On January 4 & 5, 2009 I was in Copenhagen, Denmark. We got to Copenhagen on the morning of the 4th after taking a night train that departed from Cologne, Germany. It was weird to arrive in Copenhagen and not people about to recognize the language whatsoever. This was the same thing with Belgium where they spoke Flemish, Norway were they spoke Norwegian and Sweden where they spoke Swedish. We were lucky that most people in Scandinavia know some English.Upon arriving at Danhostel Copenhagen City(one of the biggest and nicest hostels I have ever stayed at) we put or things in the luggage room and headed out to see some of the city before we were able to check in to our rooms. We walked along the main shopping route; Brendan and I got quiches, Alec a sandwich and other people some small snacks to hold them over. As we were sitting down to our food I saw and Urban Outfitters, which is a cool American store, so we went in a looked around for a while before eventually heading back to the hostel by way of the road along the water.
Checking into our rooms was great not only because we were able to get situated, but also because we had an in-room bathroom. None of us had really showered in a couple of days, so it was nice to get all clean. The 4 girls used our bathroom and then Alec and I went over to Brendan's room down the hall and used his bathroom.
Shortly after checking in, Chelsea saw a note written by a guy named Michael who was driving down to Austria the next day and wanted someone to ride with him so that he would not be lonely. Brendan needed to get to Austria the next day, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity, and after weighing the pros and cons of the situation he decided he was probably going to go with Michael, but it turned out that Michael left early without Brendan, which was obviously a sign. It was a big ordeal trying to figure out whether or not to trust this stranger (he was staying in Brendan's room though, and that happened after we had all read the note) so it could have very well been a God thing. I am definitely glad that God guided him to Austria safely and that Brendan only had to use one Eurail day. (Below: Brendan, Caitlin, Alec and Laurence at Kasalet, the best restaurant in Copenhagen.)
That Sunday night we wanted to get some good food and after talking with people at the front desk, found an area of town that was supposedly full of restaurants. After paying 140 DEK (not cheap, roughly USD 20) for a taxi that fit all 7 of us, we got there and the intersection that was suppose to be a great dining spot, was rather empty. Kelly and I (later labeled Mom and Dad by the others) walked down the street we were told would have good burger places and stumbled up Kasalet on the corner of Nansensgade and Vendersgade. I am giving that intersection because anyone who goes to Copenhagen should eat there. The ambiance is indescribably amazing and the food is spectacular and affordable, too. Keep this quiet though, it was not touristy at all and I would hate to see such a quaint place become ruined. I got a chicken and bacon sandwich and it came on garlic bread with avocado, lettuce, cucumber, grapefruit, melon, and many other good things all arranged as if my meal was a work of art.From dinner, we walked back hand-in-hand, all 7 of us to the main square (I am sure we made some Dane's laugh or just think we were weird) and there we went to 7-11 (the grocery store - and yes, it is all over Scandinavia) and I got a Reeses Nutrageous and a Peach Iced Tea. Walking back to the hostel should have taken just a little while, but when Chelsea realized that we had just passed the statue of HC Anderson (our hostel was on HC Anderson boulevard) and that he was the author of The Little Mermaid, she freaked out, literally. (Below: Chelsea on HC Anderson's lap and Laurence handing her the Baskin Robbins.)
She had just bought Baskin Robbins ice cream (also one of her favorite things) and was able to sit on HC's lap while gazing into his eyes and holding her ice cream, too. It was an extremely memorable night for Chelsea!Monday morning, we woke up very early in order to get a start on the sightseeing before boarding our train to Oslo via Gotheborg. Kelly and Caitlin were staying one more night in Copenhagen and then heading south to travel with Rosemary, our friend studying in the Buenos Aires program who came to travel Europe over break, and so we said goodbye to them and headed out. We followed very roughly the "red dots" on the map that are guaranteed to take you to the most important things to see in Copenhagen. I do not think we saw everything, but we did see a lot and walk a lot. (Brendan and I with some of the Danish Royal Guards.)
On the way to see The Little Mermaid statue, we came to the Royal Palace and there posed with guards and we think we saw either the King of Denmark or a very important man through the gate doors. The Palace was really neat to see and the guards were good about letting us take pictures with them, except one that scared Laurence when he banged his gun on the ground when she got too close.Seeing the Little Mermaid statue was our main goal of Monday and when we finally got there we were all very glad that we had walked the long way. We of course all sat below her and posed and then got a group picture with her. (Below: Laurence, Brendan, Chelsea, Myself, Alec with the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark)
By then it was time to think about heading back, so after buying some souvenirs and getting some food for Alec and Brendan, we headed back to the train station to retrieve our things that we had put into lockers that same morning.At the train station I bought some things to eat on the train and then we had to say goodbye to Brendan, who then we thought was going with Michael, but ended up going back to the hostel and not being able to find Michael, so he took a later train to Vienna. Our train first went to Gotheborg, which we thought was in Norway, but it turned out was actually in Sweden because we first went through Sweden in order to get to Norway and then after getting some Burger King before the next train, we went on the second train to Oslo Central Station.
I will pick up from Oslo. God bless and take care!
Wade
Here is the link to the PHOTO ALBUM of Copenhagen:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001246&l=d86ab&id=1534470084
