Copenhagen!

(My own choosing #2)

Having the ability to fall in love with a new country every week is something I am extremely thankful for on this trip. This weekend, Lauren and I got the chance to go up north to Copenhagen, Denmark. It just so happens that I have a cousin that lives in the city and she was sweet enough to host us and take us around for a very busy weekend. 

Liv and I doing the "American girl" pose

When we arrived in Copenhagen, we were picked up by my cousin Liv and took the metro to her neighborhood of Nørrebro. Right when we got there we immediately realized how people get around- riding their bikes. When we got to her apartment she had three of them waiting for us to ride to a

near by park where what seemed like half of the city celebrating the first of May and workers appreciation day, where many businesses are closed and people have the day off. With everyone having the day off, it made for a lot of drinking and partying in the middle of the afternoon for those who were there. Walking around and people watching was the most fun part. There were lots off politicians that were making speeches for the upcoming elections  for next year. We all had a beer and watched some very interesting shows that were being put on by local bands. We had tons of laughs and giggles while people watching and it was a good way to start our trip. We then got back on the bikes and headed back to Liv's apartment and she cooked us a beautiful home cooked meal that we more than appreciated. 

A bike parking lot in front of the train station

The view of Copenhagen from the Round Tower

The next morning Lauren and I felt refreshed and ready to start the day thanks to the breakfast that Liv cooked us. There is truly nothing better than waking up to the words, "I made banana pancakes." Luckily, Lauren's friend from Sweden got to take a train into Copenhagen and meet us to spend a day. It was so much fun having her along. We started out the day going through the main city center and with Liv being a local, she was very patient to take us into a very touristy area of the city. We got some shopping done and then went to what is called the Round Tower. It was built in the 1670s by an astronomer for a planetarium type of building. At the top was a beautiful view of the city and we got to go up and see the telescope and the room where the ceiling opened up so he could look at the stars. For lunch that day, we got a Danish hotdog. I know that I talk about food a lot in this blog but here's another description of one of my favorite parts of the trip. The hotdog was covered in ketchup, mustard, a Danish condiment called rumalade, raw onions, French fried onions, and pickles. I don't know about you, but after typing that my mouth is watering. We stuffed our faces and then a student research group was collecting surveys about people's beer habits and then there was a taste test with a couple. We said "free beer why not". After that, we made our way to New Harbor and got on a boat that took us on a canal tour of Copenhagen. We learned a lot but it was nice to have Liv with us to add little comments of information in the back of the boat. Especially when the tour guide said that every month the naval based fired "canoes" instead of cannons. When we got off the boat we wanted to go to the small community of Christiania. It was too far to walk so we took one of those bike carts where we rode in the back while someone pedaled us there. It was funny but also scary because our driver kept running red lights. But I'm obviously fine because I'm writing this blog. The community of Christiania was one of my favorite parts of Copenhagen. It started in 1971 as a youth revolt and became a Freetown. The people that created it built everything they could and lived for themselves for a long time. It does cost money to live there now but the mantra of when the community was created is still the same. They are extremely peaceful and the locals fell right into the hippie category. The Main Street in Christiania is called Pusher Street and there are no pictures alowed because in this town, marijuana is tolerated and sold on the streets. There are no photos because it has caused many problems with police and people of Copenhagen who do not like it. When walking around you could feel the sense of community and how people were happy with their simple life. I would love to go back and spend more time there. Sadly after that, Lauren's friend had to catch her train back to Sweden. For our "dinner" we got French fries and rumalade, then we face timed my parents and they were more than thrilled to see Liv after so long. It was a perfect ending to an eventful day. 

Stuffing my face, per usual.

New Harbor!

On Sunday, we got to sleep in and then begin the day by biking to a local cemetery. This was much different than the ones in America, because if you were just riding by, you would think it was a park. It was really peaceful and there were tons of people reading and walking around. All of the graves were personalized and there were flowers and plants growing and thriving on the graves rather than just set on top. There was even a little nook dedicated to children that passed away. This was really special because one of Liv's friends had a child buried there so we got to hear a little about the details of the grave. There were flowers planted and toys scattered on top of the grave. Behind the headstone there were little folded pieces of paper. She then told us that those are drawings and letters to the little boy that his classmates in kindergarten made for him. It was a really touching story and having details and connections in a place like that made it so much more worthwhile. After that, we biked to the Little Mermaid statue, made famous by the Danish fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen and taking a very crowded picture by it. Then we walked around a Kastelle that was an old army base. We had lunch by the canal and had really good fish and chips (I won't go into detail about this one). Then we walked our bikes over to the king and queens palace and got to see where they live and where the princes and their families live as well. After seeing that stuff we rode our bikes to an ice cream place because after a long day of riding we deserved it. Liv then took us to Tivoli which is an amusement park type of place that had a great atmosphere. We hung out there for a while and then headed back home. We ended the day by getting some sushi.

One of the children's decorated graves.

The entrance to the cemetery.

The Little Mermaid!

Copenhagen was an extremely pleasant surprise, as I had no idea what to expect at all. The only thing I knew about Denmark was that I had family there and when they speak Danish, it sounds like they have a potato in their mouth. I am more than excited to go back there again and spend a lot more time there then just a weekend.