We didn’t make it to church today, but Kory and I decided we needed a day of rest just the same. We took the train back over to Copenhagen so Kaleb could go to Tivoli – a park in the center of town with many thrill rides. We bought Kaleb the pass for unlimited rides, but Kory and I opted out of buying one because we needed a break. Fortunately Kaleb (with shoes on) is right at 140 centimeters tall which is the cut off for the most daring rides, so he was able to go unattended. And he did - over and over again. The lines were all very short so often he just ran off a ride and right back on again so he got a lot of bang for his buck today. All the while, Kory and I found a bench and waited. I’m not nearly as exhausted now as I was yesterday at this time. It would have been a little boring today except that my feet were very happy I was sitting down for most of the day and Kaleb was having a very good time (see photo). There was only one ride the same as those at Liseberg so it was all new adventures today and he got his fill.I remember going to Tivoli in May of 1983 and the rides were NOT the main attraction then like they are now (or so it seemed). It was more of a garden/restaurant place with musical performances – but the years have added many new features, most of them thrill rides for all ages. I made Kaleb take a break from the non-stop thrills and go see a few of the pantomime performances they had at one stage, which he liked very much. I was proud I got to throw in a little culture to the mix today since the stories they were acting out were based on ones written by Hans Christian Andersen.
We all tried to use Norwegian today because Danish is supposed to be so similar, but as we found out – Danish is very hard to understand. Kaleb asked if he could have some cotton candy and I told him if it cost less than 20 kroner ($4) he could. No prices were posted so he asked an employee, but didn’t understand the answer, so Kory asked and then told Kaleb it was 12 kroner so he ordered it. Turns out it cost 30 kroner – so even Kory couldn’t understand what they said. Danish sounds a lot like German in the way the words come out kind of harsh, but there are enough similar words to Norwegian I can understand one word here and there. Ugh. It’s a good thing everyone spoke English as we had to resort to that every time. Kory also misunderstood the notice that said the vendors all charge a dollar (five kroner) deposit on all beverage cups – as he threw his out after he was finished with his cup of coffee. We later discovered recycle machines all over the place that will return the five kroner deposit. The park is pretty proud of this one “green” step they are doing to reduce waste. At least it helps to explain why that cup of coffee cost $8.50. (Lunch was $85 and there weren’t even any deposits to pay. Ouch.)
The only drag about sitting around most of the day was the number of smokers that surrounded me. Norway doesn’t allow smoking in so many places I almost forgot that people still smoke, but today it seemed all the world was lighting up one after the other sitting on the benches waiting for their kids. It was interesting to people-watch though and to listen to all the different languages being spoken. I liked to see how the parents and kids interact with each other and even though I often couldn’t understand a word that was being said, most of the communication was obvious –parents around the world speak the same language when it comes to communicating with their kids. I also was entertained by the latest in fashion and hair designs – some of them incredibly wild. I saw plenty of disabled kids today too which made me all the more thankful that my sweet bub is healthy as an ox and sharp as a tack. I feel so blessed. The forecasted rain didn’t show up again today either, so woo hoo for that.
We left the hotel later than expected this morning because Kaleb discovered The Discovery Channel on TV and they had an episode that touched a subject near and dear to his heart – they were building a personal flying machine. Kaleb’s had it in his head for a long time now that he wants to invent a hover board using “magnetism and polarities,” so this show was right up his alley. They did a good job of explaining how much money prototypes cost to work up and how this one design failed miserably at lifting anything up off the ground – even after all the work they put into it. So Kaleb spent the train ride over and back talking about his inventions and asking about what kind of jobs he’ll need to get to earn enough investment capital in order to become an inventor. He also wanted to know how much longer he needs to wait before he can go to work to earn some money. I suggested he go around the park and pick out the plastic cups from all the garbage cans and take them to the machines for the dollar rebate, but he thought going on rides was a much better option. So much for his work ethic.
