Copenhagen: National Museum and a lot of walking

Copenhagen is a flat town. It's the flattest place I've ever seen (next to the state of Florida). 

Will write more later.

Update:

The night I arrived in Copenhagen, my friend Amanda (who was a high school classmate), picked me up at the airport. We took the Metro and a bus to her place. That evening, I met her kids (her husband I already knew) and we got to reminiscing and then talking about what I might do the following day in Copenhagen while Amanda stayed home to work on her thesis.

The next day, I took copious maps and plans with me out the front door into a grey Copenhagen morning. Dark clouds looming in the distance. I took the 1A bus to the National Museum aka Nationalmuseet. As I stepped off the bus, wondering which way to walk, I heard a herd of school children screaming in only the way small children can when they're supposed to be quiet on the way to a museum. I followed the noise and was promptly at the entrance to the FREE museum. At that moment, right before I stepped inside, it started to rain. Seriously perfect timing. 

I was told that I would need to put my bag in a FREE locker, but that pictures were ok. I asked, "What's the BEST thing in the museum?" and got a "PBhwhoa!" in response. Apparently this was going to be awesome if it was hard to nail down the best thing. I was directed to the "most visited" section of the museum, which covered The Stone, Bronze, Iron and Viking ages. And it was, in fact, awesome. It was super educational and not boring. The rooms flowed into each other chronologically, telling the story of Danish History and culture. There were weapons and tools, bodies in log coffins, skulls, jewelery, a big boat and lots of other little things on display, like coins, pots and teeth! I had a great time!

Musical Instruments

Horned Helmets

National Museum - Cool mini swords

Big swords

This guy died by pokey things in the head and chest

Around 11am, I decided to head out of the museum and walk around Copenhagen, intentionally ignoring the maps "to get lost". This is a trick I like to employ because it really does make you learn an area, but with only one full day in Copenhagen, I wish I'd have looked at the map more. I walked in circles for a while and sort of exhausted myself. It turned out to be ok because my exhaustion forced us to stay home in the evening when it poured with rain. Here are some of the cool things I saw. 

Copenhagen, pedestrians, bikes, flat streets, colorful homes

Dragon Fountain outside of city hall

City Hall

City Hall

City Hall

The Round Tower

The Round Tower

This is not a specialty store. This is a 7-11. There is hot, fresh food and tables to eat at!

Copenhagen is a bike town, for sure!

Public Restroom at the bus stop, Free and clean

Sort of helpful post with general directions (In English)

Italy, The Netherlands, Denmark - Oh My.

Today was a travel day. We woke at 6 to catch a taxi to the airport. From 6:30 to 7:05am we were in the taxi on a ride that made Kate and I cry (with laughter...maybe to hide the fear). We were in a minivan taxi. Our driver was not going to screw around to stretch out the trip and make more money off us. He was on a mission. He was probably on several including phone calls and texting. The road leading from the hotel is winding and narrow with cars parked on one side and a wall on the other...oh, and also has cars coming at us. At no point do I remember slowing down. Our wheels screeched around corners, we flew on the freeway (150kph). At times, he would drive in two lanes at once while tailgating two different cars. At one point, we were in the fast lane and the driver in front of us was clearly fixing his hair in the rear view mirror, his car sliding to the right, "Sharing" the lane with the car ALREADY THERE! All the while, our driver is texting or answering phones at a billion miles an hour. Now, at first, I was like, "I like this guy. We'll save money." And then, "Um, is he really not going to slow down for that car coming straight at us". It was so ridiculous that Kate and I started laughing (quietly) at each near miss. By the time we got to the airport (and were very nearly literally bumper to bumper with the van in front of us) going 70kph in the departures lane, Kate and I were crying with fits. The van stops, we pay and the driver walks to the front of the car, pops the hood and CHECKS THE ENGINE! Kate and I were in hysterics.

Having survived the trip TO the airport, we enjoyed a breakfast/coffee and went to our respective terminals. Kate going back to San Francisco and I to Copenhagen (with a layover in Amsterdam).

The Amsterdam airport was great. Big shops, great choices for food (I had a chicken salad, strawberry and orange juice and and almond cookie) and plenty of places to charge one's devices...oh and free unlimited wi-fi. I updated the blog about Roma vs Genoa there.

The whole reason I came to Copenhagen was because friends of mine from high school (and their two awesome kids) have been living here for over a year. They were nice enough to invite me over and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch up in a really interesting place. Today was mostly settling in and catching up. I don't know what it is about old friends, but it's always so easy to settle back into an easy, happy place. In no time, we were laughing and reminiscing. I also learned about an app that lets you download really detailed maps of a city to use while you're offline. So, tomorrow, I'll test that out and see if I can't get myself around. It may rain (is scheduled to rain all day) so I might take a bus to the National Museum and hide from the weather. In all honesty, it doesn't matter to me if I see anything of Copenhagen. I'm very happy to see my friends.

Italy: Last Day in Rome

I'm going to have to blog about today another time as I've got to get to sleep for an early taxi to the airport.

Highlights:

• Roma vs Genoa Football (Soccer)
• Pantheon
• Bus ticket use (lots of it) and shuttle bus (cheap, easy rides)
• Laundry in the sink

The update below -- 

First off, let me say that the hotel we settled at in Rome was comfortable and had beautiful views and all that, but the continental breakfast was lousy and the coffee was worse, which is a disappointment in Italy. But it's easy to rectify that elsewhere.

We woke, showered, had bad breakfast and caught the 9am shuttle to the Vatican, where we took a bus to Stadium Olympico. Yeah, that's the Olympic Stadium IN ROME. Somethings just feel special when you get there. 

The activity for the day: AS Roma vs Genoa football (soccer). I'd heard what a soccer match is typically like in Rome and this LIVED UP to my expectations. I'll start off by saying there were no fights, but this is only because fans of the opposing team were cordoned off in their own small section. They were in a triangular section in the corner, on the second level, behind plexiglass, behind what looked like crime scene tape with guards surrounding the section for the whole game. 

When I bought the tickets online it said this: 

 Code of Behavior: Unless specified otherwise, your tickets are for the HOME section. Therefore, do not wear the Away Team colors for the match, neither you should cheer/jump up/show any signs of over-joy if the Away Team scores. Such behavior will expose you as a fan of the Away Team. It is considered as "teasing the audience". Such behavior can expose you to expulsion from the venue by the ushers

No Joke, Folks!

For the entire game, the Genoa fans cheered and clapped and chanted obscenities at the Roma fans. The Roma fans would respond, in kind, with chants and gestures and angry middle fingers. If the two sets of fans were able to reach each other, I am convinced that there would be murders. No Joke. But we were safe and enjoying the banter.

Before the match began, the crowd would sing a song about Rome (obviously in Italian). They would sing the whole song with no lyrics on a screen and then break for a few minutes, only to sing another passionate song about Rome. It was a fantastic thing to behold. But the best part came just before the start. The whole stadium sang the team song. Everyone stood up, held up their team scarves, flags or shirts with reverent pride and sang LOUDLY. I have never heard a national anthem sung with such feeling, let alone a team song. I was so moved, I had to compose myself. Seriously. It was emotional. 

The game itself was good. Some players had amazing moves. Rome scored their first goal in the net right in front of us and the crowd went NUTS. Young men and women screaming and hugging. Just brilliant.

And then back to the game. The constant clapping and chanting from the Genoa corner. "Va Fangool!" Finger! I was giddy at the streaming obscenities. 

Kate and I left a little early to catch the bus and on the way down the street, we heard Rome score their second goal. You'd have heard the cheering from a mile away. 

Quick side note about Italian public restroom. They are the worst. And the worsts of them all is in the Stadio Olympico. Seriously. Avoid it if possible. If not possible, burn your clothes and boil your skin afterwards.

Genoa fans try to break out of their designated area

Yellow Card for Genoa

Roma scores right in front of us and the crowd goes wild!

Blurry Goal celebration

Football fans taking a seat together on the fence around the soccer field

Stadio Olimpico - built in 1928

We took the bus back towards the Vatican and had gelato (surprise). Cherry and Chocolate today. Delicious. I used their bathroom, which was still terrible but survivable. 

To make the most of our transportation ticket (bus, tram, train for 3 days - 16.50 Euro...SO WORTH IT!) we took a bus towards The Pantheon and then had more gelato.

Raphael's coffin

And to wrap up the day (after a horrible pasta dinner at a tourist trap on the outskirts of the Vatican), we walked back to St Peter's Square (which is really a circle) and recapped our trip. It's only been 8 days or something, but we had a hard time remembering which day we did which amazing thing. Milan, Venice, Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome - The Duomo, Gondolas, the Mediterranean Sea, trains trains trains, The David, Pasta Pasta Pasta, The Coliseum, Football, The Pantheon, Gelato Gelato Gelato. Then to the shuttle and back to the hotel where we packed and prepped for our flights out of town. 

Italy: Sistine Chapel and Coliseum

I. Am. Exhausted. Kate's Fitbit Reading: 7.5miles, 22 flights of stairs. This may be a quick blog update.

First of all, the Vatican Museums were closed yesterday for a Holiday and are closed again tomorrow, so everyone who wanted to see the Sistine Chapel went today. The shuttle from our hotel was booked until noon, so we ended up walking down the hill and up another massive hill to catch a bus to the Vatican area. When we reached the line for the museums, we followed it around the block and down the block and around the corner and decided that we were either going to fork out the money to a street vendor to buy a ticket for a guided tour (skipping the general ticket line) or we were going to NOT see the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums. 

We forked out 50 Euros a piece and, instead of standing in line in the sun for 2+ hours, got a coffee and a tiramisu at a local cafe. It was a much better deal.

The tour itself was great. The amount of people inside was insane. I think they said they were trying to get 80,000 people through the museums today. Everywhere you moved, there were 15 people bumping into you, trying to get around you, stopping in front of you. If I didn't have headphones in (listening to Monica, the tour guide) I might've gone agro. But instead I was easy going and learning stuff. 

The tour took about 2 hours and was SLOW walking with FAST talking facts. Thank God for the distraction of the tour. 

Since there are no photos allowed inside the Sistine Chapel, tour groups go into the gardens and stand by big panels of the painting. It was exceptional to learn about the different stories/panels. It was also interesting to learn that Michelangelo painted while standing up and that by the end, years later was nearly blind...and I'm sure had neck problems forever. He also painted his face on the skin of a Saint who was skinned alive - this was his way of telling the church how he felt about being forced to paint this damned ceiling.

Here are some photos from inside the museums.

Julius Caesar

The torso that Michelangelo used as inspiration for Jesus' body when painting

Painted cieling...no decorations...it's basically 3D Painting because they painted the shadows

An incredible painted and decorated ceiling - and in the bottom,
the blue flag we were following all day

A small section of a huge piece of tapestry

As part of the tour, we were taken through the Sistine Chapel and then into St Peter's Basilica (which we'd done yesterday). The crowds were large and I was irritated at the disrespect in sacred or holy places. I was happy to have been in the Basilica yesterday when the crowds were small. I wish I could say the same for the chapel, but it was not great. 

Afterwards, we had a mishap with a hop-on-hop-off tour company. Note to everyone. If you're looking to do one of these, book and ride early. Do not think that you will get a seat on a bus at the Vatican after 4pm. No one will get off the bus after 4pm because that's when the line closes to get in. 

So, we decided to catch a tram and then the subway to The Coliseum! It was closed (which we expected as it was after 6:15pm when we arrived), so we walked around outside and made sure to sit and stare for a while.