Not because it is Sunday, but because we had been on the go since we arrived in Copenhagen and were feeling pretty exhausted, we took it easy today. We still began with our walk over to the farmer’s market for pastries and coffee. After breakfast, Ryan and I parted. He headed to an eastern district of the city to experience a Danish hammam (bath and spa) and I headed west to walk off some calories while sipping my smoothie made of spinach and cucumbers, purchased daily as atonement for eating the decadent Danish pastries. We met back at our hotel in the early afternoon to continue a day of relaxation and indulgence in past-times we each enjoy. Ryan painted and I read. I started a new book that is set in Amsterdam, perfect for our arrival and stay in that city beginning tomorrow. For dinner, we walked to a highly recommended hamburger restaurant in the neighborhood. We meant to get some pictures there but I guess we were so hungry, we dug in and didn’t give it a second thought until dinner was over. For those of you who are interested, you can check out the place here. But, just so you know, the burgers were excellent – SO good!  And, we learned that the Danish eat their hamburgers with a knife and fork. We did the same and actually enjoyed how it was neater and slowed down our intake. We might have to try that all the time!

Here’s Ryan at our usual morning spot for breakfast – coffee and pastries. At least we vary the kind of pastries we get!

To the west of our hotel is what is known as “the Lakes”. They are a series of 5 rectangular lakes strung out together to make what looks like a very long and wide canal. These are what Clint walked around for exercise and sight-seeing this morning.

There are dirt paths that follow along the edge of the lakes and will take you all the way around them if you wish. It’s 4 miles if you do that. There is also a bike path that parallels the dirt walking path.

There are 4 places where city streets cross the lakes. Here’s a view from one of those bridges looking south.

And here’s a view from the same spot looking north.

The lakes were originally several streams that were dammed up in the early 1500s. They were further dammed during the 1600s to create a longer moat-like defense system for the western edge of Copenhagen. There are several islands in the lakes. The one in this photo is called Bird Island. It’s hard to see but there are lots of large black birds roosting there.

The lakes were later used as reservoirs to provide drinking water for the city. That’s not the case anymore.

Obviously, having this much water right in the city center provides a haven for many different kinds of birds. Here you see an actual swan posing not far from the paddle boats designed to mimic them.

A gray heron perched in a tree along the edge of one of the lakes.

Copenhagen’s planetarium and IMAX theater is waterside on the far south end of the lakes.

A number of restaurants with outdoor seating face the lakes and make a nice setting for meals, brunch in this case. Not far from here is the Thai restaurant where we had dinner last night.

Here’s a piece of art Ryan did this afternoon while Clint was reading. You may recognize the inspiration for it as Nyhavn from a few days ago in our blog. We have really liked getting to know Copenhagen and have a very positive impression of life here. However, it’s almost time to move on – next stop Amsterdam!