Now on to my last three days in Denmark. I started getting used to the time change, and Maria's parents offered to take me to tourist sites in Copenhagen and Helsingor, two cities in Denmark. Before leaving Copenhagen, we stopped by the Little Mermaid, a statue of a mermaid right in the harbor. The Disney movie (one of my favorites- some of you remember that I had a Little Mermaid sheets and a comforter on my bed when I was younger!) is probably based somewhat on the story by Hans Christian Anderson. Maria's parents thought it was important that I have a picture with the Little Mermaid, who is supposedly traveling to China or somewhere in Asia to be on display there. We also drove by the Danish queen's home on our way out of the city.
To Helsingor, Denmark we went! Here is the "Hamlet Castle," better known at the Kromborg castle to the Danish people. Supposedly, this castle inspired William Shakespeare to write the play Hamlet, with Prince Hamlet of Denmark as the main character who carries out the famous "To be or not to be, that is the question" monologue know to so many around the world. In the courtyard of the castle was a stage where actors perform the play daily. The day we toured the castle, Jude Law was playing Hamlet for the last time, but we missed the performance by a couple hours. The castle had lots of medieval aspects to it- I loved looking at the old fireplaces and mantelpieces and the artwork on the walls. We drove back to Copenhagen along the coast again and the ocean here is really blue. The beaches aren't really as big as they are in America. And Sweden is so close to Denmark- at one point, I think the strait of water dividing Denmark from Sweden was about 4 km. So if you were a strong enough swimmer, you could probably swim from one country to another if you wanted to. On our way back to Copenhagen, we stopped at a cafe and had a smorrebrod, which is an open-faced sandwich. Mine came with chicken, tomato, bacon, cucumber, and two slices of toasted, dark rye bread. It was delicious and I'm glad I was able to experience an authentic Danish meal. That night, we also went to a neighborhood past the Copenhagen airport near a harbor where there were lots of typical Danish houses. I really enjoyed just walking, but it's a little bit cooler in Denmark than it is in St. Marys, PA, right after dinnertime.
My Monday in Copenhagen was nice and relaxing! We had pizza for lunch, after I woke up at 12:30 PM (I guess I still had jet lag at that point). Maria had taken a physics exam earlier that morning, so I really hope she passes. We went shopping for awhile at H & M, and then sipped lattes at a cafe before going to her parents' house for dinner. They cooked salmon and rice and it was delicious! And of course, we had ice cream with pineapple and raspberries for dessert. It felt like I was almost back home as I sat down to eat with Maria's mom, dad, sister and her sister's boyfriend, except for the fact that they spoke Danish sometimes and their family doesn't look like the Meier family at all!
But on Tuesday, I was ready to go and see the sights. Luckily, Maria owns 2 bicycles, so we were going to see Copenhagen from the perspective of riding a bike around the city. Maria's mother told me that it's the easiest form of transportation because so many citizens ride their bikes to work and school and it's a very environmentally-friendly city because of that fact. There are bicycle paths on almost every road, but I hadn't ridden a bike in almost 7 or 8 years, I bet. The city is mostly flat, so I only had to climb one or two hills. Maria wanted me to experience what a real Danish pastry tastes like, so we went down toward the center of the city to a great bakery. I chose a pastry with frosting and sprinkles as my breakfast. It was so good and now I had energy to go for the entire day. We sat by the canal that was in the city for a little while, then we were out to see the sights.
Our first stop was a church with an interesting story about its spire. Supposedly, the architect who desired the spiral tower for the church thought it should go one way, but they builders constructed it backwards, and so the story goes, the architect was so upset, he jumped off the top of the tower. We were going to go to the top to see the view of the city, but it cost too many kroner and I got a much better picture of the church from a view at the Copenhagen harbor.
From the harbor, you can see landmarks of the city. We saw a harbour bus, which is a boat used for public transportation. We also saw the Copenhagen Opera House, built about 4 years ago and designed by the same architect as the Sydney Opera House. Also, the architecture school in Copenhagen is down by the harbor. Maria's roommate goes to graduate school there.
We rode our bikes about 15 minutes to the beach and just enjoyed the sun there for a while. On the way to our next destination, the chain on my bicycle came off from riding over a bump. What an adventure! Maria was luckily able to fix it, and we were on our way again! Then, we went to King's Garden, another place in Copenhagen complete with a castle. We didn't go near the castle, though, we just had a blanket and laid out in the sun on the grass. Lots of young people go there to talk and just relax. Then, we went to the Hans Christian Andersen statue to get my picture with him. Copenhagen's City Hall is right next to the statue as well as hot dog vendors. I had a real Danish hot dog with roasted onions and ketchup. And even though I normally don't like my hot dog buns toasted, that's how they serve them in Denmark, and I thought it was delicious!
On our way back to Maria's apartment, it was around 5 PM and it was rush hour. I had to be a lot more careful on my bike to make sure the chain didn't come off, but both of us arrived at Maria's apartment in one piece. That night, we went to Tivoli Gardens. It's an amusement park not too far from her apartment. The amusement park is full of gardens and restaurants, not like the typical Six Flags in America. There are lots of lights and a concert stage and fun rides. Maria doesn't like riding, so I bought a ticket to the Demon, which is a roller coaster where you go upside down. I hadn't been to an amusement park at all this summer, so it was fun to have the wind blowing in my face as I was riding. Our night at Tivoli was really fun and a great ending to a visit with my friend, Maria. Now I was off to Rome!
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