København

Sorry this took soo long. I just was pretty slow going on getting everything organized especially sorting out and uploading all the pictures I took which is a painfully slow process for the blog because you must go one at a time... Below is a description of my trek to Copenhagen as well as photos to go along with it. I traveled there last weekend with seven friends. However not surprisingly we met more friends there and so we became a very large group as we toured the capital of Denmark.I was with Kathi Vincent and Mathieu from my collegium. Additionally we went with Fanny, Felix, Guillaume, and Bernard. Everyone in my group except for Kathi was french, so kathi and I had to band together to ensure english remained the spoken language.
So on friday morning still tired from my previous night incident with the alarm I woke up around 5:30 so we could catch one of the early buses from the University to the Airport. These two places are diagonally opposite each other on the map so even before traffic started in Aalborg the trip was 45 mins which is much larger than the 30 min flight to Copenhagen plus 15 min take of taxiing... However unlike the US there is no need to get there very early especially at a small airport like Aalborg (about the size of Jackson hole's airport maybe smaller). It was nice leaving so early because we were in downtown Copenhagen by 9:30 in the morning and ready to begin our friday tour. We did not want to see the major attractions on friday because a few of our friends were not arriving until friday night so we agreed to see the most important attractions on saturday with them. Instead we strolled the streets of copenhagen looking at shops and buildings because like Arhus and Aalborg there were an abundance of pedestrian streets. The first building of significance we arrived at was a palace. It was very large and had a museum in the grotto underneath but with a 70 kr entrance fee we decided to pass.

Backside of Christiansborg Palace and courtyard

We also wanted to locate our hostel as well as a place to eat. The hostel was not hard to find as it was about 20 stories tall and one of the tallest buildings in the area it was located in addition to having its name written on it. However we got  a room on the 15th floor so the view was quite nice from where we stayed which was a bonus. We next checked out some other old buildings and found one of the major pedestrian streets so we could get some lunch. Unfortunately the weather began to change rapidly, it went from cloudy to misting rain to pounding hail to snow then back to sunny all with in half and hour. We were able to dodge much of this bad weather by getting lunch at a Kebab place.

Kathi and Bernard in the hail storm

Next we visited the Copenhagen university student house which was a smaller place than Aalborg's student house. This was a little surprising but we knew it would be a good place to come back later for coffee and when we did we were surprised with a little live music. We ventured to the rather sizable church next door. Inside was a giant pipe organ of which I do not think I have seen bigger other than in pictures from other large European Cathedrals and Churches. The church also had a tower with a spiral ramp to the top that gave a pretty good view of Copenhagen especially because it is located more or less in the center. However we felt it was not worth 30 kr ($6) to walk up 8 stories for a view when we already paid for one from our hostel.

Pipe organ at the back of the church -was equipped with mirrors so the musician could see forwards

We spent some more time walking around Copenhagen to the Botanical Gardens, King's Garden and Rosenborg Slot (Palace). However most touristy things in Copenhagen close between 3 and 4 pm so by the time we got to Rosenburg they were doing the final changing of the guard and we had to leave. Unlike at Amalienborg where we would see the changing of the guard on Saturday here the Royal Guards were dressed in 21st century camo and armed with head sets, and all the latest technology in addition to their m-16s which interestingly enough were bayonet equipped. Unfortunately I forgot my camera at the hostel when we checked in after lunch so I have no pictures of this. Afterwords we went to a Lego store. Interestingly enough Lego was founded in 1937! and has been producing toys ever since.After we made a simple dinner in the room we went back out to meet some friends and check out the night life in Copenhagen which we found to be extremely expensive.
On saturday we had a full day of sightseeing to do. After a breakfast of croissants in the room, we took the bus to Amalienborg just in time to see the changing of the guard. From their we went to St Frederick's Church which is in line with Amalienborg and opposite of the Copenhagen Opera House. If you want to see take a look on google maps. The church was a giant circle(I think it was actually a 16 sided building) with a massive dome. It was so large in fact that my camera was not capable of capturing the entire dome in one shot without shooting at an angle which would result in the shot cutting out part of the picture anyways.

Changing of the Royal Guard at Amalienborg

A view of St Frederick's Church from Amalienborg

The inside of the dome of St Fredericks, note it does not fit...

After that we walked to the Castle or in this case star fort that protects the city of Copenhagen. If you go on google maps will notice a rather larger start in the northern part of the city. This is the star fort I speak of. However if you zoom out you will notice the there is a much larger fortification going all the way around Christianshavn island. The larger fort was an extension to the star fort and a way for the Danes to say Sweden keep out! The start fort was constructed some 400 years ago. It was built at the time where architects realized that tall stone castles were no match for more modern weapons such as cannons. Instead the low profile of the fort and banked earthen walls allowed for maximum protection for the men and buildings inside. While the start design maximized perimeter length which would allow the soldiers to have greater concentrations of fire which is the best way to defeat the enemy at the time. After walking through the fort we then headed to the most famous attraction in Copenhagen, the little mermaid. In the canal next to the fort there is a very small bronze mermaid statue sitting on a rock just barely off the shore. She is in honor of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale the little mermaid.

The main entrance to the star fort, note the moat surrounding the fort

Vincent and Steve with the 6" cannon in the fort, and a dutch windmill in the background

The little mermaid

After the mermaid we started to get hungary but we also wanted to see the last major attraction in Copenhagen which is Nyhavn. Nvhavn is the street with the canal in the middle full of old sail boats and colorful houses along each side. Now those houses have become restaurants and bars so we figured that would be a good but maybe more expensive place for lunch. On the way we saw a giant fountain which seemed photo worthy as well as a small but I thought interesting looking church.

I believe it is Athena whipping some bulls but I am not sure

The church next to the star fort

A look down Nyhavn

Across Nyhavn from where we ate lunch

After lunch we went to Christiania. Unfortunately they hate pictures there and there are signs up everywhere saying do NOT take photos so I can only describe it. Chritiania is a free spirited section on the outskirts of Copenhagen that is not really part of Denmark. It is a community that has squatted a small part of the city for 40 years and thrives on tourists coming to experience it. It reminded me of what I would picture the poor parts of George Orwell's 1984 or if you have seen the movie Children of Men with Clive Owen. In Chrisitiania is a famous street called pusher street. Although the drugs sold on pusher street are illegal in Denmark Christiania's paralegal status has allowed this open market for weed to exist for some 40 years. All in all it was quite an experience and if you are traveling to Copenhagen with people who are at least 18 definitely a place you should see.

A lion statue that was guessed to be around 2000 years old

A painting by Monet

One of the orchids at the garden's conservatory

On Sunday we were exhausted from two days of traveling. However we knew that the museum near the hostel was free and opened at 11 as well as the fact that the botanical gardens would be open. We had to check out of our room at 10 so we went the museum. It was mostly filled with old statues and some paintings. there was even a french collection which excited many of members of my party. I have pictures of works done by Monet and Rembrandt as well as statues dating back to the greek, roman and egyptian times. We were very tired after the museum but mustered the energy to see the conservatory in the botanical gardens. It was a nice change of pace to be in a room that was 85 degrees and about 90 % humidity. We even got to see the orchid room because it was sunday but because it was still march many of the plants were not flowering.

We were too tired after the garden so we took the metro to the airport and made it home to Aalborg in time for dinner. All in all it was a very successful weekend and a lot of fun.