Day 2: Train to the Open Air Museum and the Resistance Museum.
Since Molly and Dave were still stuck in the US, this morning we decided to take a day trip out of the city to see Denmark’s answer to Sturbridge Village, an open air living museum depicting life in Denmark in the past. We used the public transport system that is included in the Copenhagen Card (bought this in the US on-line, allows admission to most attractions). On our way to the central station, I realized that my new sim card was not working correctly. I tried everything (almost) to fix it. We had left all the paperwork re: the phone in the room, so we walked back to the hotel, spent an hour trying to get it to work, failed, and decided to us my Verizon network for cell service (needed it to use our Copenhagen Card). Figured I’d figure it out later.
Back again to the train station. The trains here are fantastic, comfortable, easy to maneuver, and on time. We found a great app for getting around Copenhagen (Resplenen), and using it, we were able to combine walking, train, and bus to easily get to our destination.
The museum was not quite what we expected, no docents or people in costume working (they need Marla!), but it was a beautiful day and nice to be out in the sunshine.
After returning to the main train station in Copenhagen, we walked to the Copenhagen Ferry dock and took the ferry north to the Museum of the Danish Resistance. The ferry ride was quite a treat giving us a wonderful view of the entire city.
We saw the hotel we will be staying at when we return to Copenhagen (NH Collection), the opera house,
and some wonderful buildings both completed and under construction. Danish architecture is very interesting.
It was a short walk from the ferry dock to the museum. The exterior is very identifiable, though we could not figure out the meaning behind the structure.
The museum shows the history of Denmark’s WW II years. Germany occupied Denmark in order to “protect them from British aggression” (sounds like Putin’s playbook) without any significant Danish resistance. The country was initially split between pro-Nazis and communistsl at the far extremes, with most of the population indifferent. Once the Nazi occupation was in full force, the population began to see their freedom eroded and an active resistance movement began.
Until 1943, Jews were not affected terribly under the occupation, but in that year, the yellow star was required and round-ups began. In protest, the king asked all Danish citizens to wear yellow stars. Many Jews were smuggled across to Sweden with the help of the Resistance. By the end of the war, resistance in Denmark was in full force with armed resistance cells disrupting Nazi communications and rail traffic, as well as terrorizing German troops. We certainly learned a lot about Scandanavia and WW II.
Leaving the museum we partook in our first (of, I’m sure, many) Danish ice cream cones. Fortunately, I haven’t figured out the exchange rate yet, so I’m not sure how much we paid, but it sure was tasty (we hadn’t eaten since breakfast). It was a short walk to the ferry dock and on the way we stopped at a park with an impressive fountain.
The little mermaid statue was about 100 meters from where we were, but we promised Molly we would wait to see it her and David, so we tore ourselves away and made our way to the ferry. We stopped in Nyhavn, the night life area of the city and tried to find an early dinner. You literally could not swing a dead cat without hitting a restaurant. One after the other, they lined the canal. Our problem was choosing. We walked up and down checking out menus and outdoor seating arrangements, in a usual Cohen fashion, went back to the first restaurant, which happened to be about 20 meters from the ferry dock. We had a great Italian dinner, though due to its location, we probably paid through the nose,
On our walk from the ferry to the hotel, we stopped to watch a bunch of kids with way too much testosterone!
Finally, we heard from Molly and Dave that they were on there way! While we waited for them, I was able to figure out my phone issues (wasn't set to roam). We fought to stay awake so we could welcome them to Copenhagen. After a quick hello and a plan for tomorrow, we all crashed for some well-deserved rest.
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