To the North I went!

Rewind... to April 25th!

COPENHAGEN :) This weekend I was lucky enough to visit one of my best friends from home whom I have known since we were seven- kinda crazy to think that all this time has past and we are still close enough to, you know, visit each other in Europe! I thought I was going to take a day long train adventure to Copenhagen, during which I would catch up on some much needed homework. While I successfully did this for the first few hours of my journey, I was interrupted by an announcement as we were about to cross into Denmark. That announcement was informing all passengers that THE ENTIRE TRAIN (not just the passengers) would be loaded onto a boat and sent over the channel. Think about it- an entire train on a boat crossing the country border. Needless to say I was in a bit of shock! They let us get up and walk around the boat- it was beautiful!

I'm on a boat

 When I finally arrived in Copenhagen- RPS was there ready to pounce and greet me at the train station :) The only way I can describe the reunion was complete joy and relaxation. Up until this point, friend interactions abroad had all been new and kind of like the first few months at college- everyone is nice but you are not close or connected yet, which can be a bit scary! Seeing RPS was such a relief, instantly being able to talk as if we were not in Copenhagen but were back in her basement in our hometown as we have so many times! That night we celebrated one of her roommates birthdays, and I got to experience the Danish bars (unisex bathrooms!), Flodboller, and jello birthday sheets! Not only that but her living situation was awesome! Danish designed houses are definitely from the future...

The next morning we woke up and walked through town to Christiania. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures in this lovely place, but it was definitely something that reminded me a bit of Amherst on Extravaganja! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania It was super out of place in pristine Copenhagen- making it all the more of an experience! It had trash can fires, art exhibits that reminded me of MeetFactory in Prague, spray paint art, and a total vibe change from the rest of the city.
We walked around Christiana, walked a nice loop around the lake, and ate lunch at a homemade little cafeteria here. It was pretty well priced for Copenhagen standards- and tasted like a homemade meal! For the rest of the day we spent walking around the canals of Copenhagen, which were gorgeous! Colorful, tall houses- rows and rows of them. We also stumbled upon the free Copenhagen museum, which was all about the immigrant population and integration.

Look at all the color!

Lake by Christiania

Cutie

That evening for dinner we got creative and made DELICIOUS naan feta and eggplant pizzas. YUM! We drank wine and sat on her counter tops and it was so homey and wonderful :) That evening we went to the church directly down the street from her apartment to check out a concert... Little did I know this was a DJ-ed light show concert in a church hahah it was a bit strange so we decided to head to a non-profit bar. The bar was really cool in the sense that you could bring any food/drink/games you wanted in- a really different atmosphere and definitely a better deal than paying for drinks in European bars!

On Saturday, we woke up early and headed to the glass markets to get FREE samples of delicious bread and the like. The glass markets were a beautiful indoor farmers market, complete with cheese, meat, produce, dessert, and baked goods. After filling up on free samples, I also had to buy a Danish (come on- I WAS in Denmark!) which was more delicious than any American Danish I have ever consumed. Hands down! We walked to a flea market located in Norreboro and were a bit surprised by it! It lined the main streets with people selling various things- a little underwhelming! Luckily, it was in the same area as the cemetary where Kierkegaard (Philosophy for the win!) and H.C. Anderson were buried. Beautiful green meadow in the middle of a city was a really nice change of scenery. This was also located right next to Rosenborg (slight difference from the German -berg meaning mountain) Palace. It was completely different architecture to German Palaces and Castles, and had garden grounds covered in sunbathing Danes!

Market!

Cemetary entrance

After a long walk around that boro of town we returned to a Turkish all you can eat buffet. All I can say is that I left that restaurant about 5 pounds heavier than I entered it. It was a huge spread of vegetables, stews, bread and rice dishes, and sauces! DELICIOUS! Worth every calorie and penny- especially since both Rachel and I couldn't even stomach dinner that night hahah.

After lunch we walked to the most photographed spot of Copenhagen, Nyhavn, ... And I can understand why! In was a little cove connecting the mainland to the ocean. Every adjacent house was a different bright color and all were tall and skinny with cute windows and water front reflections. It was honestly beautiful in so many ways. There was a bridge at the far end which gave you a view of the entire harbor- and we got our photo taken there :)

The final thing we did together in Copenhagen (OH WAIT- the Sunday before I left I actually tried smorebrod, the typical Danish food. Cabbage and pineapple have never tasted so good before!) was see the famous Tivoli gardens! It just so happened that her class was going that evening... so I got to sneak in for free with them :) Tivoli was more than just an amusement park... it was a Willy Wonka-esque, brightly lit and decorated carnival! They had everything from the Taj Mahal, to shopping, to wooden barrels of fun (which also forced me to fall completely flat... woops), to pirate ships, and more! Everything was very expensive inside (Not only is there an entrance fee but also every ride has a fee too- hopefully six flags does not get any ideas!), so we picked our favorite ride and went up at sunset. It is arguably the tallest point in Copenhagen- and we got a 360 degree view! I have never seen anything so beautiful! It was so beautiful that RPS cried ;) Another thing I did in Copenhagen was try European soft serve ice cream... I was in for a shock! Soft serve here is not cold, and is more comparable to a cone of cool whip than ice cream. The soft serve was so light and airy- it was definitely not what I was expecting!

Rosenbourg

THIS was our selected ride

One other interesting thing I noticed was in regards to the language. I haven't studied German for long, but was still able to recognize the similarities between the German language and the Danish. It was quite a cool pattern to see!
It was sad to say goodbye to RPS and her adorable town of Copenhagen-but I am glad I was able to see a country of Northern Europe and a great friend :)