Day 1
We arrived in Copenhagen and wandered around the city, and eventually ended up at the Hans Christian Andersen experience. We walked through a deserted museum of models from his stories, and sat on the floor listening to recordings of his most famous stories. I didn't realize that he wrote so many stories that I know, and how different and morbid they are from the common versions. In the Little Mermaid, she gets her tongue cut out, and then dies (Disney failed to mention this). He also did the Ugly Duckling, Thumbalina, The Little Match Girl, The Princess and the Pea, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Emperor's New Clothes... My souvenier from Denmark is a beatuiful book of his stories.
Stoget, the main shopping street.
Town Hall in Town Hall Square.
I was really surprised at all the neons in the city, and there were so many McDonalds, Burger Kings, 7 Elevens...
Day 2
More walking around the city. This time we ended up at the Royal Residence, where the guards were very
intimidating...
We also made the long trek to Copenhagen's most famous tourist attraction, a small statue of the Little Mermaid sitting on a rock.
Group picture in front of the prettiest part of Copenhagen, the main canal.
Jacqui, Sophie, Brendan, moi, Kelly, Ian
Day 3
We walked to the Free State of Christiania, a community in Denmark that considers itself a seperate state. It was established in the 1970s by squatters protesting the lack of affordable housing in the city by occupyiong old military buildings. Today its an entirely self-sufficient community, with liberal drug laws (only hash, no hard drugs) . Our tourguide was a toothless hippie who told us how one day in the 70s community members grabbed all the known drug dealers, locked them in a room and took pictures of them. They then threatened to send the pictures to the police and post them on flyers all over the city if they ever returned to Christiania... Those who were willing to change their ways were sent to a rehab centre at a farm outside of the city, and if they stayed clean for 6 months they could join the Christiania community. It was awesome.
In Christiania; "Your are now entering the EU" sign in the background.
Day 4 - Christmas Eve
I split from the group today and did a day trip to North Sealand to see some castles. First, Hamlet's castle.
The Frederiksborg Slot was built by Christian IV; he was Europes wealthiest king and ended up the poorest when he got involved in the 30 years war. The Danish love him because he created beautiful buildings, leaving behind many tourist attractions.
Fredensborg Slot is the Danish royal family's summer residence, but this year they spent Christmas there, which is why all the guards were on duty.
Back at the hostel we had a Christmas Eve feast, consisting of tortillas, chips, cookies, salad, bread, nachos and all sorts of other, randon, non-festive dishes. I went to a well known Danish club called Rust that night; unusual Chirstmas Eve.
Day 5 - Christmas Day
We slept in, then had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. By the time we were finished eating, it was dark outside again and we went skating in Kongens Nytorv.
Day 6 - Boxing Day
Much of the city was still closed. We wandered around the deserted streets and found a tower to climb and get a nice view. The round tower had a wide ramp you climbed, rather than stairs, which was very unusual.
Frederiksberg Slot - castle in Copenhagen now used by the military.
In the evening we hit Tivoli, built in 1841 by King Christian VIII. Christian was worried by the civil unrest in his country and his unstable position as absolute monarch. He built this park as a distraction: "When peopple amuse themselves they forget politics". Tivoli becomes a Christmas wonderland in the winter months, and is full of crazy rides. We did the Drop Zone-esque one 5 times.
Day 7 - Day trip to Malmo, Sweden
In front of Malmo's Residenset (Governor's Residence) from 1851. On this balcony the kings of Norway, Sweden and Denmark met in 1914 to confirm their statement of neturality. Shortly after the summit the balcony was found to be on the brink of collapse, it was held on by a couple of rusty screws! The drama if it collapsed, 3 kings in one go! We slept on really dodgy triple bunk beds in the hostel and joked about our communal demise, but we're not heads of state.
Day 8 - Return to Amsterdam!
intimidating...
