Thanks to the fact that Hannah (from Cranford, see previous entry) studied in Copenhagen this semester, I was able to make a wonderful trip up to lovely, expensive Scandinavia. Lindsay (from Cranford, see previous entry), who is in London this semester, also came.
Copenhagen is such a beautiful city. It was just like I pictured: tons of brick buildings with green roofs (patination of the copper I think). All the buildings were colorful and squeezed together, there were about a million bicycles! Here is a not-so-great picture of a building in government plaza - or something like that:
They LOVE Hans Christian Andersen (“The Little Mermaid”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, and “The Princess and the Pea”, to name a few), here’s me sitting on his lap, haha!
After eating some DELICIOUS hotdogs that were overloaded with ingredients (apparently Copenhagen is famous for them!), we headed to Tivoli - the amusement park that is right in the center of the city! We spent the whole afternoon there on all the rides, most of which gave you beautiful views of the city AND of Sweden, which is right across the Øresund (a strait of water) from Copenhagen! Our recurring joke was “I can see Sveden from here!” haha. We ate dinner on a pirate ship in the park, and because we were outdoors there are blankets at each table that you wrap around you. Apparently this is extremely typical, and I saw it at practically every outdoor eating location; cool stuff! At night time, there was a concert in Tivoli, and we saw a very famous Scandinavian performer called Fallulah, who Hannah described as “Indie, with a hint of Baltic” - whatever that means! She was good, and her music was very funky.
Here’s a shot of one of the buildings in government plaza from the middle of Tivoli:
Traveling with Hannah was really great because she is so intelligent and knew about a million fun facts about Copenhagen and Denmark in general. Needless to say, I learned tons! One fact: it is completely and totally legal to drink alcohol anywhere in Copenhagen (maybe Denmark). Clearly we didn’t, but Fallulah was drinking whiskey straight from the bottle during her performance! Also, it’s literally impossible to be homeless in Denmark because the government will find you, put you in housing, and then find you a job! I think both Sweden and Denmark are extremely regimented as far as socialism goes, which gives them such a high living standard and makes them so expensive!
Perhaps the most interesting fun fact I have to offer is that, in Danish, the country is called Danmark. Yes, DANmark. AKA all the taxis and a million other things said Dan on them, so I felt right at home! On a whole, Danes are a very good-looking people, and literally tons and tons of them looked like my Pop Pop! Seriously, the face and the light blue eyes that pop - it was really cool!
On Saturday morning, we ventured off to SWEDEN on bus, crossing this famous bridge:
wind turbines in the water:
As soon as we crossed the border I saw an IKEA - typical.
Anywho, we ended up in the quaint city of Malmö where we spent the afternoon. It was a very pleasant place with nice buildings and parks; I remember the air smelling very fresh. Enjoy these photos!
This great and picturesque plaza filled with restaurants where we ate lunch (with blankets!)
Then we found a really nice park with some gardens and a windmill!
Lindsay and Hannah in front of the windmill:
And finally, the big spirally tower we didn’t get to that is supposed to have great views:
Back to Danmark!! That afternoon, Hannah took us to the “most photographed street in Denmark” and hopefully you can see why. I took about a million pictures myself; it was like being on a street from a story. We sat down on the side of the canal and enjoyed the atmosphere.
After hanging out, we worked our way up towards what is perhaps Copenhagen’s most famous site, but along the way we saw the new opera house which cost about a billion dollars or something - Hannah knows the exact amount - which is on the water across from the Royal Palace, which we also saw, as well as an all marble church, and the place where the Queen specially boards her boat. At last, we finally arrived - it was like a dream come true, although perhaps on a smaller scale than, say, Big Ben. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Little Mermaid:
The sculpture is really beautiful; The Little Mermaid has this wistful, longing gaze in her eyes and face. As you may or may not know, the original tale is not all singing and swimming as Disney depicted, but instead the fairy tale is a tragedy. The Little Mermaid sacrifices her tongue for a pair of legs after falling in love with a human prince, for if he loves her back when they die they will still be together for all eternity in Heaven. Despite the excruciating pain that her enchanted legs cause her, The Little Mermaid tries her hardest to win the prince over. However, he falls in love with another princess and announces that they are to be married. The Little Mermaid is presented with a bewitched knife, and if she kills the prince she can become a mermaid once again. Unable to kill the newlywed prince, The Little Mermaid throws herself into the sea and dies, turning into sea-foam. However, because she tried so hard to win a soul and therefore a place in Heaven, she is turned into a spirit and is told that if she does good deeds, she will eventually be granted an eternity in God’s Heaven. This trip has inspired me to read more H.C. Andersen!!
On our way back to Hannah’s home-stay (she was also with a family in such a nice little house about 45 minutes outside of the city), we walked down the longest pedestrian-only street in the world. Copenhagen has it all! We were in charge of dinner, and because all the supermarkets had closed we had to shop at 7/11, but I give us so much credit when I say we made the most delicious spaghetti and meatball dinner ever! (I guess it tastes better after 8 months of not eating it…)
The next morning we were taken to a small village near Hannah’s house that is filled with traditional, thatched-roof houses:
Once we were back in the city, we decided to climb a large, spiral, golden tower of a church. After such a long time of climbing up the tiniest and narrowest wooden steps and even ladders, and after dodging the giant bells that had warnings in case you wear nearby when they went off, AND having done this with large backpacks, we made it to the top and enjoyed the incredible views of Copenhagen (and Sveden!!)
The open air spiral staircase up top:
You can see the bridge going to Sweden:
The big building in between the two canals that come towards the camera is the new opera
Lastly, we entered perhaps one of the strangest places I’ve ever been. Located within the city, there is a place called Christiania, which is a sort of artists colony commune that considers itself to be completely separate from Denmark and the European Union. Years and years ago, it began when the people started living in the old barracks located in the area. To this day, artists and ‘hippies’, more or less, inhabit the area, including entire families with children, even though most of the buildings lack plumbing. Needless to say, it was different, but they had a few restaurant shacks in the middle that served us a delicious lunch. Here’s the sign on the way in; photography is illegal inside in most places. The sign says “Christiania: Welcome Home”
And that concludes my amazing trip to Denmark and Sweden!! I was so lucky to have the experience; I never would have made it there if it hadn’t been for Hannah. Sorry that this is certainly the longest entry ever!
Life is the most wonderful fairy tale.
-H.C. Andersen
(1805-1875)
