Our first days here
Ok, let’s circle back to the first few days here in beautiful Copenhagen. I know this is so late but why not document how it was getting settled. Luckily, I had written a few journal entries that I can reference because it was definitely a crazy time! Reading what I had written reminded me of our first days when the kids were born; not enough sleep and a lot of stress, but the overwhelming memory is one of excitement, adventure and coming together as a family unit.
The week(s) before we left from Calgary was spent packing up and moving out of our Silver Springs home. We had booked our flight at 3pm MST on September 25th, the day that possession transferred to the new owners. It felt crazy to be at the YYC Airport checking in to our flight, hoping our phones wouldn’t ring with any issues with the sale. As luck would have it, everything went smoothly; as the Cote’s landed in Amsterdam for our layover, the proceeds to our sale landed in our bank!
One experience I will always remember is walking through YYC without seeing anyone else at check in and security. Literally we were the only ones at security – it was so eerie, but also VERY convenient when travelling with children. This trend continued as we boarded the plane to see it only about 20% full. Again, it was amazing for Natalie and I to be able to each take a boy into our own row of 3 seats so they could stretch out and get some sleep. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam was significantly busier than that but I’m sure it was just a fraction of the usual traffic. After that it was a quick 75 min flight into CPH!
Upon landing it was, as seems to be typical here, a very smooth and efficient process to get through customs and grab our 5 MASSIVE duffel bags. This is one of those times when we made a decision to be cheap and cost ourselves an immense amount of difficulty – a theme that reoccurs often with Natalie and I. Instead of paying for a taxi to take us to our Hostel we thought it wouldn’t be so bad to carry our bags onto the train, and then the 2 blocks walk to our destination. Fast forward to Natalie walking ahead to drop a couple bags while I stand on a corner with most of our possessions waiting for her to return to help carry them – all completely stress free, I assure you.
Now, we have arrived at our Hotel with an S, more commonly known as a Hostel. Our new home for the first week in Copenhagen was a 100sq/ft room with a shared bathroom at the end of the hall. Truthfully it was a nice and clean space and we never had any issues not having a bathroom available, though the 4 flights of stairs to the shared (and much less clean) kitchen left something to be desired. On our first morning I went to the kitchen with our hand grinder and AeroPress to make some coffee, this method makes a great cup but takes about 6 minutes each cup. As I finished this first cup, I was surprised (and more than a little disappointed) to discover a sock had been packed in the travel mug. Even in this sleep-deprived state I could laugh at the situation, and then pour the coffee out and begin grinding the beans for another cup.
We landed at CPH midday on September 26th and had a fun day planned including a trip to a great playground and whatever candy or ice cream the boys needed to stay awake until at least 6pm – we knew if they fell asleep earlier it would have thrown us all off for a long time. All of us had plenty of adrenaline pumping to get us through that day so it was a success!
The next several days consisted of, listed in order of importance:
- Frantically scrambling to find an apartment to rent.
- Doing something fun for the kids – think MANY playgrounds, zoo, baked treats, etc.
- Adjusting to the jet lag, and according to my notes some nights went much better than others.
- Finding an alternate accommodation until we could move into our apartment on Oct. 15th
- Playing with LEGO that had been gifted from family and friends in Canada – this was a lifesaver while Natalie and I scoured the internet for all of the above.
- Feeding ourselves, finding bikes, and the never ending list that I am sure has items that I still have not completed.
There were so many different stages of the journey, from moving out of our house, the actual travel, moving into 3 different places before getting settled in our apartment, and even getting furniture from IKEA (and several pieces delivered via bike by myself).
We rented a 3 wheel cargo bike (pictured above) for our first week. It was incredible how challenging the public transit system is for new-comers and having a bike is basically mandatory in this city. While we were excited to be mobile, my legs were not used to cycling a very heavy bike around 20+kms/day and I was SO sore the whole week. On about the fifth day I learned that one reason the bike was so difficult to move around was that the rear brake would not fully disengage – yay! Hence, when I finally got my current 2 wheel cargo bike I was euphoric – and it is still one of my all-time favourite possessions.
Looking back on the photos of these first days brings such joy because we were packing into everyday what we currently do in a week. I am amazed at how much we did everyday and will always cherish those memories. It was such a crazy time, but very fun to look back on.
Heres to hoping that moving back to Calgary will go much smoother!
Bye for now,
The Cotes