With all of the excitement and stress of traveling, I’ve almost forgotten to write about what has been going on in Copenhagen this past month or so. I’ve had visitors and gone on outings with my visiting family. I have explored the city that I have made my home for the past (almost four) months and discovered why so many, including myself, love it so very much. I admit, London was my favorite city to visit, but it is a whole other story actually living somewhere. Copenhagen has come alive now that the sun has come out. People are out walking, biking, running, sitting, enjoying. The flowers are blooming, sunglasses are now socially acceptable, and the thought of riding my bike home after my 5:45pm class no longer makes me want to cry: the sun is out until 8:30pm. This entry may resemble a list of museums, castles, and outings in a way, because I have done so much and have so much to say, but in reality it is a list of the reasons why Copenhagen is so wonderful.
I’ve had some lovely friends come to stay with me and at this point I have my own personalized “Copenhagen Walking Tour” down perfectly (I’m talking fun facts and art history, people). Starting on Vestergade (or the western gate of the old city of Copenhagen) and ending at the Little Mermaid statue (where I’ve been 5 times now) I have been called the world’s greatest tour guide. In all seriousness, however, I have loved showing my friends around the city and trying to help them understand why I love it here. With my first group of visitors, I toured Rosenborg Castle, a “smaller” castle on the outskirts of the old city, and close to the center of the present-day city, that was considered a summer palace for the royals of the past. It is found in a large park where, when it is nice outside, tourists and residents alike play, drink, and lounge. This castle was unique to me in that it seemed largely untouched structurally. By that I mean it seemed as though it was in the same condition as the last time it was utilized by a royal. In the basement of Rosenborg are found the crown jewels of Denmark- stunning and sparkling as is to be expected. Despite it being a cold day, the newly bloomed purple and white flower beds stood out at the base of the castle and made for some pretty pictures.
In addition to friends visiting, I also was lucky enough to have my mom come to Copenhagen for a whole week! We enjoyed absolutely beautiful weather the entire week- a remarkable feat in early April and were able to explore Copenhagen by foot and relax! We toured the reception rooms at Christiansborg Palace, the home of Parliament, and climbed its tower. The view was gorgeous, obviously, and the robin’s egg blue sky made for a perfect photo shoot, despite my reappeared fear of heights. The reception rooms were regal; a series of colorful tapestries made for the Queen’s birthday adorned one of the halls and with the Queen’s 75th birthday coming up, they were perfectly spotless. We even had to wear scrubs on our shoes so that we wouldn’t damage the floors. Speaking of the Queen, my lucky mom saw the entire royal family while she was in town by chance. It figures that I still haven’t seen even one of them and she saw them all in one go! In addition to our Christiansborg trip, we took the train up the coast to the town of Helsingor, where Kronborg Castle, the castle that supposedly inspired Hamlet, and spent the day up there. The castle was indeed quite “spooky” for lack of a better word, especially the dark catacombs that I ran out of after thirty seconds with my mom following behind me laughing. We wandered around the adorable seaside town and grabbed lunch and went shopping before heading back to Copenhagen.
An exciting piece of news is that Tivoli Gardens, the old garden/amusement park is open once more! My mom and I were able to squeeze in some time there, get on a ride, and grab a Pilsner at Biergarten. I’ve been to Tivoli twice since then and I’m a bit obsessed. It is magical…at night every surface twinkles with light and illuminates the Chinese architecture and beautiful flowers. Plus, the rides aren’t too shabby either! It was wonderful to have my mom in Copenhagen: with all my travels, I had become a bit jaded of palaces and castles but my mom reminded me that there is always something to marvel at! I felt a lot of pressure to make sure she had a good time and I hope that she did, even when we were just hanging out of her AirBnB, drinking wine, and watching Friends.
The next “visitors” I have to write about is my adorable visiting family. We have had two more meetings and they were both so enriching for my Danish experience as well as a lot of fun. The first was a trip to the coastal modern art museum, Louisiana. I wish that I knew more about art and technique and style..my method is finding works that speak to me or stand out or are pretty. We strolled around the colorful and interesting, to say the least, museum and then shared a lovely dinner with a view of the water and Sweden. My Danish grandmothers are full of stories about Denmark and their own travels and lives. One of them told me stories about what life was like in Denmark during World War II, which fascinated me. Our next, and sadly final, outing together was a canal cruise of Copenhagen and a dinner in the center of the city. The cruise was nice and informative and it was great to see Copenhagen from a different angle on a sunny day. I was sad to say goodbye to my visiting family. They were so lovely to me and taught me so much about Danish culture and life, even in just three meetings! I know a home-stay was not right for me so I am glad that I was able to interact with Danes on such a personal level during my time here.
So much has been happening and I of course, procrastinated writing about it so it is all been smushed together. In addition to these outings I have gone my feet kissed by fish with the lovely Kate Downey, climbed a spiral tower in Christianhavn and basically got vertigo from it, and celebrated the Queen’s birthday…from class. These things that I have done and experienced may seem like your average tourist attractions and something that you can do in any country in Europe. The difference is the atmosphere, the people, and the way they live their lives. It’s something I am still having trouble explaining to myself but everything is simple here. No rush. No fuss. Just calm, warm (not temperature), and happy. I ride my bike around and feel comfortable but always find a new street with a colorful little house that screams “hygge”. Hygge, I will explain again, is the Danish concept of the absence of any bad thoughts or feelings and a feeling of warmth and content happiness in the presence of good things including friends and family. It is something that the Danes strive to have in their lives and search for. It can even mean being alone in nature in the cold, if one is surrounded by things that make them happy and calm- then it’s hyggely. Denmark. Copenhagen. This place is unique. If you are of the opinion that all cities in Europe are basically the same and if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all then I must politely disagree. Copenhagen is special and I feel really, truly #blessed to have spent the semester here.
xo
Meg
I’ve had some lovely friends come to stay with me and at this point I have my own personalized “Copenhagen Walking Tour” down perfectly (I’m talking fun facts and art history, people). Starting on Vestergade (or the western gate of the old city of Copenhagen) and ending at the Little Mermaid statue (where I’ve been 5 times now) I have been called the world’s greatest tour guide. In all seriousness, however, I have loved showing my friends around the city and trying to help them understand why I love it here. With my first group of visitors, I toured Rosenborg Castle, a “smaller” castle on the outskirts of the old city, and close to the center of the present-day city, that was considered a summer palace for the royals of the past. It is found in a large park where, when it is nice outside, tourists and residents alike play, drink, and lounge. This castle was unique to me in that it seemed largely untouched structurally. By that I mean it seemed as though it was in the same condition as the last time it was utilized by a royal. In the basement of Rosenborg are found the crown jewels of Denmark- stunning and sparkling as is to be expected. Despite it being a cold day, the newly bloomed purple and white flower beds stood out at the base of the castle and made for some pretty pictures.
In addition to friends visiting, I also was lucky enough to have my mom come to Copenhagen for a whole week! We enjoyed absolutely beautiful weather the entire week- a remarkable feat in early April and were able to explore Copenhagen by foot and relax! We toured the reception rooms at Christiansborg Palace, the home of Parliament, and climbed its tower. The view was gorgeous, obviously, and the robin’s egg blue sky made for a perfect photo shoot, despite my reappeared fear of heights. The reception rooms were regal; a series of colorful tapestries made for the Queen’s birthday adorned one of the halls and with the Queen’s 75th birthday coming up, they were perfectly spotless. We even had to wear scrubs on our shoes so that we wouldn’t damage the floors. Speaking of the Queen, my lucky mom saw the entire royal family while she was in town by chance. It figures that I still haven’t seen even one of them and she saw them all in one go! In addition to our Christiansborg trip, we took the train up the coast to the town of Helsingor, where Kronborg Castle, the castle that supposedly inspired Hamlet, and spent the day up there. The castle was indeed quite “spooky” for lack of a better word, especially the dark catacombs that I ran out of after thirty seconds with my mom following behind me laughing. We wandered around the adorable seaside town and grabbed lunch and went shopping before heading back to Copenhagen.
An exciting piece of news is that Tivoli Gardens, the old garden/amusement park is open once more! My mom and I were able to squeeze in some time there, get on a ride, and grab a Pilsner at Biergarten. I’ve been to Tivoli twice since then and I’m a bit obsessed. It is magical…at night every surface twinkles with light and illuminates the Chinese architecture and beautiful flowers. Plus, the rides aren’t too shabby either! It was wonderful to have my mom in Copenhagen: with all my travels, I had become a bit jaded of palaces and castles but my mom reminded me that there is always something to marvel at! I felt a lot of pressure to make sure she had a good time and I hope that she did, even when we were just hanging out of her AirBnB, drinking wine, and watching Friends.
The next “visitors” I have to write about is my adorable visiting family. We have had two more meetings and they were both so enriching for my Danish experience as well as a lot of fun. The first was a trip to the coastal modern art museum, Louisiana. I wish that I knew more about art and technique and style..my method is finding works that speak to me or stand out or are pretty. We strolled around the colorful and interesting, to say the least, museum and then shared a lovely dinner with a view of the water and Sweden. My Danish grandmothers are full of stories about Denmark and their own travels and lives. One of them told me stories about what life was like in Denmark during World War II, which fascinated me. Our next, and sadly final, outing together was a canal cruise of Copenhagen and a dinner in the center of the city. The cruise was nice and informative and it was great to see Copenhagen from a different angle on a sunny day. I was sad to say goodbye to my visiting family. They were so lovely to me and taught me so much about Danish culture and life, even in just three meetings! I know a home-stay was not right for me so I am glad that I was able to interact with Danes on such a personal level during my time here.
So much has been happening and I of course, procrastinated writing about it so it is all been smushed together. In addition to these outings I have gone my feet kissed by fish with the lovely Kate Downey, climbed a spiral tower in Christianhavn and basically got vertigo from it, and celebrated the Queen’s birthday…from class. These things that I have done and experienced may seem like your average tourist attractions and something that you can do in any country in Europe. The difference is the atmosphere, the people, and the way they live their lives. It’s something I am still having trouble explaining to myself but everything is simple here. No rush. No fuss. Just calm, warm (not temperature), and happy. I ride my bike around and feel comfortable but always find a new street with a colorful little house that screams “hygge”. Hygge, I will explain again, is the Danish concept of the absence of any bad thoughts or feelings and a feeling of warmth and content happiness in the presence of good things including friends and family. It is something that the Danes strive to have in their lives and search for. It can even mean being alone in nature in the cold, if one is surrounded by things that make them happy and calm- then it’s hyggely. Denmark. Copenhagen. This place is unique. If you are of the opinion that all cities in Europe are basically the same and if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all then I must politely disagree. Copenhagen is special and I feel really, truly #blessed to have spent the semester here.
xo
Meg