It’s my last day in Copenhagen.

After ten days of rain, the sun came out and Copenhagen took on a whole new look. The work week must be flexible because once the sun came out everyone seemed to be outside. Copenhagers sitting alongside the canals or in the small canal-side beaches sipping beer. When it rains the city continues on – cycling to work in the rain, boat tours, events – but there is an energy and vitality that comes with sunshine and it lasts from 4am until 11pm. (Shops are strictly 9-6 though.)

Today is full sun. It’s our warmest day yet at 78 degrees and I too spent the better part of the day outside. I even tackled some vine weed in our hosts’ garden. Pesky anywhere but particularly annoying when its rooted itself under the rose bushes. No matter. I did a pretty thorough job which felt good. The little house is from the 1600s so it’s older than Duane Park!

Now I’m sitting down to tell you all about our time here. We stayed ten days in Nyhavn and then ten more in Christianshavn where we could host Joan and Joel. Both neighborhoods were convenient to trains and busses but then almost anywhere would be. Copenhagen is small and has an excellent public transportation system even without the bike lanes.

We ate well, really well. Noma was a special treat and I won’t look at ants the same way (they were the garnish on top of the steak tartar and they tasted like lemon). We sampled restaurants well established on the tourist track (Kul our favorite of these) and found a few local places that should be kept secret (Koefoed). When the girls craved tastes of home like the nachos and bagels, we headed to Luna Diner.

We also met up with a local family through the Dine With The Danes program which we arranged prior to our visit. This is a really nice way to meet locals and the family hosting us was a perfect match. Iben and Ton are foodies and gardeners (though professionally they are an Editor and Accountant, respectively) and their daughters Isabel and Clarissa were ages 14 and 10. We got on so well that later in the week Isabel and Lauren spent time hanging out at a cafe talking music and social media and Clarissa, Iben and Ton showed me their garden co-op just outside of town.

Our AirBnB hosts, Gitte and Michael, could not have been nicer. They took all six of us out on their boat to could enjoy Copenhagen from the water. We shared a few meals together and plenty of tea and espresso. Like so many we have met on our trip, we earnestly hope that our paths will cross again.

We visited several museums but two stand out for me: the Louisiana in Humleback (30 minutes north of the city by train) and the David Collection here in town. The David has a collection of Danish, English, French and German furniture which is lovely but even more spectacular is the collection of Islamic art. It’s not what you expect in a town known for its Danish design pedigree but that’s what makes it such a pleasant surprise. (The SMK and the Danish design museum were also top notch but the David is special.)

And because we were living here, not just touring here, we did loads of little things that you may have done too like laundry, going to the post office, and watching a little bit of news. Tragic news in Serbia and a coup in Thailand were the week’s headlines.

We’re off to Scotland next.