As Eric already mentioned, Copenhagen was a bit of a blur because jet lag was in full force, but we did make our way out to explore– sleep deprived and half-conscious as we were. I found Copenhagen to be a beautiful city, but also quite tame and orderly. I remember reading somewhere that people in Denmark are some of the happiest people in the world, according to the World Happiness Report. While the Danes didn’t necessarily come off as overtly happy to me (or at least not particularly friendly – though neither were they unfriendly), they certainly did seem to have it together. Of course, I only had a few short days to form an impression, but Copenhagen felt pretty socially homogeneous to me, and like there were rules and ways of being that people generally followed without question. The cycling culture around the city is a well-oiled machine.

Another sweet shot of the boys retrieving the key to our first Airbnb from the lock box.

Alex, Sawyer, and I took a trip to the National Gallery of Denmark (SMK) while Zach rented a bike to explore the city, and Eric took a quick nap.

Is that a Picasso?!

The next day we took the train up to Roskilde to check out the Viking Ship Museum, which was a big hit.

The boys were promised ice cream if they’d dress up as vikings.

Zach did the bargaining.

Aboard a viking ship.

A jumbo burger before a stop at the cathedral. Zach enjoyed the burger, but don’t ask about the wormy-looking ham pizzas that Alex, Sawyer and I ordered. Disgusting.

The boys were all pretty enthralled by our visit to the Roskilde Cathedral. Let’s see if they keep up their cathedral enthusiasm all the way through the end of our trip in Italy. We have many more cathedrals and castles to look forward to in the near future.