Courtney @ Copenhagen

Bittersweet December

Never have I fallen so deeply in love with the holiday season until coming here. I’m glad I picked the autumn semester to study abroad, despite worries that it will get colder and colder, because I’ve never felt a more indescribable feeling of warmth and coziness to both physically and emotionally. Danes use the word hygge to explain that lovely feeling.  But how can I feel warm like never before in a city that currently doesn’t go above 7 degrees Celsius? Drinking overpriced mulled wine (glogg/gluhwein/punsch) at Christmas markets, exploiting my puffy down jacket that loses too many feathers everyday, singing White Christmas with the choir while getting chills down my spine, walking aimlessly through beautiful cities only to find a more incredible sight after another, and experiencing plenty more have created a stronger warmth against nature, making the feeling all the more special. And it all ends this month.

But I can’t and won’t let that get to me! I just have to make the most out of this month (even throughout finals hell week). 

(On a side note, my exponentially increasing love for Christmas could come from the fact that the sun sets so early that I’ve grown more attracted to Christmas lights of all sorts.) 

Here are some things I do look forward to returning to:

• parents
• friends
• Chipotle/Mexican food
• Honey Thai food
• Pho
• Indian food
• Target
• cheaper prices

So if those things/people could please come to Copenhagen and live with me in one big apartment complex and while extending my visa for a lifetime, that’d be great.

Not going to count down the days because I need to save my arithmetic for counting hygge moments.

1linereviews asked: Hi! I stumbled upon you tumblr and—having lived in Denmark for just over 4 years as a teenager—thought it was really cool! Glad to hear you had fun in Copenhagen too :)

Thank you—tak ;) This comment means a lot!

You don’t miss something/someone until it/she/he is gone…

This is one of life’s familiar paradoxes applicable to almost anything. Like being homesick after living here for nearly THREE MONTHS. Or spilling water on my keyboard. I miss my family and friends at home, and I also miss the ability to type on a keyboard. What a week! It’s also quite ironic that I’ve the inspiration to blog now. Thank goodness for school computers. I thought today was the last day for one of my classes so I made the extra effort to go to class… only to find out that the last class was last week. HAHA. Oh well :( At least I can spend quality time blogging at the library. However, this time will be without pictures. Lo siento amigos, it’ll be all text today so you might as well skip this post.

..OKAY maybe I’ll add ONE picture. Or two. Well the last time I blogged was in EARLY OCTOBER. Now it’s MID NOVEMBER. So much has happened, but I will be sure to write about all my trips.. EVEN IF IT TAKES WINTER BREAK TO DO SO.. don’t you worry. Or maybe you should worry about this.

• BERLIN (long overdue.. SORRY)
• BUDAPEST (amazing!)
• PRAGUE (beautiful!)
• Roskilde (ARRR VIKINGS.. is that the sound they make? Do they even make a signature sound?)
• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (interesting!)

But today I will talk about the other things that have happened so far.

Once I got back from Prague, it took me days to recover. I will try not to take an overnight bus for 12 hours again, no matter how cheap it is! But I will “never say never”. Aiyaiyai!

Then began my succession of skipping classes, starting with Business & Society Class #1 Thankfully, my current Green Innovation professor teaches the Society portion. YAY overlaps. I think the fact that my closed book four-hour final was a breeze gave me a teensy boost of confidence for the rest of my finals that are either open-book or oral.

Aside from skipping class, I stay in my room quite a bit, as the weather has been extra foggy. But staying in does not hinder my productivity! I have learned to cook, clean… and basically become a better domestic housewife. LOL. I like that everything is expensive because I’ve realized that I can be a lot more rational about my spending. I probably spend less money on groceries here compared to home where I hardly care about what I’m buying so I waste and spoil a lot of food. Living the close-to-frugal life makes me spend more time cooking with what I have, too! I hope I’ll bring this habit with me back to the States. I am actually comfortable with sharing food I make now that it tastes a better than “edible”.

The following weekend after Recovery Week was HALLOWEEKEND. I packed a Panda hat that I bought from the AT&T Park (Pablo Sandoval? Anyone?) so I had an easy costume. The Exchange Crew threw a party for the students at Park in Østerbro. Everyone got a too crazy, but I had a lot of fun. I retired around 3 and sat on a bench in the blankets of fog waiting for the night bus. SO grateful that others on the bus were also from KK.

The Korean girls and me. Was not wearing my hat properly ahah. That fog really set the Halloween mood.

What did I do last week… it’s such a blur, but NOW I remember. I went running around Frederiksberg Have as usual. This time, the park looked completely different. Autumn settled in thoroughly.. Allllllll the trees were either yellowed, oranged, red-ed, browned, or dead-ed. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I am waiting for the next clear or less overcast day to snap some pictures. The second day of running that week I miraculously mustered up energy to run nonstop for 6.75 miles… sadly about 0.3 mi away from KK I started feeling a weird pain in my left knee. Way to keep running on it, Courtney. Darn those hills! So in summation, hurray for running more than 10k, but nay for hindering my running abilities for the next week or so.

What Courtney has cooked this semester:

• Pasta (pesto and tomato basil)
• Chicken Yellow Curry
• Chicken Fajita Burritos
• Thai BBQ Chicken
• Pad Thai (the worst kind imaginable)
• Salmon/Chicken w/ Bernaise Sauce
• Lots of rice WITH NO RICE COOKER. Such a feat to accomplish.. without a measuring cup, too.
• This is a greater variety than I ever would’ve cooked back at SC.. sad, huh?

Okay so fast forward to this past weekend, which was pretty eventful! On Saturday, the CBS International Choir had a social gathering all day where we sang, ate, sang, ate, socialized, ate, ATE. YUM! We sang a loooot of Christmas Songs from Let It Snow, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, En Stjerne Skinner Inatt (Norwegian for “A Star Is Shining In The Night”), En Rose Skyde Skåde (Danish for “A Rose.. So I Shoot[?!]” haha we never got the translation).. and many more! I’m so glad I decided to join the choir here.. it’s like an outlet I could always turn to but never did back at high school/college). That day I decided to sing the second alto parts, some of which went soooooo low that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. I didn’t know if I was hitting the right notes, but just sang as low as I could. Singing alto is definitely the best choice for my range!

Prior to the International Choir, I never really met Danes except for my buddy. There are few Danes in the international classes, but it’s never easy to meet people already settled in their groups! Thus, the Choir was a great stepping stone. For lunch, we made our own Smørrebrød from a buffet of dark brown rye bread, vegetables, cheese, etc. Snacktime we had THE BEST Danish foods I’ve tried thus far.. Æebleskiver & Gløgg. They are seasonal, but I could eat them all day errdayyyy.  Æebleskiver literally means “Apple slices”, but it is a ball of sugary, gingery flour with the texture of a pancake. You dip it in jam and sugar YUMMMM. Gløgg is hot, mulled wine. You can add raisins, almonds, or whatever other ingredients in it including other types of alcohol. At first it was a bit funky, but soon I grew to like it a lot! This gløgg did not have other alcohol in it, however, so I was OKAY to sing afterwards ahahah.

This is the only picture I have of Choir Saturday (snagged from Marie! Thanks :))  Please ignore my bitchface because I was in fact, very happy with my food! Midchew.

On Sunday, Surim and I mustered up the energy to take a 30-minute train to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art up north of Copenhagen and close to Helsingør. That will be explained in another blog!

Trips/Events coming up:

• Warsaw & Krakow, Poland WITH MY MOM! Ma, if you are reading this, I AM EXCITED. Just holding back that energy to be modest.
• Stockholm, Sweden with the Korean girls. TIME TO VISIT THE LAND OF STIEG LARSSON! I finished the last book in Budapest so I am ready for a comprehensive tour of this city.
• Vienna/Salzburg/Hallstat, Austria with Surim :D Already watched the Sound of Music last week (ah, that is one of the things I did at home) in preparation.
• Our big Christmas Concert! On December 1st. I just might post a video of us.
• FINALS eh…
• Helsinki (how is that Architecture? Hint hint, music fans) & Rovaniemi (Santa Claus, huskies, reindeer, WHAAAAAAAA), Finland
• HOME!!!!!!!!!!! Dad said he will drive me to Honey Thai as soon as I land. Yes, please :’) My chicken yellow curry here does not suffice.

If you are reading this, thank you and I miss you! Time to go home to a keyboardless computer. I have another album of Prague photos to upload. Wahah!

Kulternatten 2011

Last night, I survived walking around in 3°C weather (after being so spoiled by California weather). But it was welllllll worth the endurance because 1) Kulternatten was amaaaaazing and 2) gotta prepare for my winter wonderland trip in FINLAND.

First off, I’d like to apologize for the terrible quality of pictures. My Blackberry Torch was the next best camera because I left t2i at home and set out for Kulternatten right after my LAST CorporateGovernance&CorporateSocialResponsibility class YAYYY. But this means my final’s next week. But I’ll be off to Budabudabudapes(H)t a coupla hours afterwards. Ups and downs make my world go roun(d). Wow, late night blogging is ruining my content.

Kulternatten, or Culture Night, is the annual event when Copenhagen opens various cultural and/or historical hotspots. Some places are never open any other time during the year, so I took advantage of that with my first stop (technically second). I stood in line for the longest time at Christiansborg, the Parliament building. Then I stood in a shorter line, waiting for an even longer time at the tiny coffee truck. But that TIGER chai latte was worth it for such a weather.

Since I had my tour of Christiansborg the day before, I decided to skip the long line and head for the Stock Exchange, or Børsen that is never open any other time except tonight. The line was frrrrrreaking long, but luckily a tour guide screamed and told us that all non-Danish English speakers should go to the front for the English version of the tour. YAYYY. In no time I zipped from the very back to the very front and went on one of the best tours because of a great tour guide and BEAUTIFUL stock exchange. 

As the two tour guides explained the history of the stock exchange, I decided to type everything onto my phone’s e-mail drafts, hoping they don’t think I’m texting. This stock exchange was built from 1616 to 1624 under King Christian IV’s rule (that’s his statue on the far side of the wall). He was a pretty hefty guy, but that was the standard of beauty at the time. Those humongous balls of light are made of a gazillion little wires that were compressed into a balloon before being expanded intricately and place in the hall.

This painting of traders was created after the painter painted each person’s portrait individually. Then he put them all together with a lot of consideration and practicality. He put traders closer to the front if they paid more money to be in the portrait. Thus, the guy on the left paid the most. The two men facing back to back to the right of that guy were enemies so that was very fitting. The only guy with his whole body shown in the front is the only German trader, and he’s looking directly at the audience.

This shows a more recently painting of the Chamber of Commerce. The German one in the front has six fingers due to some conflict with the painter guy. The fact that none of the men has a wedding ring represents their marriage to the job. Pros before hos (HA that was on the spot).

Beautiful hallway—I especially love the ceiling.

This is a chic office! I love the centerpiece. There’s also a mirror on the unseen wall that is supposed to make you look a bit taller and thinner haha. 

This mosaic (this is about 10% of it) goes along the wall of the lobby-ish area on the ground floor. It was created in 1957 on behalf of the centennial celebration. There are about 670,000 pieces and 600 colors that make up this intricate piece of work. It works as a timeline, starting with Christian VI handing the architect plans to build the stock exchange. In the end it is handed over to the Chamber of Commerce, as trade expands globally. 

After the tour, I walked over to the tents on Ved Stranden along the canal for a free concert and CHEESE N CRACKERS. This tent was educating people about Finland, hence the Finnish cheese. Deeeelicious. 

I decided to head for the Black Diamond, or Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Royal Library). I went on the wrong side of the street and unnecessarily crossed the bridge to Christianshavn. I wandered around forever and decided to take a detour at a church I’ve always seen but never bothered to explore.

UGH CAMERAAAA. Once you go DSLR, you can never go back to anything else without feeling frustrated. This is Christians Kirke, or Christian’s Church, which was built on behalf of Christian IV. What a recurring theme we have tonight! I wasn’t sure if there was something going on but saw people leaving, so I went inside for a pleasant surprise.

Two women were playing a beeeeautiful duet of a classical concert. It was nice to escape the cold and rest like this! This makes me miss my weekly piano lessons and classical music in general.

FINALLY. It’s about time I visited you! As soon as I stepped inside, I heard another musical surprise. An a capella group sang Black Bird, Mercy, and many other songs. Took this while on the escalator.

The library had old and modern aspects to it… this room reminds me especially of Doheny for some reason. I need to study there some day!

I left the library because it was getting late, and I wanted to see other things. I stumbled upon a Renaissance-ish fair with pandekage, candied apple, sausage booths and other small stores. I bought a pandekage (or something like a mix between a pancake and crepe), topping it with lots of sugar and apple-pie-esque insides.. what is that called? There were a lot of interesting handmade weapons, alcohol, and other small knick knacks. 

Closeby was a Dansk Jødisk Museum… or the Danish Jewish Museum. Took me a while to get that ahah. The interior was reaaaaaally cool with slanted walls and ceilings all over the place. Danish Jews during the Holocaust were relatively luckier because they did not have to face segregated laws. And when the Nazis ordered to have Danish Jews sent to the concentration camp, most of them escaped successfully to Sweden. Thus, Danes are very grateful for the Swedes :D

Last but not least, I headed for the Christiansborg Ruinerne where the ruins of the Christiansborg Castle remain underneath Parliament. This is supposedly what the castle looked like. The tower inside the ring wall is the Blue Tower, where a famous princess was locked up for marrying a traitor.

The ruins also featured a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. One guy with a British accent was reading “The Raven” aloud, even.

There were funky people in costumes running all over the place.. a Quasimodo-like friar, a baboon, a devil mistress, etc. Getting excited for Halloween!

I still have Berlin in my draft. Sigh. I’ll get to it after my trip next week!

Travels for the semester

Saving the most anticipated trip for last.

• Berlin
• Budapest 
• Prague 
• Warsaw 
• Krakow
• Stockholm 
• Vienna 
• Salzburg 
• Hallstatt
• Helsinki 
• Rovaniemi

Independence

has been quite the theme for my study abroad experience so far. I don’t mean it only in terms of buying my own groceries, doing the laundry and cleaning my apartment—that was last year. But I can see a difference in my behavior now. I buy groceries more rationally rather than stocking up a ginormous load of food as if I were hibernating for an entire year. Less food goes to waste. WHOO!

But yes, I also mean independence from .. everything! USC had its invisible boundaries and people only go so far once in a while to eat out or take a hike. But I leave my apartment all the time just to explore the city. 

Copenhagen’s environment and atmosphere seem to steer everyone into being independent. Sure, the college life at USC pushes me to do things on my own, but I’m not really by myself. Here I have to walk and take public transportation everywhere by myself. I’ve grown to looooove it. Going everywhere all the time with someone(s) is not an easy option, at least for me. 

I like to keep my own pace, whether it’s going to the Nationalmuseet and reading every single description of the historical coin and medal collection or exploring the dock by Nyhavn during the Copenhagen Design Week. I admit I seem slow to everyone—maybe because I’m short and can’t walk fast—but mostly because I like to absorb my surroundings to the max with my senses. Call it being aesthetic or what you may. 

Walking through Copenhagen, not biking, has made me understand myself more. Weird. A new city that helps me discover myself while I’m trying to discover it? I feel at peace from just sitting in the Metro, even if it does lack proper air circulation, and walking home every night from someplace different. Danger is the last thing I think about when I’m roaming the streets alone. For once, the paranoia dissolves and hasn’t reappeared, except maybe when I’m watching Desperate Housewives or reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

Last weekend I went to Christiania for the fourth time and just chilled with friends. A stable group of friends that I can rely on and travel with. Speaing of which, traveling is the one thing I can’t do alone, as much as I wouldn’t mind, due to Mom’s and my own worries about other countries where my local phone doesn’t work. Eep. Then we hit up a ginormous Thai supermarket (ANOTHER one!?) so I bought ingredients for Pad Thai and Yellow Curry. Crossing my fingers for a decent meal or two from all of this…

The next day, I went to the Nationalmuseet, or national history museum. I arrived late, as usual, for the walking tour but decided it was for the best because I definitely took my time to look at all the exhibits. In a little over an hour, I only got through maybe half of the museum, but had to cut the visit short for a bruncheon with some friends. We went to Riz Raz (my third time) at this spectacular buffet. It’s vegetarian at night, and their falafels/hummus/okra curry to name a few are AMAZING. I’ve learned to be a lot more frugal and eco-logical by bringing my own filtering Camelbak. They charge for water everywhere!

Then we went to Ny Carlsberg Glytotek, a ginormous art museum funded by Carl Jacobsen, an aristocrat dude who funded for nearly everything that you see in Copenhagen. Including of course, the Carlsberg beer. What an incredibly generous guy. This museum was very similar to the Nueues Museum in Berlin with Ancient Egyptian artifacts, sarcophagi, tombs, Ancient Roman statues, etc. The building looks brand new, and you could probably spend a couple hours in there. From September until December, they have a Paul Gauguin exhibit. This guy was born on my birthday—but that’s all I know. 

Today is Christiania’s 40th birthday. YAY! A celebration of rebellion and extreme hippieness. Happy hippie day. It was crowded but really chill by the time I got there. I bought a $5 falafel sandwich with hummus. Theeee bessssssstttttt. The Green Light District was definitely booming with business today. HIGH sales today, har har har. 

Then, I went home and decided to go for a run. My fourth one here! Also forgot to mention that Danes are very active—biking and running and walking… they never stop moving! Which motivates me to act the same :) LOVE. I can’t do the same path more than once so I decided to visit Frederiksberg Have, a huge garden one street away from mine. Best decision ever. I found a shortcut by a cafe and ran into the park that was shrouded by tall, gargantuan trees over a huge lake. The paths divided into various sections, and people were all over the place! Joggers, pedestrians, dogs (they’re people, too), babies, business people. Each path seemed to lead to a new tiny park within the park. IT’S GORGEOUS. The park, not the jogging, took my breath away. Halfway through, someone approached me and asked what school I went to. Turns out that she’s an APO member from UVA who noticed my rush t-shirt. Never has the APO brotherhood felt so close yet so far from me! If that makes sense. Going through the park, I didn’t want to stop running, but had to go home for the concert at Tivoli.

Turns out I ran for less than an hour, so I quickly showered and hopped on the S Train to Tivoli for The Voice, a concert with Aqua, Medina, Nik & Jay, Alexandra Stan, etc. I made it just in time for Alexandra Stan, Nik & Jay and Aqua! Oddly enough, Aqua sang three songs but none of them was Barbie Girl :(. First time going to a concert by myself! Concert-going is one of the few reasons why I hate being short. ESPECIALLY in Copenhagen, where Danes are taller on average compared to Americans pwahahah. Fail. The atmosphere was great, but I wish the MC spoke English hahaha. No idea what was going on until the artist(s) came on to perform. 

Although I’m someone who hates planning with itineraries and is never on time, I’ve notcied that I tend to be quite the opposite when it comes to traveling. Gotta book and get things done ASAP! I feel this gnawing in my stomach when I haven’t planned something yet..which is why I’m already booked for Budapest, Prague, Warsaw/(Krakow) and Vienna/(Salzburg). Cuhraaaazy. I feel crazy. I am crazy.

What I’m trying to say is, wherever you may be, explore. Right there. Right here. Please. You’re missing what’s within walking (probably driving if you’re in the States) distance. Don’t go out of your way if you still have what’s in front of you to discover.

I <3 KBH <—the hoodies that say this are too expensive, so I will just put my statement here.

Vampire Weekend

Helsingør, sounds like like Van Helsing, the vampire/monster hunter. HENCE, VAMPIRE WEEKEND. HAH. Not so clever :(

Priscilla, Eunice, Anabel and I embarked on a short trip to Helsingør in North Zealand of København. We made two stops in between, at Frederiksborg Slot in Hillerød and Fredensborg Slotshave. After much planning for transportation and attractions (mostly museums), we decided to by the 72-hour Copenhagen Card for 459dkk (a little over $90). The card gives us free transportation of all kinds as well as free admission to various listed museums and other attractions. After Priscilla calculated everything, our trip over three days was VERY WELL WORTH IT. As in nearly twice the value of the card!

I can imagine the statue at the top saying only “BOOYAH” lolol. Frederiksborg was the original palace where the royal family lived in the 16th century and so on. Part of it caught on fire some time ago but was later remodeled. 

Stucco on you. In the background you can see knight armor.

Holy Church-a-moly. There was an organ that one of the museum guides started playing for a really long time. I never understood those pedals that look exactly like piano keys. Multi-tasking at its finest, I’m sure.

The lady on the left’s dress looked more Spanish than Danish hahaha. Such an amusing museum!!

Omg what’s outside? THIS CANNOT BE REAL. Priscilla and I patiently but also hurriedly went through the entire castle’s galleries before heading out to the fantastical garden.

Frederiksborg’s lovely garden… been here for nearly half a millenium!!! We then embarked on a huge (hah!) ferry down the ‘most beautiful nautical mile in Denmark’. I can vouch for that.

Swan King and his lowly peasants. So nippy and feisty to people who tried to feed him. Or her? What a beezy.

I joined Anabel soon after to enjoy a quick sunbath on this hill in that very position. We were very lucky that the weather was perrrrrfect.

Then we moved to this small lake to take a nap. Nooooo big deal. This is also where I almost forgot my Copenhagen Card. OHH GAHHHHH. 

Fredensborg Slot! We took a 20-minute train ride here, free of charge with the CPH Card. I took this one-handed shot while eating a soft-serve YUMYUMYUM. So worth the lopsidedness. We arrived just in time for a changing of the guards. The palace itself was a bit plain, to be honest, but the garden (more like a forest) was enormous and beautiful. I just love greeeeeennnn everythingggggg.

Long path toward the royal boathouse.

Overlooking the beautiful Esrum Sø, the “richest water lake”.. whatever that means. Dusk never looked so beautiful, even while it was still overcast.

We definitely ignored my schedule to get to Helsingør by five or six, but eff, planned schedules never work, and I couldn’t care less since I’m a P(erceiving) personality type. Helsingør is the definition of quaint and small. The streets were really narrow and full of colorful houses like these. We walked around to find a place to eat dinner, eventually ending up at a Middle-Eastern-esque restaurant. I ordered a chicken kebab yummmmms. We were worried since everything usually closes on the next day (Sunday) so we took about 30 minutes to find a Nettø loooooollllll. We walked for another 40 minutes and got lost as usual… lol. We FINALLY made it after walking down a dark, narrow street to DanHostel Helsingør, which I greatly recommend! They were having a WEDDING in the hostel. The clerks were kind enough to give us free linen (which they usually charge for) since the wedding may disrupt guests like us.

I thought we were going to KTFO ASAP, but decided to check out the backyard which turned out to be THE BEACH. Now, Danish beaches have nothing on Thai/Hawaiian beaches, but you could see the faint light of the castle in the distance. I need more practice with night pictures… or a tripod. HAhaha. Can you believe this was all in ONE DAY? I couldn’t. My productivity has never been this outstanding (on my own planning). And that’s saying a lot!!! I will blog on day 2 and 3 of Vampire Weekend after this CBS International Choir practice which I’m about to check out!

This was two (THREE?) weeks ago. I also went to Berlin… I better start blogging like crazy before I go anywhere else :O :(.

I love

The bipolar weather here. It starts off with blue skies and gorgeous cumulus clouds. Then, in a split second it starts pouring furiously like there’s no end. But alas, it subsides in just minutes afterwards! I sat on the first floor (you would call this the second floor in the States) of Solbjerg Plad’s library by the window, watching the constant wave of people walking outside for the party at Nexus. The guy sitting across from me studied intensely but took random breaks to stare (also intensely) out the window at the students walking by. He meant serious business with people-watching.

I’m pretty sure someone looked up at the window and yelled “LOSER” at me because I was studying (or at least looked like I was). I couldn’t help but laugh and think of those cliché high school movies. I know there’s a huge party on right on campus at the moment, but I have better things to do—I mean, have you ever tried looking up at the København sky around 7pm?  I was in awe at the intense blue skies (they seriously match the blue eyes of almost all Danes who are almost all beautiful) with pink clouds, as a result of the slow, setting sun. Sadly I had to lug the boulder that is my laptop today so I didn’t have my little t2i to capture such a spectacle. 

I really hope I can adjust to the cold weather—I used to hate the cold and love the heat. But being as bipolar as this weather, I think the city’s changed my mind. 

Tivoli, Rundetaarn, Amager Strand, BaNanna Park, etc!

TOO MUCH to update! I couldn’t even finish going over last (edit: last, LAST) week’s activities! To make it short, I had the time of my life going from a chill bingo night (without being close to winning) at CBS to a funFUNFUNNNNNN bar called Rosie McGee’s. Met awesome people and danced around to the perfect mix of songs. I was a bit crazy that night, but it was great.

The next day I woke up early and.. I don’t know, skipped everything? :x One of those days we had a Cultural Day during which the Exchange crew took us around the city. AHaha the jumbled account comes from my horrible memory, just so you know! 

The weather was unfortunately gloomy (what’s new?), but we went through that circular park down to Nyhavn, down the bank past this Royal Playhouse. It’s visible right across the bank in front of Amalienborg Palace where the royal family currently lives.

Luckily we caught the changing of the guards, which was really slow and actually anticlimactic lollll. But I like their pants and hat! Those red booths (guard towers? lol) have a small carving of a heart in each one. So cute.

I took this horribly overcast-ly picture from Rundetaarn or Round Tower, located right in the heart of Strøget, or the City Centre’s bustling shopping street. You can see cranes of construction.. everywhere I go there’s construction!!

On a lazy Sunday, I decided to hit Tivoli with Emma & Ingvild. In the end I bought a wild card for 600 DKK. The park is a lot smaller than any other amusement park I’ve been to (basically, everything in the US is bigger than anything everywhere else). The rides were still FUN and adrenaline-inducing. The drop-tower was pretty much like that of Great America but with a 3498573945x better view <3. We went through nearly all the rides, played some DDR, ate hugeass soft ice (I’m OBSESSED with soft-serve ice cream here.. it’s FRIGGIN DELICIOUS and expensive but I don’t care) and danced the way out hahahah. I definitely want to come back to take pictures of this place since it’s the second oldest theme park in the world AND currently has a Titanic exhibit! AND CONCERTS EVERY FRIDAY til the end of the September. Aw yeah. 

The next day I met up with Eunice and Anabel at Christianshavn where we walked down the canal for a bit and went back to this church to climb up the stairs on the inside (sweating my butt off) and these gorgeous spiral stairs (freezing my butt off). The weather was PERRRRRFECT and the view was SPECTACULARRRRRR. I don’t know if I was breathless from the view, climbing, lack of oxygen from the altitude (LOL okay I’m exaggerating) or all of the above, but YEAH. The top of this tower is Jesus in Renaissance clothing, apparently.

Love it. Love. it. :)

Eunice and I then headed to Amager Strand in an extremely quiet beach town. The beaches here are literally nothing compared to Hawaii and Thailand, I’m sorry to say. But it was a nice break from the city!

Then we headed back west and up north to Nørrebro (where I got lost the day before) in a more ethnic neighborhood. This is BANANNA PARK (with 3 N’s). This park used to be underdeveloped and contaminated from a former oil refinery until local authorities petitioned and successfully turned it into a safe, clean park for anyone to come play. They have a huge 14m rockclimbing wall as well! Too bad I forgot my equipment.

That was LAST week. This past weekend alone produced over twice as many pictures from my trip to North Zealand (Hillerød, Fredensborg and Helsingør, home to Hamlet’s Castle). Stay tuned, I guess!