In the meantime, I present to you the second half of my spring break. Following my previous post from Phil's class, we hopped on a bus which led us to a train which took us to Copenhagen! I don't remember a whole lot of the train ride because I fell asleep. Which will surprise no one who has taken a long trip with me. However, once we got there and checked into our hostel, I was feeling much more awake.
The fantastic view from our hostel window
I won't drag you through a blow by blow of the exploration of the city, but instead some of the aspects that really stuck with me.
On Friday evening, we took a walk through the main sites of Copenhagen, including the palace, the old castle and the Little Mermaid statue! Despite the rather chilly walk along the water, seeing that statue was totally worth it. I'm not entirely sure why I was so drawn to it, but I really loved being there! While checking out the statue, we met a group of three Italian girls who were traveling together and exchanged group photos. Despite some communication barriers, we found them to be very pleasant and Phil was able to give them directions to the fountain they were looking for.
At that point, the sun was starting to go down and our stomaches reminded us that it was dinner time. Earlier in the day, we'd crossed over a large river with several ships docked along the edge. One of them had been advertised as a restaurant and hotel, which caught our attention. Despite the worry that it was going to be super fancy, we decided to check it out. So we walked back and Phil hopped onboard to chat with the owner who was quite pleased to seat us. It turns out that instead of the fancy restaurant we expected, the main ships cabin had been converted into a small dining area with a few tables that led right onto the kitchen. We really felt like we'd just wandered into this guy's living room. But the owner gave us each a beer and made us this delicious soup and some sort of traditional Danish potato thing (I'm still not quite sure what it was but it was yummy!) While we chatted with his friend who was sitting at the next table. It was very low key but also really cool! I'm so glad we took the chance to stop by.
The following day, we our main goal was to go see the changing of the guard. Though we showed up a few minutes late, the crowd wasn't too horrible and we enjoyed watching the soldiers (who were actually like 16-18!) march in formation. It turns out that the guards are split into shifts based on their height for a more uniform aesthetic. Next to the tall shift, the shorter one coming on looked a bit silly!
Following the guard change, we explored a little more, seeing the old buildings and churches of the city. Because Phil's studying to be an archaeologist, he was able to tell me far more than I wanted to know about a lot of it! We stopped by the National Museum (I really love the free museums in Europe!) and spent a few hours wandering around the medieval and Egyptian sections.
As far as buildings go, one of my favorites was the Round Tower, a tower connected to a church. Its one of the higher structures in Copenhagen and you're able to climb it to get a great view of the city! But what was really unique about it is that the king at the time demanded that it be built so that he could get his carriage up it. So rather than stairs, you climb up a huge ramp!
In addition, there were rooms off the tower periodically, including a cafe, gift shop, and small art gallery and a bell tower.
Following our trip up the tower, it was about time for our dinner reservation at Copenhagen's oldest restaurant where Hans Christian Anderson hung out! We had more of Copenhagen's open faced sandwiches which were DELICIOUS!
The next day, we took a tour of Nordic films, the main film production studio of Copenhagen! Though the tour was in Danish, Phil was able to translate for me and I had a good time! We had a chance to see some of the more famous short films from the studio and went through some of the history of Danish filmmaking.
By the time the tour was over, we were pretty exhausted from sightseeing and decided to take a break and find some lunch and pastries before heading back to the train station. We still had some time before our train, but decided it was much better to be early. So we found a bench to hang out for a while. It turns out that the bench in question was the favorite hangout of some of the homeless people of Copenhagen. At first, I was a bit uncomfortable with them but we actually got to talking and they turned out to be some of the most fantastic, friendly people I'd ever met. In particular, we spoke to this one guy and his dog who sell newspapers on the street.
After that, our trip back to Phil's place was a bit uneventful and we got back safely with plenty of time for me to pack up before going to the airport the next day!
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