[Photos taken 01 – 10 May 2023, posted online 07 January 2024. Solid ice on the streets, but multiple days predicted of above freezing temps so it might wash away.]
The staff association coffers at my company were full to the brim after the non-action in covid-times, and so it was decided to have the company annual ball in Copenhagen, Denmark! It was an absolute blast, and will probably never be repeated.
Monday 01 May 2023 – Labor Day Public Holiday
Sunset in slow progress around 10 pm in the evening.
Earlier that day I’d begun assembling patio couches from Ikea.
A functional couch at 8:30 that evening. It felt like a table was needed, so that was added to the to-do list.
I was glad to find out that we could stack the cushions under the balcony, to protect them from rain.
A sure sign of spring is when the spiders start weaving their webs outside our windows. It’s also when the sandy/salty residue on the windows after various storms becomes glaringly obvious.
The view from my bed. It was slowly but surely becoming harder to fall asleep at a reasonable time.
Thursday 04 May 2023
Image of the directory in my building. My company currently occupies three of the floors.
Friday 05 May 2023
Emma’s class invited parents to listen to them read a collection of poems and stories that they’d been practicing for a few weeks. It’s meant to improve their reading skills.
They took turns, sometimes they read solo, sometimes as a group. The highlight was the finale, and we left elated.
At 1:30 pm we found ourselves sans offspring at the airport.
Living high at the Icelandair Saga lounge.
Goodbye brownish-land.
Lovely skies.
The sea between Denmark and Sweden on the approach to Kastrup airport.
GREEN grass!
We walked from the main train station to our assigned hotel in unusually windy conditions. We checked in, and then went across the road to eat dinner at another hotel, as the restaurant at our hotel had already closed for the night. I sure was happy I’d scoured the inter-webs the evening before to find a place to eat! We were kind-of far away from everything.
Our hotel.
Our room.
Saturday 06 May 2023
Our hotel was on one of the canals.
We grabbed a couple of rental e-bikes, and biked to a nearby shopping center for a bit of shopping. They had this gorgeous art in one of the atriums.
Finnur waiting patiently as yours truly upped her blood sugar level.
The Danes are known for being design-adventurous!
They are also very big on biking, helped by the fact that there are no hills in Denmark!
About to bike back on these functional, but rather scrappy e-bikes.
Later that afternoon, we found ourselves by the Circus Building. The clothing-theme was of course “circus”!
I put on my most colorful dress, and Finnur rocked a kilt.
There were pre-drinks in the foyer. I think there were about 600-700 people there.
Our assigned seats were great!
Seated!
The building has a huge domed roof!
We had no idea what we were in for! It turned out to be a Dinner & a Show, beginning with three dancing & singing ladies that dropped down from the ceiling!
Our fierce hostess! Lots of singing and dancing ensued!
Our founder/CEO came, chatted, and then played piano to fulfill his old dream of being a rock star, as we all sang Imagine together. It was corny but nice.
The acts kept on coming, really talented and professional performers in every spot.
Acrobats really added to the circus-aspect. Seriously impressive abs on display! One of the team couldn’t join us in real life, so he came in 3D-printed form.
The food was good!
To add to the insanity, it turned out that the people waiting on tables were also performers! Our waiter turned out to be Elvis!!
Dolly went finding people who’s birthday it was!
Helper-Dollies giving out cake and cream!
We nerded out over the super-impressive steady-cam rig that came close to our table. This guy was an expert at walking backwards down stairs without losing camera-lock.
One of my team-mates found a perhaps-not-so-distant relative among the wait-staff!! They looked so eerily alike that it blew many minds.
Abba-medley time!!
Acrobat on ropes dipping in and out of a water-filled bathtub, spinning and splashing on nearby tables, that had kindly gotten rain-ponchos. I suspect some of the performers were Cirque-de-Soleil trained.
After the show ended, we all danced until the room-lights went up, and the bouncers kindly asked us to go home now. A great time was had by all, and this probably won’t ever be topped!
Sunday 07 May 2023
The following day I wanted to do a bit more shopping, and went hunting for an e-bike. There were none around the hotel!
Walking along a very Danish street.
It was a beautiful day!
Finally I found an e-bike for rent. However, the path led me past a nature reserve, which does not allow speedy e-bikes. The GPS was so jittery that my bike kept cutting out as I biked along the area.
No jacket needed!
Cozy time.
Not so cozy time, I hate shopping clothes, but at least now I know which stores I have a chance of finding ok clothes in.
Biking back around 5 pm. What a lovely area.
My haul was small enough to fit in the bike-bucket.
Lovely, lovely!
Peak-laziness was eating dinner at the hotel.
Monday 08 May 2023
Eating breakfast at the hotel, shortly before checking out.
The view out our hotel window.
All packed and ready to go to…
… Copenhagen’s Google office.
Found it!
Finnur and I camped out in the Google cafeteria, and worked for most of the day.
Google lunch.
The staff told us to check out the area on the roof.
An enclosed garden.
Another cute area. We could hear a school nearby.
Tanning-time?
It was nice to see the sun for a bit!
When in Denmark…
The serious milk selection.
I never figured out what was up with the socks?
I wanted to visit one other store, so I walked for a bit.
I made it to the store on foot, but decided to bike back.
Leaving the lovely Google office.
Hello airport!
Finnur happy to catch part of a game.
Arty art.
Finally our airplane arrived. Apparently air traffic controllers were either striking or in short supply, so flights were being delayed left and right. But we made it home in the end.
Tuesday 09 May 2023
Bjarki and a buddy playing after the end of parkour practice.
Wednesday 10 May 2023
Gymming…
Pick-up time from music-school.
Spring! Sadly, I think it was about this time that we got hit by a nasty storm that carried a bunch of salt with it, and it burned a lot of the new leaves, leaving many trees leaf-less for a long time.
Basketball court getting some evening-usage at close to 10 pm.
