We found IKEA (and we didn't even have to go to Sweden)

Andrew and I figured out how to use the buses today! We made our way to the main bus station (at the Kennedy Arkaden, a mall-type place with a movie theater, too) and purchased two bus passes, which we then took outside to wait for our bus to IKEA. It turned out that we had written down the wrong directions, having looked up the way to Andrew's job at the University instead of toward IKEA, which is in the complete opposite direction, but luckily we figured it out before getting on a bus by checking the map at the bus shelter.

Tickets in hand, we boarded the bus, but had no idea what to do with said tickets, and so just sat down after the driver nodded his approval at us. It became abundantly clear that we should have done something (anything) with the tickets, because there was nothing to stop us from using them again. We translated the back of them as best we could, and patched together a translation that roughly came out to: GET THESE STAMPED WHEN YOU GET ON THE BUS! We confessed our ignorance to the bus driver when exiting at the IKEA stop, but he just laughed and let us have a free ride after showing us what to do for next time.

So... after our ordeal on the bus, we were feeling a bit stupid, but entering IKEA was like going home again since every IKEA floor plan seems to be identical - we could have been in the Chicago suburbs! We headed to their cafeteria first and I had some authentic (not really) frikadelle while Andrew just had pizza. Yum!

After spending hours in IKEA, we expertly boarded the bus home; we're pros now. Come visit and we'll take you for a ride.

Sexological Zoo

Andrew and I were awakened at 9:00 this morning by blaring techno music that was literally shaking our building. For about an hour, we thought it was our neighbors, but we soon realized that it was, in fact, a truck parked on the street outside laden down with enormous speakers and costumed Danes. Today is the Carnival Grand Parade!

According to the official Carnival website:

• "This year's theme 'Sexological Zoo' offers a framework for your costumes ... there is no censorship regarding the costume" (true enough - we saw several nearly naked people)
• "Toilet facilities are placed along the route. Please use these!" (we caught many people peeing into the Limfjorden, the major waterway in town that is right behind our apartment)
• "No shopping carts are allowed in the Parade" (many people had these and [for some reason] baby carriages filled to the brim with alcohol)
• "Embrace the animal within, release your inner party-self, and join the endless and crazy possibilities of the greatest Party of them all" (we did)
• "Speed Wedding: In the Speed Wedding tent you can get married to that special someone - or the next in line. Wake up with more than the experience of Carnival! The motto of Speed Wedding is 'Marry the one you love - or love the one you marry!'"

Here is a video of part of the tail end of the parade for your enjoyment:

                                   

More pictures of the parade are posted on flickr (here). We are thrilled that the parade route goes right by our apartment and we can't wait to start planning next year's costumes...

The Penthouse Suite

We left Copenhagen this morning by train, slightly worried before we left if they were going to let us on the train with all of our luggage or not! We were a little embarrassed that we had so many suitcases, and even more afraid of whether or not we'd be able to manage it all, but we did (God knows how). It ended up being a lovely train ride (it took about four hours, if you're thinking of taking it when you visit us).

But, we arrived in Aalborg safe and sound, with all bags intact, and one of Andrew's new coworkers picked us up and drove us to our new apartment, which is fantastic! They've given us the top (fourth) floor apartment that is newly renovated, and everything is brand new. When we got in, we found that they had done some shopping for us already, with brand new IKEA furnishings and kitchen utensils.

I've posted more pictures of our street, neighborhood, and the rest of the apartment to my flickr account here so you can see what the rest of our place looks like. It's a cute neighborhood! We've already been out to the local grocery store for some basics, but we're anxious to get a better look around tomorrow when we register with the city and maybe get some bikes.

We Made It!

We arrived in Copenhagen this morning from London, feeling tired (after countless delays and some serious jetlag), but ready to check out the city. We decided to spend the afternoon at Tivoli, which every one of our guidebooks recommended, but which we decided is a little overrated. We're going to give it a second try in the summer, at night, when we're not overtired and when there is a little more going on there.  But here is Andrew in front of a very nice fountain:

And here he is again drinking some of the worst coffee we've ever tasted:

Tomorrow morning we take a train to Aalborg and get the keys to our new apartment!  Woo hoo!

Stymied by a Volcano

As you may have heard, there is a volcano erupting in Iceland and it is ruining our departure to Denmark. We were initially supposed to leave last night with a stop in Iceland, but our flight was canceled. We were then transferred to a flight via London instead, but that flight was also canceled due to a problem with the plane!  We hope to depart tonight to London once they get the plane fixed, but that pesky volcano may shut down Heathrow now. Can't wait to be out of the airport hotel and to our new home!