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June 17, 2007

I've talked often about how I don't give actual gifts but instead the gift of time. For my mothers birthday, I decided to give her the gift of travel and took her back to Denmark with me to celebrate both our birthdays (which are two days apart).

I arranged for us to fly into New York first, stay a couple of days to discover the city (and say a hullo to some of my dear friends) and then fly out to Copenhagen to take the city by storm (only we did not know it would be so literal...!).

For two weeks we drove all over the country; saw old homes, old friends and family. There was a lot of family I'd never met but they welcomed me just the same. Each time saying, "you are so like your mum." This made both of us smile.

I fell in-love with Copenhagen all over again. I fell in-love with girls in dresses biking in the dead of winter. I fell in love with coffee at 10PM and the candles all over. I fell in-love with being snowed in, my cousin's cat, and that feeling of hygge that is just so Danish.

We spent the last night at the Hotel D'Angeleterre - Denmark's finest. Somehow we stayed in the H.C. Andersen room - someone I greatly adore and secretly wish to be like (but without some of the messy bits, thanks). It was a fitting farewell and we were both sad to be leaving, because really, we'd both wanted to stay.

But to New York for one last night and then her off to one destination and I off to another. And there we were; two Danish girls who had a marvelous trip and who were already planning their return.