Return to Copenhagen: Wrapping Up

Before closing my notebook on this trip, let me add in a few stray notes about Copenhagen.

I wish our church had as many
bicycles lined up by it.

Sunday morning we attended St. Alban's Anglican Church, which was in the heart of the biking portion of the Ironman competition, a theme for the day. I loved their new priest's sermon. Revd Smitha Prasad embraced the chaos outside the church and declared "My God is a Gutsy God. God is the original Ironman." She continued with "the whole of God meets the whole of us in Jesus -- the good, the bad, and the ugly." And "we are in the business of cooperation, not in a competition like the Ironmen. We can talk, listen, or be quiet. It is not about being right or or wrong, but about being in a relationship with God."

I also loved that the church updated its website warning worshipers about the competition and suggesting alternatives, such as take the train and walk a couple of extra blocks rather than the usually more convenient bus line.

In the lead when I took this picture

We then tripped through the Ironman competition. In order to do the running portion of the race, they had to run 4.5 loops mile loops through the Nyhavn (port) section of Copenhagen, a section that is quite beautiful, but not four times in a row.

We then kept striking out. Tried to go to the Black Diamond Library I thought was open most of the time (therefore did not make it a priority). Only to find out it is closed on Sundays. Tried to go the the Jewish Museum (next door to the library, and in the hub of the Ironman action). It was about to close. "Come back Tuesday," was the advice. Maybe another time.

We finally decided to use Google maps, wifi, and an old-fashioned paper map to find an Aldi grocery store. Don likes shopping at the Aldi's in our area. Of note, they carried a fair share of Trader Joe items, which we have never seen in the states. The Aldi's in Berlin seemed to carry more specialty items. Don enjoyed looking around.

Food in general was an issue. Denmark is a very expensive city. It was not uncommon for us to spend $100 on dinner for the three of us, and still be hungry. That is with drinking tap water and only getting an entry. Don said he should have enjoyed the buffet more. A trip through our local Wegmans helped me appreciate how cheaply we can purchase food. 

I will end with a post about bicycles.