Denmark is so beautiful today. The sun is out, there is a nice breeze, and it's just warm enough. If it was like this every day till I leave, I would be perfectly happy, I might not even want to go home. This lifestyle is so much more me. Cities are fun to visit. Going to big clubs can be fun. But all the time, just isn't for me. I really am liking it here, even if it is just hanging out and relaxing.
But about Copenhagen:
Monday morning, we got up at six and pretty surprisingly were not completely exhausted. I think my body is finally getting used to my horrible sleeping schedule. I either get a ton of sleep or really none at all. We got on the train no problem and all was good until a group of probably 15 kids got on....like 12 year olds. They were SO freaking loud. So, so, rude to everyone around them. Ugh. But we finally got to Copenhagen and away from them. The hotel/hostel was only a few blocks up from the station. And for being listed on hostels.com & $40 a night...it was super nice. We had a room with 2 beds, a desk, an armoire, a little room with a big mirror and the fridge, and then our own bathroom. The woman in charge of the place was super nice too. After we hit up the Tourist Information Center to buy tickets for the hop on hop off bus. Then the guy outside put us on the wrong bus so we missed the changing of the guards, but it was kind of cool because he ended up giving us the more expensive ticket and we got to see some of the city that there weren't so many people in. After we talked to the company to make sure our ticket would be good for the next day, we weren't particularly impressed. But I have definitely learned through the amount of travel I have done that things can and WILL go wrong, so the best thing you can do is just relax and see how it'll fix itself. There ends up being no sense in getting worked up about it. It usually works out. So after we finally got on the right bus and headed around the center of the city. Copenhagen is beautiful. I love the harbors. There are such colorful buildings surrounding them and the boats are lined up nearly perfectly for a painting or photograph. We got off the bus and headed to Rosenborg Castle. It was expensive to get into, but it was kind of neat to compare what I'd seen in France, Ireland, and Italy to what there is here. We also got to see the Crown Jewels, which were spectacular. Weird enough there was a ring with a fly in it, so strange. The crowns and necklaces were beautiful. After, we got back on the bus and saw the guardian angel over the harbor and the Gefion Fountain. We ate lunch on the Nyhavn (sp?) Street that ran right along the water. We got totally ripped off too, 40 krones (over 6 dollars) for a bottle of water. Ugh. From there we saw the Royal Theater and searched for a while for the Ice Bar and a microbrewery. We were standing exactly where we THOUGHT it was. We gave up, bought a milkshake, and walked down the walking street of the city. It had the oldest department store on it and the Guiness World of Records building. Next we took a short nap before heading to dinner. It was one of those awkward times when things were closed and the night things hadn't quite opened. We went to a Turkish Buffet for dinner and FINALLY found the Ice Bar. Except this time....it was closed. Clearly it wasn't meant to be. We settled for ice cream and sitting in the city square listening to music. There was THE funniest looking old Asian woman sitting across from where we were feeding the pigeons. We took some pictures with the statues and fountains then headed back to the hotel and passed out at like 9:30. I cannot remember the last time I went to bed that early.
The next morning we were up by 8 to start the day. We walked a good couple miles to Christiania, or the hippie town of Copenhagen. You weren't supposed to take pictures, but I of course did. We could smell people smoking pot right out in the open, kind of funny. There was awesome art work and it was easy to tell that these people didn't care what anyone thought of them. On the way out the back of the sign said, "Welcome to the EU." Clearly they also were allowed to live pretty much the way they wanted. It was a long walk but I'm glad we went. Definitely a good part of the city to see. After we walked to try to find the the changing of the guards. We were passing a group of students and had to walk a bit into the bike lane and a biker decided to run straight into Ellie. Didn't really hurt her, but he had plenty of room, was just being rude. When we got close to the palace and couldn't find it we decided to be lazy and took the bus all the way around the city. By then we had walked so far that I didn't feel too bad. We finally got to the changing of the guards, in literally the nick of time. It wasn't as crisp as I thought it would be. And it was strange that the guards could talk to people, we took pictures with one of them, I don't think he was particularly impressed, Haha. From there we went into the Amelienborg Palace. There wasn't a whole lot to it because the top floor was closed but some of the Queen's old dresses were there. We tried to go to where the Crown Prince and Princess will be living but stood in line for like an hour, only to figure out that we couldn't make it and our train. We did get some pretty awesome sandwiches for lunch though before finding the train and heading home. Overall it was a great trip. We got to see all the basics of the city and it was nice that it was a big city but not anything like Paris. People were pretty nice there. The weather was decent, no rain, but not hot. Compared to the pouring day before, we were grateful that it wasn't pouring.
I have learned that I don't understand Danish really at all. There are some words that are pretty similar to English, but the ones that aren't are completely different. Numbers for instance, with how fast they speak them, sound like giberish. It would definitely be cool to pick up some of the language though.
Last night Linda made us homemade pizzas and then I talked online for a bit before going to bed. It was beautiful out today. After sleeping in, talking online a while, and eating cereal for the first time in 4 months, Ellie and I attempted to mow the backyard. Linda has an older style mower, non electric. The neighbors were amused at watching us try to do it. We finally succeeded, sort of. I think it looks like the cows chewed on it. After we tried to take the bikes out and kind of failed again. The seats were way too high and we couldn't figure out how to lower them. So we went for a walk instead. When we got back we couldn't get the door unlocked...we literally stood there a good 5-10 minutes try to unlock it. Finally a man was walking by who I don't think understood anything except for that we couldn't get the door open...he looks at the keys...turns the handle...and the door opens. I am not sure I've ever looked so dumb. Or blonde. haha. But we got in and Linda was home soon after. So we ran to get groceries with her, ate root veggies and salad for dinner, and now I'm here, writing this, and watching a movie.
It's been a really good couple of days and tomorrow Ellie and I are headed to LEGO land. I can't wait to pretend I'm 12 again. Some would say I act 12 sometimes anyway :p Friday night we are driving up to see my cousin Alex, Linda's son. Ellie and I are going to spend some time there Saturday. Sunday Eric (Linda's other son) will be here for dinner. And Monday, Ellie leaves. :( Time once again is flying by. I can't imagine going home but I know it'll be here before I know it.
Such a relaxing life here.
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