farewell tour comes to an end...

well our last day in copenhagen was wonderful...this morning ginny went out to see her friend jytte for a second visit...dan roamed a little, checking out a few new sites and i did laundry and packed for turkey.

at 12:30 we met and caught a train to roskilde to visit the viking ship museum...along the way we walked through roskilde parks...

 the ship museum is appropriately located on the water...

along our way we encountered this "book share" in the park...there were many "shelves" or cubbies full of books

 we walked through the shopping area of roskilde...these huge pots or urns caught my eye...

 we came upon a pedestrian marking unlike any we had seen...worth documenting for sure...

 upon our return to copenhagen we set out to find a place to eat our final meal together...there was a series of fountains and we could not resist playing a little....

 this is a "swimming hole" along one of the canals...it was a beautiful day and the danes love their sun!

 another of the elephants...this chick lives to ride :)

 we walked and walked...and finally stopped at a corner cafe for dinner...we sat at a table on the sidewalk...we were thirsty and the the coke and the beer hit the spot...

 carlsberg beer on tap...

 a happy ginny...

 on our walk back to the hotel we stopped by the stock exchange building for a visit...the tower is fantastically unique...

 the sun is down and the daylight is losing ground...good night copenhagen....

sweden...

tuesday morning we took the train to sweden...a short trip...a walk through old malmo...lunch along the water...a little shopping....

this is the malmo train station

 a square in "old town"

 the water is a moat surrounding the malmo castle....

 we walked along the water and at the end of the line we stopped for a light lunch...

 the turning torso building stands above the other buildings on the shoreline...it really is a fantastic sight...

 the return walk to the station takes us through the "old town" once again...

the trip was short but was memorable...i am looking forward to a return trip...

oh denmark

sunday evening we arrived in copenhagen...the plan is to stay until thursday.  at that time ginny and dan will return to the states and i will start my turkish adventure with byron, joce, haakon and allegra johnson-pihlaja...

on our first evening in copenhagen we went to tivoli...it is a small amusement park in the heart of the city...it was a perfect evening...

 the gardens were amazing...

 on monday morning we hoped on a tour bus...the tour was poor so we bailed on the bus and walked for most of the day...here are the larsen sibs early on in the ride...

 we got off the bus to see the little mermaid...she is the hans christian andersen mermaid that was the inspiration for the disney film...

 we abandoned our tour bus at the mermaid and ventured out on our own...

 polser or hot dog stands are all over the city...

 we stopped in at the "marble" church...ginny and can not resist...we mark our spot...

 this is taken from inside the church...no stained glass here...

 we made our way to the palace and caught a changing of the guard...

 there was a tesla "shop" and dan and i could not resist a look...

 we hit nyhavn for lunch...

 theses elephants are everywhere...all painted differently...themed...

 gin takes a minute to rub hans christian andersen's knee...

 on monday evening we visit old friends...

ginny and jytte

 the pic above is ginny and hilda (a friend of jytte's)...gin and jytte met each other in the early 80s on a safari in kenya...we had a lovely time with jytte, hilda and jytte's beautiful border collie (bonnie)...

  on tuesday we visited sweden (see next blog)...after the trip we hit the streets of copenhagen for a little more...this is the round tower...

 view from the top of the tower

 ginny gets ahold of the camera....

 it is my turn...a great shot!

sleeping in the belly of the krokodil

wednesday morning came and i have to admit that i was sad to be leaving rimbach...one last visit with elsa (else) schmitt and a second visit with erika (including more cherry picking...or sawing) and we were off.  friend birgit (german faculty at u of nd with ginny in 1967-68) came to rimbach to pick us up. our destination? heidelberg and the krokodil hotel...

along the way we stopped for lunch...a castle on the hillside overlooking the rhein valley...

food photo of course...my first spaetzle (bottom left) :)

as we were finishing our meal the rain started to fall...birgit went ahead to get the car...ginny and i snuggled up in a doorway to wait...a perfect opportunity for the "one-armed photo"...

ooh and time for a kiss.....

ah the krokodil...ginny has stayed here in the past...it was a great stop for us...the windows on the 3rd floor are ours...

here is the view from our room...it was really a lovely spot...

on thursday we got up...met birgit for breakfast and headed out to see the sights...heidelberg has a castle...castle ruins would be more accurate...

 i was impressed with the sun dial on the castle wall...it was off an hour...day light savings?

 ginny and birgit...

 ginny and kir

 view of heidelberg from the castle

 a little more of the castle

 after our castle visit and tour of heidelberg we returned to birgit's for a light lunch...

time in heidelberg was short...but very sweet...

post script:

earlier in the day we visited a german military cemetery and war memorial...i am still processing the impact of this...there certainly was an impact made...the monument/cemetery was designed by speer (hitler's architect)...i will write more...perhaps include pics once i have more of a handle on this...