Day 15, 16, 17, & 18 - Copenhagen and travel, travel, travel

Sorry for the delay in posting!  We have had quite an adventure over the last couple of days.  Planes, trains, buses, and most frequently, our very own feet have taken us throughout Scandinavia.  We most recently found our way to the lovely city of Copenhagen, Denmark!

We were lucky enough to do quite a bit of sightseeing in Copenhagen, starting with the Carlsberg Brewery, which is the fourth largest brewer of beer in the world.  We learned about the Jacobsen family that started the business as a local brewer and how they turned their product into a 9.5 Billion dollar business (Ines is trying to insert that this was just as much educational as it was thirst quenching).  We also visited the famous Mermaid statue, donated by the Carlsberg family, who were dedicated to purchasing art and placing it in public spaces for all to enjoy.

We then made our way to the Rosenborg Castle, where the previous King Christian IV and V and their Queens of Denmark lived, with an impressive preserved interior, complete with wall tapestries depicting the Denmark-Sweden war and royal life.  Ines was also very taken by the collection of Royal jewels, including crowns, jewelry, swords dripping in gold an precious stones, still used by the current monarchy today.  This quickly led to jewelry shopping for Ines in the heart of Copenhagen, and oh yes, she bought a pair of shoes, too.  Korey may not be able to go two weeks without sports, but Ines can't go three without buying a pair of shoes.  We are now even.

That evening we shared a meal in Malmo, Sweden before traveling back to Oslo to catch our flight the next morning.  This meal was worth noting, as hands down we have scored it as the best meal we have ever had, ever.  Kockska Huset was the perfect blend of Scandinavian food with French cuisine influence, and was two stories underground in this massive wine cellar-looking space.  We both tasted Reindeer for the first time, which is undeniably unlike any meat either one of us had ever had, and Korey lamented afterward that he couldn't believe he ate Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (his favorite childhood character), and how good it tasted.

We had but a night back in Oslo, and visited the National Museum of Art, where we saw a wide collection of original Art from Renoir, Matisse, Monet, Picasso, and the famous Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch.  What a treat!  At dinner that night, we received notice that our flight had been cancelled due to a airline employee strike on Lufthansa airlines, and had to, for the first time in this adventure, go off our travel itinerary and form a new plan.

So a plane, a bus, two instances of stepping in dog poo, and a 16 hours of travel time later, we find ourselves in Prague, Czech Republic (with a brief stop in Munich for a german sausage and sauerkraut lunch).  We are currently flying by the seat of our pants, planning out our adventures day by day.  We would love your tips and itineraries as we work to plan out our travel to Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Turkey!  We are days away from each of these places and need your wisdom.

Things we learned:  1) The Eurail travel pass is amazing, truly amazing.  From long distances to just trips to the airport, completely worth the cost  2) It is totally possible to wake up in one country, have lunch in another, and go to sleep in a third, all within 24 hours!, 3) We have about 20 more countries to travel to from here, which means Ines will likely come home with another 5 pairs of shoes....great.

Korey's favorite childhood toy, based in Denmark!

 

The elephant is a significant icon throughout Denmark

The largest unopened beer collection in the world (over 16,000), at the old Jacobsen brewery within Carlsberg.  Korey was impressed

Ariel!  Where is Sebastian?  Maybe because this is the one still owned by Carlsberg

The Jacobsen Christmas Ale was fantastic!  Both educational and thirst quenching

Ines' dramatic photo of the Rosenborg Castle.  No pictures allowed of the jewels!

Downtown Copenhagen

Ines getting all Euro with her shoes.  Sigh...

Edvard Munch's "The Scream."  One of 4 he made, pretty great to see in person

Ines reading up on our next destination on the train.  Flying by the seat of our pants!