Copenhagen

For my birthday we went to Copenhagen for the weekend. I'm still amazed that we could just hop in the car and drive to another major European city in 3 hours on a Friday evening. I'm even more amazed that it's taken us a year and a half to actually do it.

To get to Denmark from Gothenburg you can either drive down to Malmö (Sweden's 3rd largest city after Stockholm and Gothenburg in case you were wondering) and cross the very long and very expensive bridge ($70 toll -- and you thought the Golden Gate Bridge was expensive!) or you can take the ferry from Helsingborg and poodle down to Copenhagen from there. We took the bridge on the way over and the ferry back, thus ensuring that we paid large tolls in both directions.

Similar to when we were in Rome, our strategy was to aim low and just get a feel for the city and not try to see everything. Luckily for us, Copenhagen is charming and compact, so that you can walk around most of it in a day or two. The canal tour was a hit with Julian:
He especially liked standing right by the side of the boat and jumping up and down on his seat so that we thought he was going to fall into the (apparently very clean) canals. Happily, we all survived AND got to see some of the amazing modern architecture that city can boast about. The new opera house (behind Julian in the picture above) is terrific, as is the new modern theater building across the water and the huge state library (I think that's what it was) that people refer to as the Black Diamond.

Our hotel was a hit with the kids because of the huge indoor pool, the cool outdoor area in front of the hotel that had kid-friendly sculpture and climbing equipment, and the Danish breakfast spread (nope, no Danish pastries to speak of). Here's Ava enjoying a sculpture:

Before we left the U.S. I would have said that the U.S. is pretty kid friendly, but it's got nothin' on the Scandinavians. In the pool in Copenhagen, there are:

• Bumbo seats for babies to use while moms shower
• Playpens in the changing rooms for toddlers
• Free strollers sitting around so you can push your baby from the changing room to the exit
• Multiple changing stations
  
• Ridiculous numbers of floaties and toys in the pool area
• Roped off areas of the pool just for little babies so they don't get splashed
  

Almost makes me want to have another baby. Not! But I do think it's great.

My friend Gen came to Copenhagen on Saturday with her 2 girls, mom and aunt, and we all ate at Wagamama, the fabulous Asian-inspired chain restaurant that I fell in love with years ago in London. I had a new appreciation for it this time because no one seemed to notice/mind the insanity that was occurring at our end of the table with 4 kids running all around and throwing noodles and moms chasing them down one after the other.

Now that we saw how easy it was to visit Copenhagen for the weekend, I think we'll head back pretty soon. Next time we might just aim for a sunny weekend.

Work work work

It's been a bit quiet on the blog lately, I know. I'm blaming it on being a lot more busy with work and having less to say now that we've been here awhile. I've been working on this big virtual training project with a global manufacturing client that has been one of those consulting engagements that makes you wonder:

a) why the hell you don't have a 9-to-5 job after all, and
b) how you ever said yes to this when your entire being was screaming "run away run away!!"

Adrian is the only other person more happy than I am that most of the kinks are now worked out and the training is going well.

Centimeter marathon

Today Ava and Julian participated in their first charity running race (a so-called centimeter marathon because it was 42,195 centimeters long) benefiting Queen Silvia's Children's Hospital. Ava is not much for ball sports or sports requiring any kind of concentrated practice come to think of it, but she does really like running, so it was great to see her excited about competing. She told us afterwards all about an English-speaking 4-year-old she "met during the race," so I don't think her competitive instinct is about to override her social butterfly personality any time soon, but we were so proud of her for running with the big kids in the front of the group and feeling confident enough to go out and run with so many kids without really getting what was going on. The second picture, above, shows her about to cross the finish line. She has been really enjoying her medal since the race, as you can imagine: Julian didn't end up running because the race was during his usual nap time and he was exhausted, but he seemed to have an OK time being carried by Adrian across the finish line. His passion at the moment is his new blue helmet, which he has insisted on wearing around town more as a fashion accessory than a practical aid. I was getting irritated by his obsession with the helmet until I realized that a 2-year-old in a helmet is probably a really good idea and now I ask him all the time if he wants to wear it. Eating croissants can be dangerous if you're 2 you know.