We all gathered at our designated meeting place, the Central Train Station, at 10 o'clock to continue our exploration of the city and to find the Danish Jewish Museum. We wandered through cobbled stone streets and passed by beautiful historic and contemporary buildings before, finally, finding the museum.

The museum is located in the former Royal Boat House and the oldest section of the Royal Library that was built by King Christian IV in1598 . Renowned architect, Daniel Libeskind, was able to preserve the original building by intertwining the historic vaulted brick structure with new exhibition spaces and displays. The museum differs from other European museums because the Danish Jews were, by and large, saved from the Nazis by the efforts of their countrymen. This historical act of kindness or "mitzvah" is the guiding concept of the museum's design and is symbolized in its form, structure and light. Inside, there are no straight lines. Lilbeskind deliberately slanted the walls and sloped the wood-planked floor to make visitors feel they are standing on a boat; a reminder of the rocking seas thousands of Jews crossed as they fled Nazi-occupied Denmark for neutral Sweden. The walls are covered in Scandinavian light-colored birch plywood because of Denmark's Jewish history being more uplifting than most.

Experiencing this architectural masterpiece, recognized with an American Architect Award in 2005, was amazing. The exhibits, consisting of more than 1,500 three-dimensional objects and more than 3,500 photographs, in addition to numerous works of art, archival material, films, sound recordings and other materials, were beautifully displayed and incredibly moving.

Jutting out from the back wall of the historical structure that houses the Danish Jewish Museum is a modern waterfront extension to the Royal Danish Library referred to as the Black Diamond . It was completed  in 1999 as the first in a series of large-scale cultural buildings along Copenhagen's waterfront. To some degree, the Black Diamond mirrors the irregular lines of the museum in that its basic shape is a box that leans to the lefty, as seen from the harbor, as well as towards the water. At the same time, it expands slightly from the bottom and also from north to south giving it a distorted, prismatic shape. Apart from its function as a library, the building houses a number of other public facilities, including a 600-seat auditorium and the Queen's Hall, used for concerts, literary events, theatrical performances and conferences. There are also exhibition spaces, a bookshop and a restaurant and café where we enjoyed our lunch while marveling at the architecture of this stunning building. 

After this day of sensory overload, we all headed back to our respective home exchanges to rest for a while before going to a potluck hosted by a friend of ours who used to own a condo in Manzanillo and is, now, living in Copenhagen. Her home was located a block from the Ocean in a suburb of Copenhagen that was very different from what we had been seeing in the city. The homes and gardens in the neighborhood were beautiful and the party was great fun, with good food and lots of interesting people from different parts of the world.

We finally headed home on the train after a very full and satisfying day and evening.