To Travel Is to Live: Copenhagen and Hans Christian Andersen

Hello all! I have safely returned from a trip to the Baltic where I encountered many fairy tale sightings, some expected and some not. I am going to share pictures and stories over the next several days, going in chronological order for our trip. My husband John and my parents traveled with me on this grand adventure!

We arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 29th. After two flights and too many hours sitting with very little sleep, we wearily navigated the airport to claim our luggage. We turned one corner and suddenly I was face to face with the Little Mermaid! I scrambled for my camera for obvious reasons and snapped these pictures. 

There was a replica of the Little Mermaid statue that sits in the harbor. We weren't planning to go to the harbor during our stay in Copenhagen so I was thrilled to see the mermaid in the airport. (And I would see other versions throughout our explorations of Copenhagen, too, most of which I didn't photograph.) Don't worry, I did plan on a few other fairy tale visits, just not to the harbor which was out of the way of our other destinations and cold. We spend the entire trip in coats, gloves and hats. It was a chilly, even snowy, spring in the Baltic!

There was also a large display case featuring the traveling trunk Hans Christian Andersen used in his own travels. It was large--nearly five feet tall--and suddenly made me feel better about my single suitcase and backpack for a two week trip. But I also felt sorry for whoever had to lug that thing around when it was full--no wheels and not very convenient handles either.

Here is the placard about HCA that accompanied the statue and trunk. You can click on it to make it larger and hopefully read it if you are interested.

More HCA sightings to come as we explored Copenhagen!