Rating:
 (4.7) (12 Votes)
Copenhagen, Denmark
May 14th 2001
Pros: Great Celebrations
throughout the city!
Cons:
none
Hi it's Devon again.
If I had to sum up our time in Copenhagen in one word, it would
be Slots. The word slot means castle for most Danes, but for Randi
and Peter, the Danes we were staying with, I think it will now always
make them think of a German beer called Slots. I know it will for
Sarah and I. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We arrived in Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, met up with Randi
at the station, and braved the afternoon bus crowds back to the
apartment she shares with her boyfriend Peter. Wanting to take full
advantage of another gorgeous Scandinavian day, we headed back into
the centre of town to take a canal cruise. On the way, Randi told
us that we had arrived just in time to celebrate Hans Christian
Andersen's 200th birthday the following day. And Copenhagen was
going all out, let me tell you. That night there was a gala performance
at the National Theatre, and the following night a huge concert
at the stadium with a line-up of performers including Tina Turner.
Craziest of all is the 8km walk through the city, marked by white
footsteps, leading you to places of importance in H.C's life. There's
a lot of love for this man.
Anyways, back to the cruise. It took off from Nynhavn Canal, which
was lined with people drinking and soaking up the sun. The cruise
was about an hour and took us all over the place. We saw the Royal
Palace, the National Gallery, and the Little Mermaid Statue,which
is apparently crawling with people in the summertime. According
to Randi, there are literally people crawling onto the statue to
get their picture taken. Poor Mermaid. After the cruise, we joined
the people on the canal, and cracked open our first Slots.
Back at the apartment that night we had a gourmet dinner while watching
the never-ending gala performance for H.C. Andersen. Then it was
off to a pre-party, where we had everyone saying "Slots"
instead of Skåll (cheers) by the end of the night, and from
there to a party at the University. There wasn't a lot of people
at the party, but that just meant more room for us on the dance
floor! And we needed the extra room, to avoid any and all interaction
with a guy who felt the need to rock out shirtless all night long,
The next day was the big day. The big H.C. birthday blowout. We
first joined the crowds at his grave, and then made our way over
to the main square, Radhaus Pladsen, to see the huge statue of him.
Feeling like we had properly payed our respects, we then headed
over to Christshavn and climbed the 400 odd steps of the Von Freisers
Kirke tower. The view from the top was amazing.... as was the shortness
of the railing, and the way the floor slanted downwards off the
edge! Afterwards we took a quick walk through Christania, a community
established in the 70's based on communal living. We had dinner
in Dragor, the cute little fishing village where Peter's family
lives. And then it was on to the Copenhagen Jazz House. Super fun
night with Randi, Peter, and their friends Anne and Morten. I don't
think we spent more than half an hour sitting the whole night. How
could we, when they were blasting such great Michael Jackson tunes!
Sunday was a perfect day, weatherwise and activitywise. We got off
to a bit of a late-start and arrived in the town of Helsingor, just
in time to tour Kronberg castle before it closed for the day. Kronberg
is also known as Elsinore, the castle that was the setting for Hamlet.
And yes Hamlet is a fictional character so don't ask me how that
works........
From Helsingor we drove to Klampenborg and walked through Dyrehavn
park to Bakken amusement park. A quick trip to the ticket office
to buy a coupon booklet, and we were all screaming away on a rickety
roller coaster. Starving, we headed back to Copenhagen for one of
the funniest/most painful eating experiences I've had in a long
time. It was an all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet. Let me paint
the scene for you: there was Randi, who had to unbutton her pants,
but still eating; then Peter, head down on the table, who had to
throw in the towel; Sarah who had planned her buffet eating the
most strategically and was still doing ok; and then me, forcing
down my 3rd plate, determined to be the champion of the night. Needless
to say, a walk around town was in order afterwards.
So we are currently working on our "Scandinavians--Please come
to Canada and let us house and feed you" banner. We could not
have had a better time. Taks all around and hopefully we'll see
you soon in our neck of the woods. |
