First Day in Copenhagen | 9.19.13 Thursday

Wow, what a great trip we had in Copenhagen!  Our day started very early Thursday morning, we were being picked up by Henry, Josh's professor, at 5:15am sharp (and if you know josh and I, it is very hard for us to be on time).  So we got up at 3:30, got ready and made sure we packed everything and were surprisingly outside before 5:15 and ready to see what Denmark had in store for us.  Unfortunately since we did not have much sleep the night before (considering I went to bed at 1), I was not feeling too well plus airplane anxiety was setting in so I was not looking forward to the flight even though it was only an hour.  We got to the airport before the rest of the group and were able to check in and go through security without waiting too long and headed to our gate.  By the time we were finished, we had a good hour to wait before boarding the plane.  Finally the group started to show up 30 minutes later and we were getting ready to board the plane.  Josh and I sat up in the front of the plane which was nice but it didn't really help me feel any better.  I tried to sleep on the plane but it didn't really work too well but soon enough we landed and I felt a lot better just knowing that we were at our destination.  As a group of 27 total for the weekend, we waited at the airport for Dana (Prague Institute Director) to get our transportation tickets for the weekend.  We got on a train that would take us to downtown Copenhagen, where our hostel was located so we could drop off our things then explore the city.  The train ride was about 20 minutes and then we had to walk another 10 to get to the hostel.  Copenhagen is a bike city, meaning that the most popular mode of transportation is by bike.  There are bike lanes among the streets and if you are in one, you best not be in it for too long or they will run you over!  We learned that quickly!  We got to the hostel, very young and hipster, seemed like a party spot at night but a very nice place, dropped off our luggage in a locker (our rooms were not ready until 2) and it was only 10am at this point.  We had the rest of the day to explore the city so Josh, Kevin (another graduate student and Josh's friend) and myself went out in a group.  We were showed pictures of places in both Copenhagen and Sweden that we should consider visiting while there that have great architectural value to the city by the other studios professor, Adam, who also accompanied us on this trip.  With a map, we figured out a few places to go and just started walking.  We first stopped at The Black Diamond which is a modern waterfront extension to the Royal Danish Library's old building on Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen. Its quasi-official nickname is a reference to its polished black granite cladding and irregular angles. Designed by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the Black Diamond was completed in 1999 as the first in a series of large-scale cultural buildings along Copenhagen's waterfront.  The interior is very beautiful, open and allows so much natural light into the space.  We went to several different floors to admire the detail of this building.  We decided to eat lunch at the cafe in the library and sat outside in front of the water, we couldn't have asked for a better day!  After our lunch, we continued to walk to Church of our Savior, which is a baroque church most famous for its corkscrew spire with an external winding staircase that can be climbed to the top, offering extensive views over central Copenhagen.  With admission for 25 Danish korunas each (about $5), we were able to climb to the top of the church spire.  Only one problem...while we were climbing the steps up to the top, it began to rain.  So we had to camp out on a level of the interior and waited until it stopped.  About 15 minutes later, we decided to continue up the church.  Each level of stairs or ladders was different and some places were kinda scary to climb and we had to make sure we were aware of all the height differences so we wouldn't hit our heads but we finally got to the top!  Probably not the safest time to climb the spiral staircase after it rains but we were already up there and were very careful!  I think that over the years, I am beginning to have a slight fear of heights and this confirmed my thoughts!  I kept looking out to the amazing views and tried not to look down and we continued up the spiral staircase about 4 times around, the stairs get smaller and smaller when you go up so thank goodness there was nobody else on the stairs, or I would have freaked out!  But like I said the views were beautiful, the sun was shining again and we could see miles beyond the city.  We stayed up there for a few moments before deciding that we had enough and made our way down the stairs.  When we got to the bottom, there was a sign that said that the church was closed because of weather conditions that were not safe, no wonder we didn't see anybody walking up the stairs!  After that, the boys (I had no want to experience this) wanted to visit Christiania, which is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood that is considered a "free city."  It was founded in 1971 and is not a part of the city, the country or the European Union which means that selling drugs is legal.  This was the most bizarre place I have ever been to and as soon as I walked in, I was ready to leave.  We walked around for a little bit and then left the "city".  I was so glad to get out of there!  As we were heading to our next stop, there were police officers ahead at one of the entrances.  Basically she asked if we were in there and we said yes and then she explained why this is a bad place (which we already knew) and wanted to know if we bought anything illegal while in there and of course the obvious answer was no!  Needless to say, they are just waiting for people to walk out of the city and catch them with drugs.  Such a strange place, I just don't understand how the government allows this kind of act inside such a beautiful city, blows my mind!  Anyways thank goodness we were heading away from that awful place ( although the boys thought it was cool) and heading to Nyhavn.  Copenhagen's famous landmark, seen in many pictures, Nyhavn is basically a tourist strip with colorful buildings that lack architectural value.  We walked along the side, admired the scenery, took a few pictures and continued walking.  That was until josh saw several ice cream shops that caught his eye.  So we stopped for ice cream, he and Kevin got a waffle cone and I got a carmel cappuccino, cause I was rather cold (and I knew josh would share some of his ice cream)!  After our pit stop, we headed towards the Little Mermaid statue near the coast.  On the way, we stopped by the Amalienborg Palace which is now the winter home of the Danish royal family.  It consists of four identical classicizing palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard and in the center of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederick V.  It was originally built for four noble families; however, when Christiansborg Palace burnt down on February 26th 1794, the royal family bought the palaces and moved in. Over the years various kings and their families have resided in the four different palaces.  We got there just in time to see the changing of the guards which was cool.  While looking around the palace, we saw Fredrik's Church from a distance and knew that we needed to get a closer look of this magnificent church.  Also known as The Marble Church, we continued to walk towards it and I was mesmerized at how large the structure was and the amount of detail.  The interior was more amazing than the exterior, I have never seen anything like it and just stood in awe, it was so beautiful!

After many pictures, we were ready to leave and head to the Little Mermaid.  We walked a good ways before entering the park that the mermaid was in.  It was a beautiful park, lots of green grass, beautiful flowers and a lot of runners, which made josh jealous.  We finally found the mermaid, it was among many tourists!  It is based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the small statue is a Copenhagen icon and has been a major tourist attraction since 1913.  After seeing this statue, we were ready to make our way back to the hostel and get something to eat for dinner.  We decided to take the water taxi down the river since we had transportation tickets that we needed to make good use of and we could see a few more sites.  It was a nice ride, we were able to see a few new things, actually rode past our stop and were able to see a few buildings that was in the presentation the other day.  We rode to the end of the route, turned around and then got off at our stop.  We had a short walk to the hostel, it was in a very good location, convenient to everything.  On the corner of the block there was a burger restaurant that looked good, kinda pricey but we thought that we would splurge for the night and best part...it was right beside the hostel so we didn't have far to go home!  It was good, first time we have eaten meat since we have gotten to Prague and I ate everything on my plate!  We headed to our room, we had a 4 person room, so Kevin, josh and I were staying in the room, we didn't know who the 4th person from the group was going to be.  And before you know it, I asleep in a heartbeat, the bunk beds were quite comfortable except Josh's top bunk squeaked every time he moved but it didn't phase me too much!  It was an awesome but exhausting day, we were able to see a lot in a days time but knew that we would be seeing lots more before the trip was over.  Oh...did I mention that we walked 8 miles total today too!! 

Black Diamond Library

Church of our Saviour

View from the top of the church

Outside entrance to Christiania, can't you tell this is a strange place?

Nyhavn

Amalienborg Palace

The Marble Church, so beautiful!

I have more pictures to post, just have to upload them from Josh's computer...I will do that tomorrow!