Flashback

At this time last year, Sister and I took a trip to Iceland.  We had such a nice time and it was the loveliest place I had ever been to.  The landscape and all it's natural wonders was stunning and the people calm, friendly and kind. Now for the past year, we have both been yearning to go back.  I tried to pick my top 5 favourite photos from our visit, but couldn't seem to narrow it down, so here are 6! 

On the same trip, we visited Copenhagen too.  Not to leave that city out!  Here are a couple of my fave city snaps as well as an amazing view of icy whiteness as we flew home aver Greenland.

Makes me want to jet off immediately to somewhere amazing!  Sigh...

Copenhagen -- Day 3

Bear with me!  The travel blogging is almost over and we'll be back to our regular programming here!  These are snapshots of our last day of travel.  We visited the Dansk Design Centre which walked us through a few rooms of iconic Danish pieces.

Grabbed a nice big pot of tea and browsed the gift shop before walking over to Vesterbro.

Passed Central Station on our way.

We felt so relieved to be in an area that was not swarming with tourists.  Vesterbro was a great neighbourhood with so many excellent independent retailers housed in pretty old buildings.  I much prefer these areas.

We loved our afternoon in Vesterbro.  In the eve we walked back to near our hotel to grab some dinner and to get ready for our return home the next day.  In hindsight, our itinerary should have been flipped.  We wished we had gone to Denmark before Iceland as it was a small let down to be in an urban centre of any kind after the high of seeing such amazing natural wonders.  We still had a great time in Copenhagen.  We only had a short time and had no real plan and it was kind of nice.  Mostly we walked and poked around shops, I know... and skipped the tourist requirements like visiting the mermaid and such.  Is that bad?  Felt like this was a good way to get a quick feel of the city and the design excellence the country is famous for.  We'll have to return one day to see some more!

Copenhagen -- Day 2

Our second day in Copenhagen was much like the first.  Spent wandering the city!  Here's a quick view of our day in pictures.

Saw more pretty things.  Loved this juicy looking acrylic barrettes.

 Rosenborg Garden (the King's garden)...

and Rosenborg Castle.  

A most charming shop called Holly Golightly.  Loved the warm design of the shop and the view of the glassed in stockroom.

City Hall... really close to our hotel.

My new fave beer is a Carlsberg brew aptly named Copenhagen.  It says crisp and refreshing on the label and that it was.  Especially after a day of walking.  I was trying to sample a couple of the different offerings from Carlsberg that we don't have here, or not yet.

Copenhagen -- Day 1

After a day of travel we woke up in Copenhagen!  The Sister had a list of must-see places and the best of the best, was the design mecca -- Illum Bollighus.  Our eyes were darting everywhere, not knowing where to focus... what beautiful thing to look at first.

We were charmed by these Hoptimists.  The Hoptimist was designed by furniture designer Hans Gustav Ehrenreich in 1968.  We had a couple originals in our house growing up.  One big, one small.  Today, I still have the larger one on display in my home.  Not sure if it was the nostalgia or the Hoptimists doing their job and spreading a smile.  The wooden ones are especially nice.

The store was filled with several floors of colourful, new and classic Danish clothing and design for the home.  Drool....

 Even carpet samples looked fabulous there.

 Loved this multi-coloured knobby rug.

 Tactile floor cushions.

 Oodles of lighting options.

The perfect coat rack for me!

View from the top floor.

Very Danish window.

We loved that store!

Found another shop sharing my name!  I look exhausted here... but hopefully not as ramshackle as that awning!

Busy shopping area...  Lots of tourists like us!  

Nuts and dried fruit.

Lovely pedestrian areas.

Made me happy to see bikes galore!  Made me miss my bike.

Walked over to Illum next.  This was more like the department stores we have seen in any city, but still a very nice place.

Later in the afternoon we strolled over to Nyhavn to check out the pretty canal scene and to grab a hot dog.  Can't say that we ate that well in Copenhagen.  Partly because we were always on the go and partly 'cause we didn't see much that tickled the taste buds.  I'm sure it was completely our own fault!

Sisters!

This beautiful old building houses another large department store, Magasin.

Some stylish store fronts...

and beautiful old buildings.

Tried to visit the famed Tivoli Gardens, but it turns out they were closed Sunday to Tuesday, the exact days we were there.  We did see it all lit up and not darkened and deserted like this when we got off the train from the airport the night before.  It had a dreamy glow to it.  Some other time, I guess...