Paris Day One: Travel from Chicago to Copenhagen

There was a time, not so long ago, when I had not been to Europe. For most of my life, I had barely been out of the country: the Canadian side of Niagara, just across the Texas line into Matamoros, and a couple of Caribbean cruise ports of call. Lately, however, my family has been making up for lost time. In 2017, we went to Rome and Florence; in 2022, we went to Lisbon and Porto; and in 2023, we went to Berlin. This year’s destination was Paris.

Taking these vacations is a privilege, but not so extravagant as I imagined before we started these travels. As a kid growing up in Indiana, European vacations seemed like something rich people did – or maybe the Griswolds after winning on Pig in a Poke. In part because Amy is such a good planner and has a super-power for finding bargain airfare, the overall cost isn’t too much different from domestic vacations. Going to theme parks or Las Vegas (but I repeat myself!) are probably more expensive once you get there.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that we have been giving our passports a workout. This time out, our trip to Paris began much the same as our trip to Berlin a year ago: Scandinavian Air from Chicago O’Hare to Copenhagen.

We didn’t have Cole for this trip. He plays for the Big Red Basketball Band, and opted to stay back to play the men’s Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. He drove Harper up from Bloomington on Friday and spent a couple of days with the house to himself, keeping the dogs company.

The drive to Chicago was kind of ugly – rain, traffic, construction. Spring in the Midwest. Once we were there, things were smooth. We even got into the lounge at the international terminal. We have a “Priority Pass” which gets us into some airport lounges.

In the past, the one in Chicago has been too crowded. Priority Pass holders are a lower priority than some of the other categories of people with access. (This would crop up again in Copenhagen on our way back.) With respect to the Chicago lounge, we hadn’t been missing much. It’s kind of a dingy room with indifferent seating options. Still, it’s more comfortable than the gate, and you can get complementary beers and whatnot.

Waiting to board, we watched some of Indiana’s first round game in the women’s Big Ten tournament. The second quarter looked good. The Hoosiers got up pretty big over Michigan, but then collapsed in the second half. Mackenzie Holmes had been injured in the previous game and her playing time was limited. I guess it was good that we had to board the plane while the game was slipping away. No need to watch that!

The flight to Copenhagen was easy. After we got settled, the flight crew served a snack, and then I pretty quickly went to sleep for the bulk of the flight. Even though I have longish legs, I still recommend a window seat if you can manage it on an overnight flight. So much easier to sleep! It also helped that Amy and Harper were in the row in front of me – I wasn’t overly careful about whether my feet might poke out into their space.

Upon arrival, we checked into the Comfort Hotel next to the CPH airport. Total travel time from home to the hotel, including waiting around in the airport, was 15 hours.

We thought it was the same hotel we’d stayed at last year, but turns out that had been the Clarion. They are interconnected and both are accessible from the airport without going outside. I’ll give the edge to the Clarion in terms of room comfort, but both are perfectly fine. All of these facilities are also adjacent to the Metro stop. Extremely convenient.

Amy and Harper rested for a bit after we got there at about 1 p.m. local. Between a trip over to Chicago and a flight over a number of time zones (7, I think), my body didn’t have any real sense of what time it was. So, I went to the lobby for a beer. Eventually, we were ready to venture out into Copenhagen where we strolled around the Nyhavn area before returning to Restaurant Karla where we had such a good meal last year.

 

In Denmark, the currency is the Danish Krone. The conversion rate is maybe 1 USD to 7 DKK. I can do that kind of math in need but, but it’s not immediate, so we joke about paying with Itchy & Scratch Money. The bill was a little salty, but we didn’t really know how much it cost until it showed up on the credit card bill. Still, totally worth it. It’s a good place to eat.

I had an amber beer by Svaneke. I ordered a small one but the waiter jokingly guilted me into the larger one. Which is just as well. My metric conversions are a little rusty and the smaller one would have been about a half pint. Also, I like Danish modesty. There was an ad for Carlsberg that billed it as “probably” the best beer.

After dinner, we went home and crashed. Airplane sleep isn’t great quality, and we had an early flight to Paris in the morning. Of the three of us, I’m the more likely to be a troubled sleeper, but I had no trouble at all. Probably went to sleep at 8:30 p.m. and slept until 7 a.m.