Cue the Mood Music

 Alright, so those of you reading this from Michigan understand the term or phrase rather "million dollar sunsets," pretty well.  With Copenhagen having the rainy weather of Seattle recently, we never thought we would ever see the sun past 3 o' clock.  Well, when the sun decided to stay visible until dusk we were able to capture some pretty sweet pictures. 

  Despite Copenhagen being an intense mass and tangle of concrete, cobblestones and pavement, if you find the secret spots of green havens you can see the turn of seasons.  Now, some may or may not know, so here is a little science lesson for the day.  Color brilliance in trees varies by tree type and more importantly by weather.  Thus, the USA and other places that experienced drought over the summer will actually have better colors then places like Copenhagen, with it's tendency to rain constantly like Seattle, will have less brilliant colors.  That is why most of the colors seen in these pictures are strictly yellow.  So, a late dry summer, with a fall that has gradually decreasing temperatures, small increments of rain, and lots of sunshine produces the best colors.   Alright class, pop quiz tomorrow, share the knowledge.  

Here's a Hollyhock to brighten your day!

Here's another dose of really exciting news.  In Copenhagen there is this really awesome coffee shop called Cafe Retro.  Not only is it a non-profit place run by volunteers, the money they make goes to schools in Africa that teaches the students how to sustainably make a living for themselves, seriously what else, how could this coffee shop get anymore awesome? This coffee shop becomes a venue for singer/songwriters not only of Copenhagen, but from all over the world every Thursday night.  This adorable, eclectic little place that resembles more a house then anything, with chairs, couches everywhere, Foosball, fireplace in the middle, turns into an opening, encouraging place for the experienced professional or the budding musician.  I was given the privilege to perform there last Thursday night and it was a blast.  It's always incredibly calming for any musician when you find the right venue to pour out your soul and Cafe Retro is that place.  So, if you are a singer/songwriter traveling to Copenhagen be sure to check out Cafe Retro, if you didn't bring your instruments on your trip, no worries, they provide an acoustic guitar(I believe a 6 string), several mics, a Yamaha keyboard with a pedal and a nice PA system.  What's holding you back, go for it! Musicians also get a free beverage from a cart near the stage, I grabbed something from there the other night, not understanding a lick of Danish, I'm not really sure what I grabbed, all I know is that it was gluten free and delicious, maybe a cider with mint or something.  Have a splendid day and thanks for sharing in our adventures with us!

Oh happy Day!!!

It's always nice to come back from a ruff ragged day out on the town attempting to find an apartment(which in Copenhagen is like trying to find a needle in a haystack) and find a care package waiting for you at the reception desk.  Especially when that care package comes from your parents who happen to make the best care packages in the entire world.  If you think I'm kidding, I dare you to try to find a care package better, it will be an arduous task that is most probably impossible. All I can say is that today was so worth all its ruggedness after receiving a care package from home.  Well anyways, this post will also surmise some interesting observations an expat can make on a foreign country. 
1.  So, the first observation and I think personally the most hilarious is what parents here use to cart their children around in.  Back home it's simply called a stroller, but here it's more like a Hummer of strollers.  That's right these things are monstrous, megalithic,  gigantic in proportion, unnecessarily large, unless you for some reason need to fit your life in a stroller or Godzilla's babies.  Furthermore, the parents here seem to push and prod their children around in these megalithic things until their kids resemble that of being a twelve year old.
2.  OK, this next one goes out to all you mocha lovers back in the states.  Yes, if you ever find yourself in Copenhagen you will unfortunately not be granted that oh so smooth and delicious necessary taste of a mocha.  Which I find odd, because the people here do in fact love their coffee and chocolate, but haven't combined the two, hmmmmm. 
3.  Expect pretty hip parents.  Yep, I just said that.  Most of the parents here are pretty hip to this modern culture here and dress very similarly to their youngsters. 
4.  Despite their love for unnecessarily large strollers, don't expect that with their cars, or automobiles rather. 
5.  Hair salons here are like Starbucks in America, they are everywhere, every street corner, sometimes several per block.  In case you were wondering their version of Starbucks here is called Baresso, which like Starbucks, is everywhere.  However, if in the fall like most Americans you crave that delicious fall Pumpkin Spice Latte, don't come to Copenhagen, they don't believe in pumpkin anything, I know it's super sad, we can get through this together, maybe.
6. Lastly,  kind of a weird one, but it may be some Danish code that you never pick up after yourself.  I honestly have no idea where it comes from, but if you find yourself in a coffee shop or really anywhere for that matter,  expect cups, whether it be the establishments cups or paper cups, plates and napkins to be everywhere.  I don't know if they expect other people to pick it up for them, or if the workers of said restaurant are supposed to do it.  Mom, I promise we will not follow suit with this Danish tradition. 
Thanks for following along on our adventures!

So, it's been awhile....

So, I realize it's been a while since our last post, yes we are still alive, yes we are eating our fruits and veggies, but through the stress of acclimating to a new place we both picked up a nasty dose of sniffles and incredibly soar throats.  So, in the absence of feeling the want to adventure with our ragged bodies, we've been taking it pretty easy, sleeping and may have formed what looks to most an addiction to vitamin C.  However, since our last post we have managed to have a few outings before the sickness kicked in.  Every October in Copenhagen comes a night, in this case the 12th, where all the museums, theaters, palaces, castles, or historic places rather, open their arms to the public.  It becomes a night of exploring most places that aren't open daily to the public. To the folks back home, if you ever ventured to any of the open house nights, whether it be Petoskey or Harbor Springs, this Copenhagen culture night was similar, except unfortunately it wasn't free, there weren't any massive sugar cookies from that one bank in Harbor Springs, there wasn't any free hot chocolate or bean stew in massive cauldrons in the streets, but there still was a magic about it.  We managed to find a neat little coffee shop that was still open, bought some delicious hot chocolate and sat outside near a fireplace.  Another adventure we had, which I know Mom, you will be rather proud of seeing as it may have involved Bailey's Irish Cream, a pub and our first legal European alcoholic beverage.  Dad,  we didn't go crazy and do some ski shots, or jagger bombs, but we did try an Irish Coffee.  I know original right, expect the coffee addict to maybe try something different when it comes to alcohol, well just keeping it familiar. Thanks for enjoying our adventures with us!

Happy Birthday Mom!!! Also, say hello to the newest addition to our traveling troupe

First off Happy Birthday to the most wonderful mother in the whole world, I wish we could be there to celebrate with you, maybe we'll have a Bailey's or Jaegermeister or two.
Second off we've done a lot in the past few days, so let us share our adventures with you.

Nyhaven, one of the most well known streets in Copenhagen, it holds the idealic Danish charm, colorful houses on a canal snuggled close together.

The Round Tower, hence the name, a spiraling round tower that overlooks the city and used to be a guard house to protect the city from invasion.  It is also an observatory.

Yeah, check out that Grand, which also happens to be in the round tower, pretty sweet. 

MOCHA! OK, so I finally stumbled upon my first mocha in Denmark. I know, I know I should branch out and try their coffee versions, but a mocha!

Say hello to the newest addition of our traveling troupe.  In attempt to assimilate into Danish culture, the most crucial thing is a bike.  So, we have finally been reunited with our two-wheeled steeds, yah!  We have yet to give the bike a name, I am gunning for Sir Rufus, but we have yet to jointly decide.   

Hope you guys enjoyed our adventures, for those reading back home miss you all!!!

I'm not gonna lie, these past few days have been pretty rough, trying to assimilate into a new culture in a foreign land is never easy, but when you are trying keep your head up and attempting to find an apartment which is a needle in the haystack in this case you end up hating your situation and everything  around you, until you find the hidden magic that every place guards safely. Usually a place will offer up what you need even before you yourself know you need it and most times you never find what you are looking for until you stop trying.  This was the case for our day today, we were looking for a specific place, but stumbled upon several places that managed to slightly alleviate the massive storm clouds that hung over us.  Today was like a song, it had that build, prechorus to the chorus elation.  Firstly we stumbled upon a lovely place called Ostedsparken, this was the prechorus. 

This next place was the chorus, the elation, the lift we so desperately needed.  This place is called Israels Plads, This place is massive, two buildings, and in between the buildings are several tents piled high with carts and boxes of fresh produce.  Inside the two buildings there are vendors all over selling their best stuff, tea shops, coffee shops, cupcake shops, fresh meat stands, and so much more.  All of this has a common theme, healthy and sustainable with a massive dose of local.  As soon as you enter those large sliding doors to either of those buildings, the smells of fresh bread hit you along with lavender from a soap stand and some deliciously tempting pastries that waft past your nostrils.  You become enveloped in the smells and many sights of this place.

Feast your eyes on those loaves...

Cupcakes for you Mom, they had Red Velvet

Mom, I am eating my fruits and veggies

An aisle to the massive indoor market

Americano for you Pops!

Serious chocolate overdose my friends

Finally, some fresh produce in a big city

The outside market

Inside market

Allright Dad, what kind of tree is this....Here is its leaf, we thought it was an Olive Tree

I know you know what kind of tree this is.....a Lemon Tree!

Allright, so after our chorus we discovered our bridge, yes mother, we did in fact go to the Botanical Gardens and just like you predicted they were incredibly awesome.  The Botanical Gardens are right next to the University of Copenhagen and are stunning, with a pond in the middle and millions of plants and trees, mostly labeled, that cover the vast grounds.  

OK, ok, ok, so, the final chorus, lastly we found this restaurant my sister had been eyeing.  She is a pastry chef who has a love for sustainable food, mostly foraging and naturally/locally sourced, and found this neat restaurant in Copenhagen called 42 RAW, which as the name says uses nothing but raw ingredients, completely unprocessed.  Which isn't just super healthy and delicious for you, but is much better for the environment because you take away the necessity for so many processes that are needed for most food production.  I will attest that 42 RAW has awesome raw cookies.  My sister being an incredibly astute chef pointed out that 42 degrees celsius is the temperature at which raw food must stay to be considered raw, incase you were wondering.  We also stumbled upon a really sweet music store, that had drool worthy keyboards everywhere, sigh....

The love and hate relationship; A cobblestone story

Ahhh Cobblestones, whoever thought they would be a brilliant idea was either an idiot or a hopeless romantic.  Seriously, sure they have the appeal of faraway originality, but try running on them for extended periods of time and your joints, bones and limbs will beg to differ as they find every rut and space in between the blocks of 6x4 stone chunk.  So, we must find a new way to survive, hence discovering these awesome gravel trails that run along the southern outskirts of Christianshavn that take you along the waters edge or you can run on the two lane tracks between the cobblestone hell that a much smarter person decided to put down.  

Additional discoveries of the day: OK, so after finding out that Copenhagen is against organic food, peanut butter and Clif bars which are essentially my staples, I discovered that the Danes have a love for house boats, which is pretty sweet.  These house boats are massive with pots of various plants sticking out from their decks, bikes hanging off the sides and lawn chairs on the bow, which would imaginably be the best place to groggily sit and sip tea as the sun begins to rise over the beautiful tapestry of colorful homes, cobblestone streets, more boats and water, and a clear blue sky painted with wispy clouds.  

Caffe Coccio, so after staving from the local coffee shops until we found "the one," I decided to venture and try the Caffe Coccio, which was supposed to be similar to my back in America addiction of soy mocha. Lots of foam, perfectly bitter espresso and surprise, for the chocolate there was a stick that was dipped in chocolate that would then melt into your warm drink.  So, and interesting version of the mocha, with the Danish twist.  

Welcome to Copenhagen: The flat land of hipsters, really fancy coffee shops, overpriced everything, and colorful homes on the edges of canals.

Yep, so we finally made it to Denmark to discover most of it is a cross between New York and Chicago with a massive emphasis on the hipster scene in both areas.  You live and breath hipsterism here, with their crazy antics of fixie bikes, coffee house love, and fancy ass shoes.  But, if you dig deeper and dodge the trendy lifestyle that has invaded Copenhagen like the bloody plague you find cobblestone streets, colorful houses on canals, a history of architecture that runs deep within the buildings and streets, lovely trail runs along the wharf or the occasional grassy area along a pond.