Amazing weather!

This past week has been such a surprise for all of my friends (myself included) because the weather has been beautiful. Since I returned on Sunday, everyday has been cloudless, sunny, warm, and without a spell of rain! The weather hasn't been this nice since the first week I arrived in Copenhagen. It feels out of the ordinary but is completely refreshing to not have to wear my rain gear, warm sweaters or a beanie, all of which protect me from this city's cold air, intense wind, and pouring rain. I'm enjoying this unexpected summer weather, but I refuse to get used to it. Soon enough, the rain will be back and the cold will arrive...I probably jinxed it, watch it'll storm tomorrow.

3 cities, 5 days

I just got back this morning from a five day trip. Anna and I did a tour of cities in Eastern Europe. We started off in Helsinki and then went to Tallinn, where Sarah met us. Yesterday, we took a day trip to Riga. Now I'm back in Copenhagen. The days went by quickly since we did a lot of sightseeing. I have lots of pictures, so I will be sure to post them and blog about the trip within the next few days.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!


Nat

A wardrobe without shelves? Only in Copenhagen

Yesterday, I learned that my wardrobe will remain shelve-less for the remaining three months that I am in Copenhagen. For two months now, I have been patiently waiting for a way to neatly sort my clothes, emails back in forth with the Housing Department in regards to if I am supposed to have shelves and when I will finally receive them (after they told me they ordered them), and an always endless hunt for shirts, pants, and underwear in a disastrous mess.

I went into the Housing office yesterday to pick up my new laundry card and since I hadn't heard back via email about my shelves, I asked. To my chagrin, one of the employees told me that I would have to pay to get them. Are you serious?! I kindly declined and walked out disappointed, thinking about how I'm going to have to constantly reorganize the long "closet" since I'm always throwing clothes in there. It's so much work to have to fold and stack everyday (I know what you're thinking, Mom...sorry!)

Who would've known that you have to pay to put shelves in your wardrobe? Only in this city, where you have to pay for everything...and none of it is really cheap. I guess I'll just wait until I get home to a well-organized and clean closet/dresser where everything is organized. Thanks Mom!

In the meantime, I'll just keep throwing my clothes in the wardrboe with the hopes of finding it again one day...which may end up being the day I pack up to go back home.

A taste of home

Last night at Keops kollegium, I borrowed my friend's wok to stir-fry garlic, onions, broccoli, and the tofu and black bean and garlic sauce...I made it just like my dad cooks it at home (except with broccoli instead of green beans, since we used those for our curry).

It was just a small taste of home (literally), but it was a huge hit with my friends Ned (who is from Australia), Anna, and Sarah! Katrin (from Switzerland) and Matthias (from Austria) came later and tried some too. Anna loved it so much she wants to go with me again next time to the Asian market to see what other foods (sauces, noodles, tofu, etc) I buy. That way, she can use them in her dishes when she cooks too!  Thanks Papa, your cooking skills are rubbing off on me and your dishes are going global!

I finally found tofu!

After a month and a half of hopeless searching, I have finally found tofu!

Friday afternoon, Anna and I were riding to see the Cycling Championships in the city center, while we were riding, she told me she went to Fotex (it's like a Target) and saw tofu. She's been giving me a hard time because I always say I can't find tofu, she always responds saying "I'm going with you next time to show you where it is". I asked what section she found it in, and she said the international section. It's in a jar though, not refrigerated. I thought that was a little odd.

Anyway,  as soon as we got to the city center (right in front of Tivoli) we saw that the event was clearly not taking place until Sunday...even though all the barricades were up and cars couldn't drive on H.C. Andersen Boulevard (the main street)  So we rode back to our neighborhood because we were meeting the other girls in the Keops common room at 3:30pm to get ready for the Black Diamond (library) party that night.

On our way back, Anna had to stop at a hair salon at Norreport to pick up a product she needed. We parked our bikes and coincidentally I parked mine right in front of a Chinese market! I told Anna I'd go in to see if they had tofu, but she wanted me to wait for her. As I waited outside, I started getting excited because I knew they would have the yummy soy goodness.

Anna came out of the salon a few minutes later and we walked into the Chinese market together. In the back of the market, in the refrigerated section, were those familiar square plastic packages containing a block of tofu. I was so excited! I took two packages of firm tofu, because one is just not enough. We proceeded to look around the small shop, both entranced by the assortment of Asian foods. It was as though I had never been in a Pacific Super back at home.

There was almost everything you can imagine, I was so delighted. I now know where to go if I crave udon noodles, good rice, or those little plum wafer candies that come in a paper roll.

In addition to the tofu, I also bought black bean and garlic sauce to add to my tofu and vegetable dishes. (It's the exact same brand we buy at home, Papa, yum!). I bought my goodies and then we got back on our bikes.

Sorry it's backwards!

We were riding for no more than 5 minutes when we passed the new market next to Norreport. Neither Anna nor I had seen it yet, and we had no where to be at the moment so we decided to park our bikes and take a look around. There are two brand new buildings that house delis, produce stands, fresh cheeses, sweets, food stands, an oven exhibition etc. It was like the one we went to in Goteburg, but more pleasant since there were floor to ceiling windows that allowed light to come in.

It was at this market where I again saw tofu at a Chinese grocery stand. Up until Friday, I had not seen tofu at any of the supermarkets I visited, and then...twice in one day! I am still in a bit of disbelief.

After we walked around, salivating and wanting to buy all the delicious and fresh food, Anna and I decided that we would come back here sometime in the near future. I can't wait!

(Now, whenever I need my protein fix, I know exactly where to go!)

Pictures from Foehr

The memory card reader on my computer is acting up, but I have finally uploaded the pictures from this past weekend. My camera died near the end of the trip though, sorry for the lack of documentation.

The little boat we took from the mainland to the island

The beach

Playing "beach ping pong"

Our homemade plum jam with cinnamon

Walking through a village on the island

Look at the roof of the house!

Garden and graveyard next to the village's church

"Jacob" the hedgehog. The German word for hedgehog is 'Igel' (pronounced 'eagle'), you can imagine how confused we were when Anna said that the 'igel' comes to her house every night

Boarding Anna's dad's boat

Sheep on another island

Wyk Auf Foehr, Germany

This past weekend, my friend Sam and I visited our friend, Anna, at her family's home on Wyk Auf Foehr. She lives on an island that is near the Denmark border. We took a bus and ferry there on Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday. Anna's dad got us a ride on a charter bus from Copenhagen (we boarded in front of Tivoli) and boat that was carrying German tourists from Copenhagen back to Germany, it was a lot cheaper and faster (four hours versus seven) than having to take the train. The bus driver knew who we were, we didn't have to say anything...and there were seats reserved for us, what great treatment! Sam and I passed the time by eating snacks (consisting of a loaf of Lagkagehuset bread, brie cheese, jam, carrots, and apples), napped, and watched Fight Club.

After getting off the bus, we took a small boat to the island. We arrived on Foehr around 10:30pm. Anna picked us up at the port after a 45 minute ferry ride and she drove us back to her house. We met her mom and she showed us where we would be sleeping. It was so nice, they had set up a pull out bed for us and even put out a huge bottle of water, juice, and pretzels on a table. It was like we were staying at a bed and breakfast or a hotel. Anna warmed up some dinner for us (her vegetarian zucchini with tomato sauce "lasagna" dish is so yummy) and we talked about what we have all been up to since we hadn't seen each other in awhile. Anna went home two weeks before since she didn't have class right away. Afterwards, Anna, her mom, Sam, and I all had some of the apple pie that Sam and I bought for her family as a 'thank you' gift for letting us stay in their home for the weekend. We bought the square-shaped tart/pie from Lagkagehuset, so we knew it would be good.

Afterwards, we headed to bed. It was a long day and we fell asleep pretty fast.

The weekend progressed as such:
wake up
walk to local bakery to pick up bread and pastries
eat breakfast consisting of rolls with jam and cheese
walk to the beach with Anna's dog, Robinson. We played a popular European game that's like ping pong without a net
make homemade plum jam.. mmmmm!
walk and bike downtown
bike to a quaint village on the island
watch overweight ducks fight over bread and then waddle and collapse on land
take an afternoon ride on Anna's dad's little boat (the colors were blue and gold, go bears!). Anna and her dad showed us two other islands near Foehr...we called it 'island-hopping'
barbecue with Anna's parents and little brother (who was home for the weekend from boarding school) on Saturday night


On Sunday, all three of us took a ferry to the mainland and then Anna's mom drove us (and her brother) to Flensburg where we had to take two trains to Copenhagen. It was a long, hot, and crowded journey back, a stark contrast to how we first got to Germany. We made it back to the Central Station around 7:30pm and we were relieved to get some fresh air. We had a potluck dinner at Keops with our other friends and we all talked about our weeks and the events of that weekend. It was a nice way to end the week.


I must say that, although, we didn't have a crazy weekend of running around seeing as many sights as possible, I had a wonderful time at Anna's house and on Wyk Auf Foehr. It was a nice change of pace, I truly felt that for those few short days, I got a sense of being at home. There were so many things we did this past weekend that reminded me of being back with my family in San Francisco. We sat at the dinner table together and had conversations, we walked and played with her dog, we soaked our feet in the bathtub after going to the beach, and cooked meals together. Sam and I were treated so well, I was truly grateful to Anna and her family. It did, however, make me miss my family and being at home with them. Anna is very close to her family and when she was nagging her brother, bickering with her mom, or walking with her arm around her dad it reminded me of my relationship with my parents and brother. It was nice to be around that interaction, yet it made me a little sad to know that I won't get to experience that for a while. Thank goodness for Skype!


Sorry, my computer is no longer recognizing my camera's memory disk. Therefore, I cannot upload any of the pictures from this weekend. It's such a bummer because I had some good ones, too. Oh well, you can leave it all up to the imagination!

Learning Danish...the "sporty" way

I have come to realize that there is a direct correlation between working out at the gym and learning Danish.

I joined one of the many gyms here in Copenhagen, called Fitnessdk (it's a chain, i go to the one in Norrebro...therefore I ride my bike to and from my kollegium) and it was only this week that I discovered how the hour I spend each day there has helped me learn a little more Danish.

The ellipticals (i wish the treadmills were there instead though) are strategically placed in front of three flat screen TVs that display MTVDK and two others that run American shows on their channels. So far, Scrubs, Bones, and the original Beverly hills 90210 have been playing while I'm there. They have Danish subtitles, so in between watching new music videos on MTV from the first TV on the far left (today I saw "new" lady gaga and Britney spears videos as well as "top 11 at 11 videos-Danish guys" music videos), I would read the subtitles of the TV shows in hopes of picking up a few words that I've already learned and maybe make sentences.

In addition to the basic  reading comprehension lesson, I've learned Danish in a more active form.

Fitnessdk offers an array of group classes in one of their three workout room. When I'm at cal, I love to go to 20-20-10 with Shane, Body Toning, and other high intensity classes. Here, I was reluctant for almost a month to try them out. The first day I joined, the trainer/cashier told me I could go to any classes I want, I'd just have to sign up when I got to the gym prior to it starting. If i don't show up, which wouldn't be an issue, I'd have to pay a fee since they set a limit to how many members can participate in a class (Cal gym, take note).

After taking part in BodyPump on Saturday and Monday, I learned that:
a) no english is spoken, except for the music (and the occasional one-line sing-along by the instructor)
b) I could catch a few words I already knew and start to learn a little more
c) I must rely on looking around at other people to see how much weight to put on their barbell, since I obviously couldn't catch on too easily with the numbers (Danes talk so fast)....but,
d)exercise is a universal language (even though I didn't understand much of the instruction by word of mouth, I could look around and say "hey, their doing rows and deadlifts", and then quickly catch on.

Other observations I've made at the gym:
a) the women here are ripped, I'd say over 50% have toned arms and defined abs. I've never seen so many women like that at the gym at home,
b) the instructors, trainers, and members are all really nice. On Saturday, after class, I dropped my locker key and I retraced my steps from the room, to the location where I was working out, and back to the equipment. I did that about 2 times when a woman who was participating in the next class came up to me and said "are you looking for your key, you dropped it over here". She pointed and proceeded to walk with me to it. I was so grateful and said my "thank you's before leaving. Even the trainers/workers at the front desk are always nice. Without fail, they always say (with a warm smile on their faces) "hej"or "godmorgen" when I enter the gym and some form of "have a good day" or "hej hej" when I leave. They sure know how to make an American exchange student feel welcome at the gym.
c) they need A/C badly in there, I've never sweated as much as i have since I started working out at Fitnessdk.
d) I've never checked into a gym using my membership card. You swipe it on the side of the computer, use the corner of it on the touch screen to sign in with your pincode and decide whether you want to take a class within the next few hours or just do a "free" workout (on your own), and then log off with it. A receipt is printed and you either stab it through the spear where all the other receipts are (that's if you are just working out on your own) or take it with you to class as a voucher. In addition, the membership card is also used for lockers, you put your card inside a slot in the door to release the key, and then when you're all finished for the day you unlock the door with the key and take out your card.

Luckily, I have many more days of attending workout classes, sweating profusely in what feels like a sauna, and saying "tak" to all of the helpful and friendly patrons and instructors. Yeah Fitnessdk!

"Work hard and enjoy LIFE"

On Friday, I had my LIFE orientation. It was an all day event that began at 10am and concluded at midnight. Here's the rundown of my entire day:

9:40am: Meet Olivia at the corner intersection (Olivia is my friend from Germany, we were in the same Danish language class, she is also in the LIFE department, and lives only a few blocks away from me).

10am-3pm: Welcome and Orientation Meeting at the main auditorium on the Frederiksberg Campus. Topics and presentations include: a welcome from the associate dean, housing, our First Contact (FC) mentors, the LIFE weekend trip (which I signed up for!), IT services, the Danish classroom, culture shock, student services, the LIFE library, and other practical information pertaining to student life. One phrase that a presenter said which really stuck with me was "work hard and enjoy LIFE". I believe it's an excellent motto to follow, not only for my stay here in Copenhagen, but also for everyday life too.

We had a short break between 11am and 11:15 am and lunch from 12pm-1pm. They provided fruit, water, soft drinks, and bagels filled with various toppings (including salmon, vegetables and hummus, etc.) for our meals.

During lunch, I went with Olivia to the library because she wanted to put a book on hold. The library was relatively small and there were several things I didn't expect:
1) There were lockers for students to put their stuff in while they studied in the library.
2) It also sold fruit and those candy jar things where you put in a coin and you get a handful of peanut M&Ms, meaning you are allowed to eat inside!
3) You are free to talk with friends at a volume that's louder than a whisper. I discovered this when I was whispering to Olivia and a Danish student said to me "you don't have to whisper in here".

This library, at least for me, is more of an exception to the rule. Eating and talking loudly would never fly in the library on the Berkeley campus.

Towards the end of lunch, I signed up for the LIFE weekend trip. It is offered by the First Contacts (our Danish mentors) and it allows up to 110 students to travel to the cabin outside of Copenhagen for the weekend. It is a great opportunity to meet other students in the Life Sciences Faculty.

3pm-6pm: Meeting concludes and all of the students are broken up into six different groups. Two mentors led my group on a tour around the campus. We took breaks during the tour to play some ice breakers such as going around the circle saying your name and an animal whose first letter is the same as the first letter of your own name.  I was Natalie Nightingale, most of the students didn't know what that was. I helped another girl come up with 'newt', everyone was puzzled by that too. We played a different version of "I love my neighbor", but it was called "I don't like my neighbor, who...". Another game required us to make objects with our bodies. If the person in the middle points to you and says "toaster" or "shawarma", that person and the two on each side of him or her have to create it with their bodies. Finally,  we played "Evolution", but instead of fish, shark, and surfers, we played with chickens, rabbits, dinosaurs, and Superman. I must admit, after awhile it started to feel as though I was working at summer camp again.

During the tour, our student leaders showed us the different parts of campus, including the student garden for agricultural students, the academic bookstore, and the library. I learned that the campus is broken up into three sections: A1, A2, and A3. At one point during the tour while we were walking through the campus garden, the FCs asked us to partner up with someone who we had never talked to before and to find one interesting fact about that person, which we would later share with the group. I was with a Norwegian girl named Ing-will (that's how she told me it is pronounced, I have no idea how to spell it). She told me she is in her first year of the Master program (in Denmark, it takes 3 years to get your bachelor's degree and 2 for your master's). The interesting fact that I shared is that she did Tai-kwon-do for 11 years and has her black belt.

When our tour ended, all of the groups congregated on the grass behind the auditorium where we met a few hours ago. We played a giant game of Evolution and just my luck, I was the last rabbit standing (meaning I couldn't beat anyone in rock-paper-scissors to advance to the dinosaur stage).

6-7:30pm: At this point I was huun-gryy, and it was a good thing they provided us with free dinner. I ate with Sebastian, a German who I met during the Danish language course, he's pretty funny, and a new guy who was in my tour group, Stephen from the Netherlands. It was "buffet" style but there were so many students (from both the masters' and bachelors' programs) that they quickly ran out of food.

7:30pm-12am: A plate full of beets, bean salad, and pesto pasta later, my hunger subsided. I sat with a masters student, Kyle from Austria (who's 30, but looks much younger...we played the "guess my age" game) and we talked about our studies. He's studying food safety and we discovered that we have a class together. He also told me that he has traveled to China more than 5 times in his life and that one day he would like to visit the US, more specifically D.C and New York (I tried to advocate for San Francisco).

After talking for a little, we headed downstairs to the student bar A-Vej (short of Acaciavej, the street that it's on). On Wednesdays, it's a place for students to hang out, play games and have free hot chocolate and tea. Every Friday night, A-Vej becomes the Friday bar for LIFE students. In one of my previous blogs I said that the cheapest drinks I found were in Christiania, but I was wrong. The student bar is truly aimed towards students with their cheap beer, ciders, and hard liquor. One Tuborg on tap cost me just 15 DKK (about $3)! It was pretty crowded, but next week I'm sure it'll be packed since it's the first Friday bar after summer break. According to my tour leaders, each week there is a theme put on by different student groups (last semester, one of the themes was a toga party) and they are pretty popular even if people don't dress up.

Towards the end of the night, I left the bar and went to get my bike that I had parked in front of the auditorium earlier that morning. For some reason, I couldn't find it and I was pacing back and forth flashing my lights in hopes of seeing my blue beauty. It was during that time when it hit me, I'm very much attached to my bicycle. As my main form of transportation, it not only saved me a lot of money (riding the metro, bus, and train here are expensive...a single ride ticket costs 24DKK, which is almost $5, and it expires after an hour and fifteen minutes) but it has been many places and has been my companion in the rain, sun, on sightseeing trips, and too class. It's not brand new, in fact, it's far from perfect (there's a hole in the seat and my butt constantly gets wet), but it's definitely my favorite purchase here and I would be devastated if it got stolen. I realized in that moment that I'm very much attached to my bike.

I was thinking, "alright, I'll come back tomorrow. Maybe it is here but I just don't see it" and "I really hope it didn't get stolen, that means I'll have to walk home and then what do I do? Buy a new one? I don't want a new bike, I like the one I already have."

So after a few minutes of near panic, I found my bike. Stupidly, it was right in front of me. I've been having that issue lately of not seeing my bike when I'm staring right at it. After a sigh of relief, I jumped on my bike and rode back to my kollegium.

My plan was to meet my friend Katrin after the Nik and Jay concert (a popular Danish hip-hop/rap duo) that was taking place at Tivoli. By the time she texted me around 12:30am, I was half asleep. But I met up with Katrin the next day to go sightseeing with her and her friend Lisa (they attended the same university in Switzerland). We took the bus (not our bikes because Lisa didn't have one) and got off at Stroget, walked to Nyhavn (saw the the best restaurant in the world, Noma), took the water taxi to the Black Diamond/Royal Library, walked along Islands Brygge (witnessed kayak water polo!) to look at Copenhagen's more modern architecture, bought salads from Fakta (a chain supermarket) and ate on the grass, then headed back on the metro, got off at Norreport, took the bus back to Keops and I rode my bike to pick up some ingredients for the rice salad I made for that night's potluck dinner. After the BBQ, a bunch of us (including Ned, Dan, Katrin, Sonia, Stuart, Max, Rachael, Christina, Lisa) rode to a bar on Norrebrogade, there was a DJ and lots of dancing. Got back to my kollegium really late...4:30am. The real Danes were out even later!

The water taxi we took from Nyhavn to the Royal Library. You can ride it 

Islands Brygge

A first: kayak water polo

A condominium that is shaped like an '8'

Hillerod, Denmark

So, to continue where I left off....

We walked back to the Helsingor Station and saw what we thought was a train in the distance. We rushed to board it and sat down in seats that looked nothing like the ones we sat in on the way there. A few minutes later, we left the station at a rather slow pace. We quickly realized that we were on the tracks that we had walked along earlier in the day, and that we were not on a train, but on a tram. Instead of taking 30 minutes to get to Hillerod, it took us an hour and fifteen minutes. We figured, "oh well, we are getting good use of our klippekort" and none of us wanted to get off the tram and then walk back to the station to board a train (it would take the same amount of time in the end).

So we rode the train and enjoyed the countryside and scenery that passed us by. We talked about our plans for the upcoming week and trips that we hoped to take while in Denmark.

Finally, we arrived in Hillerod around 5:15pm. We were welcomed by the rain [Note: it would be too good to be true if the rain hadn't shown up all day. While in Hillerod, the sun was shining with only a little wind]. We took the bus to the Frederiksborg Slot which was about a five minute ride.

We stopped at a cafe across the street to use the bathroom and the group ended up getting ice cream (an appropriate snack for the weather) as a "thank you" for letting us use their facilities before we headed over there.

My friend, Sam from Minnesota, has a friend who lives in Hillerod and she met us at the Slot. This girl is 17 and did a year abroad at Sam's high school. She was a friendly tour guide that showed us different areas in the Slot since everything was closed and we couldn't get maps or ask anyone else.

The front of Frekeriksborg Slot

 The gates were still open, so we could walk in and look at the walls of the Castle from inside the square.

The view from the inside

As we were looking around, the night security guard, Henrick, came up and talked to us. He informed us (although we already knew) that the Castle was closed and jokingly gave us a hard time about coming too late. We told him we were at Kronborg Slot. We stood and talked inside the square. Quite the history buff, Henrick told us about the history of the Kronborg and Frederiksborg Slots. He's a security guard at four of the Castles in Copenhagen, including Amelienborg Slot!

After talking for a bit, Henrick told us we could come back in an hour, around 6:45pm, when he would let us see the church because he would have to make his rounds for the night. Exclusive access to the Slot? Boy did we feel special!

So we headed out of the Slot and to the gardens, which were well manicured, of course. The view of the Castle and the surrounding area was spectacular! See for yourself:

View of the Castle and the garden

The mini "castle" where the king would take his baths

After exploring the gardens, we headed back to meet Henrick. Once we entered the gates, he closed and locked the giant door...definitely VIP status. He took us up a narrow, winding staircase to the church where he let us have a look around. We got to go to the balcony of the church and look down too!

It's a little dark, but the view of the church from above

While in the church, Henrick told us stories and cracked a few jokes. He was so friendly and we truly appreciated the opportunity we had to see the inside of the church when no one else was there...a little private tour, I'd say.

Afterwards, we headed outside. By this time, it was almost 8pm. We were pretty exhausted when we went inside the church, but by this time we were definitely spent. Henrick offered to let us see inside the Castle, but Sam's friend had to go home and everyone else seemed ready to take the train back to Copenhagen. So we kindly declined, much to my dismay. But it's okay, we had a long day and it was great to be able to see the Frederiksborg Church after it was closed to the public.

We stood inside the walls of the Slot little longer as Henrick talked to us about the Danish language and how to pronounce the letters and certain words. He also is fluent in several other languages, including Swedish and French, so he entertained us by speaking those and telling us how they are different. He even went into a little rant about the stark differences between Danish and American politics. His perspective was very interesting and he brought up very insightful points about the way elections work in the US (how we have the electoral college) versus those in Denmark. He also discussed religion and how he encountered a hypocritical American when he was on guard at Amelienborg.

Although he is extremely opinionated and would probably get into heated debates with many Americans, I thought Henrick was knowledgeable and friendly (very talkative too!). Even though we only got to see the church, I truly appreciated the fact that he broke the rules to let us international students explore ta small part of Frederiksborg Slot. Just another cordial and interesting Dane I have met since I began this journey a month ago.

Afterwards, we headed back to the train station and caught the (correct) s-tog to Norreport Station. By this time, it was 9pm and we had arranged to possibly meet up at a bar later on in the night since Matthias' friends were leaving the next day. Since the guys didn't have bikes, they met up with Matthias downtown while Sarah, Sam, and I got back on our bikes and headed to our separate kollegiums.

I got back to my room, ate, and relaxed.  It had been a long, but very enjoyable day. I loved the fact that my friends and I got to spend the whole day together on this trip to the greater Copenhagen area.

...and no, I didn't end up going out that night.

Helsingor, Denmark

On Tuesday, a few of my US friends (Sarah and Sam) and two Austrians who were visiting our friend decided to take a day trip to visit the Kronborg and Frederiksborg Slots (aka Castles). The girls met at the corner of Norrebrogade (in front of one of the city's many 7-11's) and we rode together to Norreport Station. We met the guys there at 9:45am and then went to Netto (a chain supermarket) to buy food for breakfast and lunch. We boarded the 10:20am train to Helsingor, where the Kronborg Slot is located. We all bought a 24 hour klippekort so that we could spend as much time as we wanted . It was about a 40 minute train ride from Norreport Station to Helsingor.

Waiting for the train at Norreport Station

While on the train, we ate breakfast (which consisted of a baguette with strawberry rhubarb jam and grapes) and watched the countryside passing by. We arrived at the Helsingor train station around 11am and we immediately walked toward the Kronborg Castle.

Helsingor

Across from the Slot

As rebels,  we walked along the tram tracks (Don't worry Papa, no trams came by). We were across the water from the Slot and got a nice view of it while we made our way over there.

First glimpse of Kronborg Slot

The model of Kronborg and the real one

On our way inside

View of Kronborg Slot

A cafe outside of the Castle

View of Sweden

Inside the walls of Kronborg Slot

Fun Fact: Kronborg Slot was made famous by William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

We bought the ticket that gave us access to the Danish Maritime Museum, the Casemates, the Royal Chambers, and the Chapel. We spent an hour exploring the Museum, then we took a guided tour of the Casemates and the Royal Chambers. When our hunger really started to take over our ability to pay attention, we looked inside the Chapel and then headed out to our picnic lunch.

Inside the Maritime Museum:

Where the rich people ate on the ship to the US

The Casemates:

Holger the Dane

I could never imagine standing there for 2 weeks without food or water

The Royal Chambers:

Long ago, 3 lemons cost 5,000 DKK (about $1,000), obviously the Queen didn't care

See the holograms?

Tapestry

Painting that depicts Mother Nature and Earth

Kronborg Slot from the Royal Chambers

View of Sweden from inside the Royal Chambers

The Chapel:

After exploring the Kronborg Slot, the five of us headed to the picnic area to eat our lunch. It was a true definition of a hodgepodge meal consisting of bread, jam, brie, pickles, grapes, pears, apples, tuna and chicken salad, chicken, and fruit leathers...yet the "meal" was very satisfying.

Kiddie playground at Kronborg

We left Kronborg's picnic area at 3:30pm and headed back to the Helsingor Station to catch a train to Hillerod, where we would next go to see Frederiksborg Slot. It would close at 5pm, but we still wanted to go and experience it. And hey, we needed to get our money's worth on our 24 hour klippekort!

Groundskeeper shooing the birdies

Helsingor

Even the Danish dogs are precious

Next blog entry...Hillerod!