fountain located in City Hall Square. It features a bull in combat with a dragon. On the edge of the basin sit three water spraying dragons. Locals refer to it as “The spittoon”. No rain but a grey day.Copenhagen City Hall is an historic building inaugurated in 1905 and its design was inspired by Siena’s City Hall. Its ornate interior includes a Great Hall and the Jens Olsen World Clock. Its tower, accessible via 300 stairs offers panoramic city views. We enjoy climbing towers so this will go on our list along with a tour of the building.Tivoli Gardens established in 1843 is an historic amusement park and pleasure gardens located in Central Copenhagen. It is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and features a variety of attractions including over 30 rides ranging from thrilling roller coasters to gentle carousels.It also has cultural performances in Tivoli Concert Hall and the Pantomime Theatre. The Park was a significant inspiration for Walt Disney’s creation of Disneyland. He visited Tivoli during the summer of 1951.We enjoyed several hours here with the Braverman’s on a partly cloudy cool day. Jennifer booked an all inclusive ticket which gave us access to the Garden Park and unlimited amusement rides.This Moorish-style white palace in the garden is called Nimb, It houses a luxury hotel as well as several restaurants and small boutique shops.Sophie talked us into riding the Mountain Coaster which is the oldest operating wooden roller coaster in the world. A unique feature is the brakeman who rides with the train to control its speed which you can see in this picture.😲 Sandy screamed the entire ride much to Sophie’s amusement. Jim and Jennifer found it to be uneventful.The next terrifying ride Sophie talked us into was not quite as bad for Sandy as she braced herself to the max during the ride.Their third day here was rainy and raw and Jenn ended up cancelling their prebooked city bike tour so we decided to do a Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. The weather was so bad we never hopped off and we took no pictures because the windows were all fogged up. After the bus tour we had a late lunch at a Thai Restaurant then came home and lit a fire. That is the only picture of the whole day.We are so enjoying the sights from our floor to ceiling windows. Here we saw a sea plane land in the water of the inner harbor which we can see from our apartment.Day 4 the weather is perfect, finally, so we take a ferry and go see the little Mermaid before a pre-booked tour of Rosenborg Castle.We got a good view of the Maersk Company Headquarters on the ferry crossing.Gefion Fountain is in Langelinie Park and features a group of animals being driven by the legendary Norse goddess, Teflon. It is the largest monument in Copenhagen and is used as a wishing well.St Alban’s Church is the only Anglican (Episcopal)church in Denmark. The liturgy is that of the Church of England. The church is named after St Alban, the first martyr of England (c 303). Alban was a Roman soldier who sheltered a priest from persecution. Alban was so inspired by the priest’s teaching that, when soldiers arrived in pursuit of the priest he put on the priest’s robes and took his place and was beheaded.Little of the churches interior has changed since its opening in 1887.THe Little Mermaid statue is a bronze sculpture depicting a mermaid sitting on a rock. It was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairytale.The statue was commissioned by Carl Jacobson, son of the Carlsberg brewery founder, and created by sculptor Edvard Eriksen.The statue has become a symbol of Copenhagen, attracting millions of visitors annually. It has faced much vandalism. Twice she has lost her head, once her arm and several times she has had paint poured on her. Thankfully she is always rescued and restored. Have you read the Fairy Tale about her? It does not end well and sadly she is still having a hard time surviving 188 years later. Kastellet is a citadel and one of the best preserved fortresses in Northern Europe. It is constructed in the form of a pentagon. A number of buildings are located on the grounds including a Citadel Church as well as a windmill.WindmillThe gardens of Rosenborg Castle.The Bravermans and Sandy toured Rosenborg Castle. Jim declined and opted to get a haircut as he has had his fill of castles. This is a renaissance castle that was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 for Christian IV who passed away in his bedchamber here in 1648. It houses the Danish Crown Jewels which are worn by the sitting queen on special occasions.The Royal toilet.This is The Great Hall of the Castle. Twelve tapestries hang on the walls depicting Christian IV victories in the Danish-Swedish War.The Queen’s throne. Christian V was an enthusiastic hunter and introduced a form of hunting in which the animal is pursued until it collapses in exhaustion and can then be killed with a sword. These stag antlers caused Christian V death when the King was about to kill it the stag rallied and gored him. The injury led to his death the following year in 1698. “He who lives by the sword dies by the gored” would be an apt caption here.
As we were leaving we had to make way for the changing of the guards.Copenhagen Sunsets are around 10pm and sunrises are around 4:30am giving way for about 17.5 hours of daylight.On the fifth day of the Braverman’s visit they took a side trip to Amsterdam as Sophie really wanted to see the Anne Frank House and they were unable to visit us in Amsterdam when we lived there much to Sophie’s disappointment as she had read The Diary of Anne Frank.Jenn Jenn and Sophie enjoyed “The Swing” which is a thrill ride on the roof of the A’Dam Lookout where you swing back and forth over the edge of the building at around a height of 100 meters. The views are amazing for those who dare.Sophie is very persuasive and talked her Dad on this ride which he initially refused to do. She said he had a white knuckle death grip on the bars of the swing the whole timeOn our recommendation they went to Cafe Sluyswacht which was a favorite of ours and located right in the neighborhood we lived in for three months. They make the best french fries in the world. Highly recommend it if you go to Amsterdam.We welcomed them back from Amsterdam to Copenhagen for the final evening of their visit.
One of the highlights of Sophie’s visit here was learning from us how to shuffle cards.She became quite the proficient card shark as this video demonstrates how she handles the cards before the shuffle.Unfortunately we missed the actual shuffle of cards together which she did with precisiojn.Every night we would play the Italian Card Game called Buraco that is quite complicated but Sophie picked it up very quickly and loved it. Her preferred and only partner was Sandy and they were quite the winning pair. Jennifer would always make a lovely cheese plate for us to nosh on dIgor celebrated his Birthday and Father’s Day on June 14 so we surprised him with a Blueberry White Chocolate Birthday Cake.Another favorite past time tradition to do with our guests is helping us complete our jig saw puzzles which are scenes of the city we are currently living in. Here Igor is working on the puzzle and wearing the tee shirt we gave him for his Birthday with the Danish word Hygge pronounced “hoo-ga” and means very appropriately ” creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people”. How could you describe our life any better than that.
We enjoyed watching a firework display from our window the night before they left.Jennifer and Sandy made a Father’s Day breakfast then bid them good bye and safe travels back to Boston.
So ends our first two weeks in Copenhagen. We have found Hygge and it describes our life. We are so happy to be back to exploring the world on foot and entertaining our friends and family that we so miss in our retired lifestyle.
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