Within the last twenty-four hours we’ve had 2/3 of the family come down with a cold and discovered that Nic got a speeding ticket (by camera) in Iceland. It’s his very first speeding ticket, so why not have it happen in Iceland? With the wild weather and the crazy expense of it all and the ticket, Iceland has fallen off its pedestal.

We are not aiming high with what sights we can see, but that bar lowers even more when you have to walk the pace of a four year-old who is a little feverish and can’t just be tossed in a car. But we’ve still had the energy and time to explore and play and see some beautiful sights. Somehow the kids’ energy magically recharges when we come upon a new playground, no matter how much they are dragging. And the kids did want to go out and do stuff today even though they felt ill.

Some observations we’ve had:

• There are so many runners in Copenhagen that I feel like I’m with my people. I saw a running group one morning that was at least 250-strong, all the runners happily chatting away.
• People here love to get around on their own power and be outside. We wish we had our e-bikes here to join the throngs, although it looks a little intimidating. We’ve dodged more bikes than cars here, and you really have to pay attention when crossing a street, since it involves crossing two [likely occupied] bike lanes as well as the car lanes.
• Nic is average in height here. Probably 25% of men are taller than he is, some by quite a bit!
• It’s hard to understand the method of grocery shopping here in the city. No one looks like they’re buying food for more than one or two meals, so either they eat out a ton or go to the grocery store most days. I tend to plan a week of meals in advance, but I can only carry meals for a day or maybe two at one time, so I am trying to embrace this style of shopping.
• Things are still quite expensive, although it’s much more affordable in Copenhagen than in Iceland. Fruits and vegetables are cheaper than I expected, but things like meat, cheese, and milk are more expensive than at home.
• You can’t buy pseudoephedrine at all in Denmark. We wanted the big guns to help with congestion on our flight tomorrow – no such luck.
• We find apartment living a bit strange and not at all private. Our lovely apartment has big windows in each room. The front of the apartment looks out at several other buildings (and their big windows) across a narrow street. The apartment backs up to a small courtyard, which means you get quite the view of all the neighbors. People do close curtains at times, but we’ve gotten an eyeful of several things we didn’t need to see. We read that Danes are known to be unfriendly and won’t even make eye contact when passing a neighbor. Maybe it’s because they’ve seen him in his underwear??
• Public transportation is awesome! With ticket machines and lots of signage in English and the helpful instructions of Google maps, getting around has been simple. Our kids are old pros at getting on and off trains quickly and holding hands through the rush. We got front-row seats on the metro today and got to watch the tunnel speed by. Laila exclaimed with great gusto, “This is damn cool!” (We don’t know where she learned this, but my money is on the Home Improvement episodes the kids have watched recently.) We’ve wondered when someone would try using a swear word. Other less exciting milestones: Quinn had a new molar pop through, and Jude just cut his last canine.

Tomorrow we wake up way too early to fly to Bologna. This will hopefully be our last early morning flight. I’ve tried hard to book mid-day flights, but it wasn’t possible here. Think of us as we drag two suitcases, several sick children, and our tired selves in the dark on a train, metro train, airplane, and monorail. It should all be done by the time you’re drinking your morning coffee!