Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen

This is the title of a Danny Kaye song, which my Dad was singing after we'd returned from Copenhagen. It is indeed a beautiful city, but one I wouldn't go out of my way to visit again.

The train ride there was definitely a highlight. It had snowed the two days before our departure, so the snow-covered landscape was absolutely beautiful, especially on the Danish side. The sun also shone all the way there. Also the novelty of the train going onto a ferry to cross the Baltic sea hadn't worn off even as we crossed back to Germany. The train track goes onto this massive Scandlines ferry, which houses buses and cars, amongst other things. One leaves the train and goes up to the deck where there are shops and eateries. The main articles sold in the shops are alcohol, chocolate and perfume...your standard duty-free things. The vibe on-deck is chilled (and during the crossing chilly outside) and there are "delicacies" like shrimps on bread. My parents (like myself) loved the experience:)

Copenhagen had also seen some serious snow, but by the time we got there the it was already melting and gone slushy brown on the sidewalks and roads. This didn't retrack from the beauty of the snow-covered buildings and trees. We arrived relatively late, so we rushed to our hostel, where we had our own room on the 14th floor (with a great view over the city) before making the best of the last hours of day light to see as much as we can. We walked down the shopping street, where the shops all closed promptly at 17:00. We also reached this square, which was surrounded by stately buildings and on which people ice-skated around the fountain - I don't think the ice was artificial. Then we made our way to the New Harbour, which is the happening place in summer, but there wasn't much happening although it was very pretty. By this time my parents had had enough of the cold and we had dinner at KFC, which I wasn't happy about, but we didn't know the places in Copenhagen and as many of you don't know Denmark is very expensive.

The thing about Copenhagen is the fact that there are so many really old buildings that are still in tact. Denmark wasn't bombed during the 2nd World War since they surrendered when the Germans invaded. With the snow some of the buildings looked like something from a fairy tale, which was funny since Denmark produced one of the most famous fairy tale writers Hans-Christian Andersen. That would also explain why they have a statue of the Little Mermaid (a story written by H-C Andesen) in the harbour. The Sunday morning my mom and I went in search of said statue despite the pelting rain, which didn't let up. We found her and visited the royal residence (yes, Denmark is a monarchy although the Queen is just a figurehead in every sense of the word. She and her family does nothing, but drain the national coffers. However, these are the most loved (by their subjects) royals in Europe) before making our way to Christiania (pronounced: Christijanja).

Christiania is a state within a state. In 1973 a group of hippies tore down disused military barracks in Copenhagen and established the free state of Christiania. The state is totally independent from Denmark - make their own laws and are responsible for infrastructure, etc. Marijuana is legal in Christiania, but they are against hard drugs. The place has a very anarchic feel, with lots of men standing around open fires like in the townships. The men are also a lot more forward than elsewhere. They look you up and down and one (really ugly) guy winked at my mother and I (we just laughed after we got over the disbelief ). Anybody is apparently allowed to come there and put up a house and the place is a bit filthy with a lot of dogs. There was also a distinct police presence and a large group of young men just standing around, as if they were waiting for something. One however didn't feel unsafe, but I'm sure my Mom was quite relieved when we left the place.

After that we found a bakery where we acquired some Danish pastries, which wasn't much different from the ones one got in Germany or Belgium. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed. By then it was starting to get dark again and it was really windy too, so we went back to the hostel, where I finished an assignment, which was due the next day. I got my parents hooked on Prison Break (the new series I'm obsessively watching these days) in Copenhagen.

Early the next day we left for Hamburg again, where my parents had to get everything organised since they (unexpectedly) had to leave a day earlier.

Hope you had fun reading this account of Copenhagen.
Keep well.