It is Tuesday, and I am exhausted as I write this post. My phone says I walked 7.5 miles, climbed 22 flights of stairs, and used 540 calories!!!

What did I do????

I had a MAGNIFICENT day in Copenhagen!!

It started at 7:00 this morning as Michael left with our host, Stefan. I spent a little time in the room getting things organized and then headed to the Malmo train station at 8:30.

We had checked it out previously so I knew where to purchase my ticket and was excited about the journey. Apparently, I looked unsure and one of the workers asked me where I was headed. When I said Copenhagen, she pointed to the board and said it was leaving in 8 minutes. She walked with me to the ticket machines and then pointed to the track that I needed to use. She was SO helpful!!

While I waited, I struck up a conversation with a woman from Florida. She was traveling part of the way with me so we had a good time talking and figuring out all of the details of train travel.

When I got to Copenhagen Central Station, I spent a few minutes just catching my breath and trying to get my bearings.

As I walked, the first thing that I saw were these sidewalk cafe tables…..

I thought that this was a good omen for the things that I would see for the rest of the day….

I was right!!!

I first headed to the National Museum of Denmark and spent 2+ hours wandering the halls.

I was feeling “peckish” as I was leaving so enjoyed a wonderful “morning tea” ….

Then it was time to head to an Art Museum!!! The closest was the “Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek”.

To quote Rick Steves…..” Scandinavia’s top art gallery is an impressive example of what beer money can do.” Brewer Carl Jacobsen (Carlsberg beer) was an avid art collector and patron of the arts and this gallery/museum was started by him.

It was a wonderful collection of paintings and artifacts and I thoroughly enjoyed the 3 hours that I spent there.

By the way…..over the next few weeks, I will give more details on these galleries and the things that I loved there!! As you might expect, I spent most of the time with my “quilt-colored glasses” on so be prepared!!!

As I left the gallery (around 3:30), I was starving!! I found a small grocery store and bought a drink and a pre-packaged wrap……

The wrap was interesting as it had both chicken and curried egg in one wrap. As I ate, my mind kept pondering the old saying…..” which came first…..”.

I sat on a bench in front of the art gallery as I ate and was astounded by the number of bicycles on the street. I had been told that bicycles were the preferred method of transportation but I was not prepared for the sheer numbers. This video was taken as a street light changed to green and the bikes poured into the street.

I love that there were people of all sizes, genders, ages, and nationalities represented!! I have tried to count them several times but there were just TOO many!!

At this point, I decided to return to the train station and head back to Malmo.

I was pleased that I recognized landmarks and was able to find my way back without using Google Maps!!!

I confidently entered the train station and then realized that I had NO idea which train line I needed to use to get back to Malmo. The lines are named based on their final station and I didn’t know what that would be!!

And of course, I couldn’t find anyone to ask. I decided to use my common sense and see if I could figure it out.

I started perusing the departure board and finally found a line that listed Malmo as one of the stops. Okay…that was a good start. It was leaving in 20 minutes from Platform 7. I headed there.

As I arrived on the platform, I looked at the departure sign and found that there was ANOTHER train leaving from Platform 6!! I looked at Platform 6 and saw a train was already there. I was afraid that I would never get back up the stairs and down the neighboring one in time to catch the train but I decided to try.

So….now I am on Platform 6 but not entirely sure that this is the correct train. I finally saw a scrolling sign ON the train itself and it listed “Malmo C” so I jumped on the train just as it was heading out.

I sat down and immediately started worrying that I might be on the wrong train so I pulled up Google and asked about trains from Copenhagen to Malmo. It not only told me the times of the trains but told me that one had just left the station…..

HOORAY…..that was me!!!!

Thirty minutes later I was back in Malmo!!

Since Michael wasn’t going to be home for several hours, I chose to walk around Malmo a bit.

So…..THAT is why I am exhausted!!!

There is much to “show and tell” from my day but it will need to wait!!

Stay tuned for lots of fun from Copenhagen!!

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