The Ultimate Copenhagen Experience

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 4):

We next headed towards Kongens Nytorv (a plaza) and Nyhavn (a harbor, and the most famous harbor in Copenhagen). On the way, we made one quick stop at the largest department store in the city -- Magasin du Nord. Our goal was to check out the food gallery. This is a very common feature in European department stores. The lowest level of the store is typically a really nice gourmet grocery store, and Magasin du Nord is no exception. So we took advantage of

the selections to pick up some fresh fruit and snacks. We resisted the temptation to buy chocolate - notwithstanding all the really tempting displays of Easter candy.

Our primary goal this morning was to take a boat tour of the canals. We located the correct dock, at the innermost point of Nyhavn, and purchased our tickets. The next boat was pulling in just as we were completing our ticket purchase so we immediately made our way onboard.

These canal tour boats are uniquely designed. I did not appreciate that when we first boarded and started our journey, but their very special design purpose became evident later on in the tour. They are rather wide and relatively flat. The center section has a cover, or roof, constructed of glass panels. But at the front and back of the boat, the seating is open to the air. For most of our trip, we sat outside. It was a clear sunny day, but it was also cold and windy. And, being on the water, we got very cold at times. About three-quarters of the way through the trip, we were finally compelled to seek the warmth of the inside portion of the boat. But we had chosen to stay outside for so long because we wanted to have a clearer views of the sights and we knew we would take a lot of pictures -- which we did!

Back to the shape of the boat. We navigated several canals during our tour and we went under a dozen or more bridges. These bridges are not very high off the water and the opening through which the boat traversed provided very little clearance. Every time we went under a bridge, the tour guide reminded everyone to sit down and keep our hands in the boat. As it turns out, the

shape of these boats exactly fits the openings that we passed through under these bridges. Sometimes there was no more than a few inches of clearances on the sides and top. It was tense!

The First Church of Many

Saturday, April 3 2010 (Part 3):

Staying in the same general area of the Borsen, we crossed one more street, and our next stop was a small church called Holmens Kirke. What a wonderful find this was. We only stopped and peeked in on a whim, but it turned out to be a delightful surprise. And we had the place entirely to ourselves.

This church is relatively simple in design (and so Danish in that regard). On the inside, it has white plaster walls with only an occasional picture or tapestry. The primary

decorative features consisted of an elaborately wood carved pulpit and altar. Perhaps it was the overall simplicity of the space that made these features stand out as they did. The workmanship was incredible and quite unlike anything I can recall seeing before.

But the pulpit was truly the most engaging feature. It's base was a wood carving of Moses holding the 10 Commandments. And around the pulpit itself, there were carvings of each of the 12 Apostles.

The Copenhagen Stock Exchange

Saturday, April 3, 2010 (Part 2):

From Slotsholmen, we crossed the street and walked around the old stock exchange building, called the Borsen. The building is not open to the public, but it has a really interesting history and is pretty neat just to view from the outside. The building is many hundreds of years old and, like so many places in Copenhagen, was at one time almost completely surrounded by water. This was intentional and made it easy for merchants to buy and sell wares from boats as they pulled in and out of the exchange.

To me, the most interesting feature of the Borsen is its tower. Twisted up the spire on this central tower are four dragons. Their heads hang down over the edge of the base of

the tower and their tails wrap around the spire up to its topmost point. It's really unique. By the way, there seem to be an abundance of dragons and serpents depicted around Copenhagen. It must have something to do with the city's Nordic sea-faring past. Who knows!

I should mention, if not already apparent from the pictures, that the weather on this day was really wonderful. It was a clear, sunny day. It was also a bit on the chilly side, but the full sun kept us warm.

Copenhagen in a Day

Saturday, April 2, 2010 (Part 1):

Wow! What a day we had. In fact, this was to be the first of quite a few very long days -- so many that I was completely unable to keep up with my journal. I was constantly days behind. And on this first day of our whirlwind vacation, we saw Copenhagen -- all of it! We saw all of the top sites in the city. It was great, and it left me thoroughly exhausted.

First, a few words of Danish will help sort out where we went and what we saw.

"Slot" = Castle

"Kirke" = Church

"Havn" = Harbor

We started our day shortly after 9:00am by walking to Slotsholmen (a castle, get it?). This is where the first castle in Copenhagen was built in the 11th Century by Bishop Absalon. The original castle was destroyed in the 13th Century by the rival Hanseatic League. The palace that stands here today was not built until the early 20th Century and currently houses Parliament and the High Court.

We had hoped to tour through the ruins of the original castle and the stable area, but we were a little too early for that. Nothing was open yet, so we just walked around the extensive grounds and enjoyed the statues and the architecture. Much of Copenhagen today is built on fill, but this particular castle is one of the few areas that was originally solid ground!

What a Coincidence

I began my trip to Europe on Tuesday, March 30th, but that was not the beginning of my vacation. I was on a business trip! Quite coincidentally (really!), I had to be in Vienna for a two-day argument as part of an insurance arbitration proceeding. This was a double coincidence because (i) the argument was scheduled to immediately precede the date I had planned to travel to Copenhagen originally and so it meshed perfectly from a scheduling standpoint and (ii) the argument was scheduled to take place in Vienna which was one of the cities Katherine and I had planned to visit. I may never be in Vienna again in my life, but for this one moment in time, I had two reasons to be there in the same week!

And so, I spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Vienna on business, and then flew to Copenhagen on Friday evening (April 2nd). My trip to the airport was uneventful, and I had no difficulty getting ticketed and finding the gate. The plane took off on time and landed in Copenhagen on time, and, by about 7:45 p.m., I was hugging Katherine outside the baggage claim area. We found each other very easily. IT WAS SO GREAT TO SEE HER! And it was so nice to have her as my own personal tour guide in this city.

One of the first benefits of Katherine's knowing the city is that we were able to take public transportation into the city. We took the train. We had to change to a second train at one point, but it all worked out very well. And it was fast. Upon arriving at the train station in the city, we walked a bit to our hotel, and that allowed Katherine to give me a very basic orientation to the city.

We stayed at the Hotel Danmark. It was quite nice and very conveniently located in the center of town -- very near the City Hall. After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we walked through the central town square, past the City Hall, and found a restaurant near the Tivoli amusement park (unfortunately not open for the 2010 season until mid-April) for a late dinner. The photos here are of the City Hall.

Back at the hotel, we mapped out our plan of attack for the next day. Basically, we had one day to see the entire city. We had a very ambitious agenda and I hoped very much to get to everything on our list.

A European Tour

I have just returned from a nine day vacation with Katherine. It was the second week of her two-week Spring Break from her studies this semester in Copenhagen. Our plan was to see three cities in one week. We started in Copenhagen -- so that Katherine could show off her new "home" to me -- and we then proceeded to Prague (in the Czech Republic) and Vienna (in Austria). We had a wonderful week together, and I will now be spending considerable time over the next few weeks trying to faithfully record some of the wonderful things that we saw and did.

These three cities are equally enchanting but they are very distinct each one from the other. Copenhagen is a city of the sea. It is defined by its extensive watery coast, inlets and canals.

Prague is a city that reeks of history. It has a very old, very charming city center which is watched

over and dominated by a medieval castle on a hill. Vienna is the most cosmopolitan of these three cities, but it maintains a strong classical music tradition and is home to some grand 17th and 18th century palaces. I loved each one of these cities.

I have selected three photos for this first entry in this blog series. The first photo is a view of a portion of Copenhagen that features the inner harbor, the Christianshavns Canal and, at the top of the photo, the city's beautiful opera hall.

The second photo depicts one corner of the old Town Square in Prague, taken from the top of the famous Town Hall clock tower.

The third photo is of the Schoenbrun Palace, located only a few miles east of downtown Vienna. This was the Hapsburgs' summer palace and was built during the middle of the 18th century. It was intended to rival Versailles, and it does a pretty good job of it.

Offices, Old and New - Part II

The BIG MOVE has happened! Last Thursday night, we left our offices in the Oliver Building for the last time and for three days (24 hour each day, I am told), our offices were moved one block away to the new K&L GATES CENTER, on Penn Avenue.

I am happy to report that all of my things were moved safely and soundly. I am not missing anything and, most importantly, my desk was disassembled and reassembled in perfect shape. There are few things about the new office space that will take some getting used to (like the fact that I need to take my key with me to go to the ladies' room), but our new space is really very nice. The conference rooms are simply gorgeous and the views from our floor (the 29th floor) are quite spectacular.

Here are some photos of our new offices.