Amsterdam's Second Cousin

Copenhagen really reminded me of Amsterdam and the Netherlands.

Not only were there more bikes (and bike infrastructure) than I had seen in this trip to far, but there were also canals throughout parts of the city.  Sitting at one of the cafes on the canal, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Copenhagen and Amsterdam (besides the feature beer is Carlsberg instead of Heineken).

My morning started way earlier than one's morning ever should.  8am (restaurant hours have me spoiled).  Majbrit had already left, and Bryan headed to work shortly after I got up.  After showering and squeegee-ing the floor, I used Bryan's computer to take care of some couchsurfing hosts.  For some reason the internet only worked for a few minutes.  Then it just stopped.  I didn't want to disconnect and reconnect because I didn't know the password.  Somehow in my mad hunt to make the internet work, I turned on the music that Bryan had been playing while he made dinner the night previous (it was a band called Metric, and I admit I quite liked them)

I couldn't figure out how to shut the music off though.

And it wasn't just playing on the computer speakers, his computer was linked to the entertainment system, so it was playing in the entire common room.  After at least a half an hour of hunting around on his computer (I've never owned a Mac, nor am I ever likely to), I gave up and unplugged the speakers.

I'd explain it to them later...

I took the metro (without a ticket) into the central station, and just started walking.  I came across the Denmark National History museum.  Due to spending almost two hours in the Prehistoric and Neolithic period, I had to rush my way through the Renaissance and skipped modern history all together. 

Upon Bryan's suggesting, I also stopped by a department store called Illum. Nothing was particularly interesting until you got to the home furnishing floor.  There were so many neat little gadgets and ingenious furniture ideas.  The Danish are famous for their talents in design, and you could definitely see why.  I'm sure you could find some of their products online.  It is all soo cool, I suggest you check it out.

Afterwards I went to the "round tower".  It was exactly what I expected from the name.  The story goes that the king had the tower built, and then decided he didn't feel like walking up all those steps.  So they created a spiral ramp so he could take his carriage to the top.  It was a very dizzying and tiring climb, so I can see the appeal of a horse dragging me up there instead. 

I walked around the Rosenburg Palace and the Palace Gardens.  It was a very beautiful park, and those twisted finger trees were everywhere too.  I thought this would be a good time to whip out my peanut butter sandwhich I had made two days ago.  After half the sandwich, I looked down and saw that my bread was looking just a little on the fuzzy side.  Upon a more thorough inspection, I discovered that the sandwich was QUITE moldy.

Eh whatevs.

It was like I had magically made my peanut butter sandwich into a cheese sandwich...

I made it to the University Botanical Garden just as they were closing.  At 3pm I might add... The lady let me go in as long as I promised to walk straight out the door she indicated she would be locking last.  It was really hot and humid in there.  But really really cool.  I'd never been in a greenhouse that big.  My camera lense didn't even get a chance to defog before they kicked me out.  Kinda made for cool pictures though...

Of course there were several churches on my list of things to see. Majbrit had also suggested an area near one of the canals. 

It looked exactly like Amsterdam.  Apparently this was kind of the idea, as one of the previous kings of Denmark had really like the Amsterdam city layout and had parts of Copenhagen made more Dutch-like.  I always try to test the local cuisine, so I sat down at a cafe to have a Carlsberg.  I think that pint was enough to last me a life time.  It wasn't terrible beer.  It just wasn't good either.  Like if Bud Light had an older brother.  Slightly more mature, but still bad genes.

After forcing down the rest of Carl, I met up with Bryan and we went to Christiania.

Christiania is a sub-culture within Copenhagen.  Really its kind of a city within a city.  Not like the Vatican though. It started as a social experiment in the 70's and it turned into a seperate entity.  The town was walled off from the rest of Copehagen, and when you left, the sign said "You are now entering the EU".  Really in all legalities, it was part of Copenhagen AND the EU.  However the people there didn't pay taxes, and here's the kicker.

They sold weed and hash openly.

About 50 yards into Christiania, there was a sign giving the rules of the "Green Light District".  The rules included no pictures, as hashish and weed are actually illegal in Denmark.  But the police stay out for some reason.  The one thing that didn't make sense about the people of Christiania not paying tax, was that they still used public services like ambulances and police help when needed.  Apparently they have their own school, businesses, "government", etc though.

The place looked kind of how you would expect it to look.  Kind of like a gypsy camp was attacked by spray paint toting hippies.  Grafitti everywhere, some cool, some not so cool.  Small piles of junk here and there.  Actual bars and cafes, occasional store or playground.  I was really curious how the schoos are run, and what they learn in there.  We didn't stay very long, Bryan was in a suit and carrying a briefcase.  Kinda made us stick out a little...

We met up with Majbrit in a pub, chatted over some appetizers and headed home rather late to make dinner.  Or rather Bryan was making dinner.  And it was fabulous.

It was basically cooked goose with bacon mashed potatoes on top, sprinkled with ground walnuts. It was really, really good.  I was totally planning on eating the rest of mine for breakfast the next day.

Then Bryan whipped out his father's home made "Mirebelle" liquor.  Apparentlly a mirebelle is a sort of plum I am not familiar with.  So we took a shot.  Terrible burning sensation followed by a pleasant hint of plum.  The hint of plum wasn't enticing enough to get me to do another shot though. 

I said my goodbyes to Majbrit before going to bed, as she would be at work by the time I got up.  I dislodged Batman from my bed, and passed out.  Tomorrow would come in the form of a 13 hour train ride to Warsaw.

Farvel Denmark
Tegs