At være rejseleder

"Being the tour guide"

Loïc and Joëlle from Switzerland came to visit me for 5 days in Copenhagen. It was great; I got to play the role of a tour guide, see my friends, show off my city, and do things that I had never done before!

At the top of the Round Tower - I had done this before but not in the good weather!

After getting them checked into their hotel we went on a Canal Tour, which I had always wanted to do! And I think that they brought the good weather with them because it was the first day that I have worn flip-flops all year!

Probably one of the most Danish things I've ever seen - a bicycle on a boat in the canal. Priceless.

We went to Tivoli and Joëlle and I bought ride passes while Loïc held our bags. It has been such a long time since I have been at an amusement park! It was great fun! And I went on the big drop ride for the first time in my life!

I was such a baby on this ride and screamed the whole time!

We took the train to Helsingør one day and visited Kronborg Slot (Hamlet's Castle). And we visited Holger Danske in the casements - the sleeping viking who will awake when Denmark is attacked. We took the ferry to Helsingborg Sweden and had lunch there. While we were sitting eating our ice cream on the ground a huge crowd of people walked by, so naturally we followed! We ended up watching a football match - Helsingborg vs. another Swedish team. We won.

Loïc trying to take Holander Danske's sword.

Ferry ride to Sweden...before the fog hit!

We also went and saw Rosenborg Slot which is right in the heart of Copenhagen, and next to my University campus, yet I had never been there. And then we enjoyed our afternoon in the King's Garden basking in the sun. I showed them where the Little Mermaid used to be; she has been replaced with a live video feed from Shanghai but it is grainy and not very good. I think it probably would have been better to put nothing there rather than this.

In the King's Garden

Still a tourist in my own city though!

It was great to be able to show off the city and know my way around. But now I'm leaving for just over three weeks to go be a tourist in Spain/Morocco/Amsterdam. It will be my longest vacation but I will try to give updates throughout!

Sommertid...endelig

"Summertime...finally"

It is mid-May and the weather is finally starting to get nice! Flowers are coming out and the sun is shining...sometimes. The weather flip flops between 12 degrees, cloudy and windy, and 18 degrees, sunny and beautiful. Right now I'm just taking what I can get and I take my sunglasses everywhere, just in case. Here are some pictures from around the city when the sun was shining; it really transforms Copenhagen!

The flowers in Tivoli

Picnic on the beach

Rosenborg Palace

No shoes in the King's Garden

Blue skies

Kagens Dag

"Cake Day"

May 18 is cake day. Hundreds of people had bought tickets over a month ago in order to be able to eat all of the cake they possibly could! At 13.00 I stood in line with hundreds of lækkersulten (hungry for sweet food) Danes. We entered the City Hall building (my first time in City Hall) and saw hundreds of cakes, cookies, breads and sweets lining the walls.

The City Hall, and the line to get inside.

We had to wait until 13.30 while we listened to speakers explain the significance of Cake Day - I believe that it is to raise money for cancer research. We got a good spot right next to some of the cakes and so as soon as we were given permission we dived in and took a plate full of chocolate and sweets. The tables were thronged with people; it was difficult to move back because everyone was trying to hard to get to the cake. We stood in line for more cake while eating our cake.

Like a little kid in a candy shop

After we were able to refill our plates, we sat down to enjoy the cake and coffee. I thought that I had a pretty big stomach for sweets, but after two plates of pure sugar I was feeling a little ill, so I took croissants and scones after that.

Our second servings

You could really tell who had come to Cake Day before. The veterans had blankets to sit down on the ground with; they brought their own (bigger) plates because the ones provided were very small. And people also brought tupperware with them. Cake Day is serious business in Denmark.

Perfekte dag

"Perfect day"

I am officially done all of my exams! This morning I went to the immigration office in Copenhagen to try and get my visa issues figured out; the thing is that I want to stay in Europe after my visa expires, but I have to leave the Schengen countries so I'm in a bit of a predicament. I got there 10 minutes before it opened and was already number 54 in line. Luckily, I was meeting someone who had a similar problem and so we spent our morning walking around the city, running errands, and drinking coffee. Two and a half hours later we were finally next in line. And we both got good news! When we left the office the sun was shining, which is a very rare thing in Copenhagen.

After my success at the immigration office, I went and got my bike fixed. It was actually pretty easy; with some help I removed the tire, found the hole in the tube, and then my friend patched it up. So really I didn't do very much, but the important thing is that my bike is now fixed!

And then I got to use my free gym membership. So all in all, it has been a perfect day!

Dagstur til Møn

"Day-trip to Møn"

This past Sunday, ESN organized a day-trip to Møn, a little island about 200km outside of Copenhagen. It was great weather as far as Denmark is concerned - it was over ten degrees for the majority of the day and there were sunny periods! At the end of the day it did rain a little bit but it didn't matter because we were on our bus ride home.

The first thing that we went to see was Møns Klint (Chalk Cliffs). They are gorgeous cliffs that are white because of the chalk. There is always white residue left behind, in the kettle, on the bathroom floor, in cups, etc. which I found out, is because there is so much chalk in the water! At Møn however, it wasn't annoying to have this chalk residue. Everything was absolutely beautiful; the chalk made the water aqua-coloured so it looked like the Caribbean.

Trying to walk across a tree that had fallen in our path...it's not as easy as it sounds!

I wrote my name with the chalk

We walked along a path by the beach and then went up the stairs (all 495 of them) and explored a little bit of the forest area. The trees were also amazing; very thin and twisted. Apparently this was the best time to go to Møn because in a few weeks, the leaves of these trees will fully open and kill all of the flowers below, according to our knowledgeable guide.

Taking a break from climbing the stairs

After our three hour hike along the beach and through the forest, we went to Liselund Romantic Park. It was a large park created by a French nobleman for his wife. He had several houses built in order to give the feeling that they were in a different part of the world; there was the Swiss, Norwegian, and Chinese houses.

Afterwards we went to Elmelunde Kirke (a church made from the chalk of Møn) and saw the chalk paintings inside depicting the important events in the bible. Our tour finished at Jaettestue - the giant's living room. It is a small hill/grace room that you can go inside. It was very small so everyone had to bend over, and it was also pitch black. It was kind of like a disco party inside because everyone had their camera lights flashing in order to be able to see. In the old days it was believed that only a giant could move this hill, hence the name 'giant's living room'.

UNICEF

On Wednesday, my Health in Emergencies and Refugee Health class got a guided tour of the UNICEF warehouse. The Copenhagen UNICEF is the main supply division. It was a huge warehouse! It was 25,000 square metres and was stocked to the top. And they are preparing a new warehouse that will be three times as high!!

It needs to be big though because they have to be able to respond immediately to an emergency. There are several different types and subset of kits that UNICEF procures including a medical care kit, a kit for education and protection, and a water, sanitation, and hygiene kit. And these kits usually are made to supply 10,000 people for three months so obviously it requires a lot of materials. In 2008 around 384,000 kits were prepared and shipped out.

And one of the great things about UNICEF is that everyone was so friendly. It was a very ergonomic, friendly environment. Even in the warehouse they had some pictures, it was very light and cheerful, and they had music playing. When we entered the warehouse we were given hard hats and then had an hour long tour.

In the tour we were also shown a room with some of the individual kits:

Water and sanitation kit

Immunization kit

Recreation kit

The boxes that everything is shipped out in.

S-tog om søndags

"S-trains on Sundays"

On the first Sunday of every month, the S-trains are free. I had not taken advantage of this fact until today. The two Polish Marcin's and I went to Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød - about 30km outside of Copenhagen. It was such a beautiful castle! And the weather today was perfect.

"Frederiksborg Slot"

In Denmark, the weather has still been a little sketchy - some days it will be nice and sunny and then others it will be cold and rainy, like yesterday. Yesterday it was May 1 which is Workers Day in Denmark, and everyone gathers in Faellenparken in Copenhagen for a huge celebration. There were thousands of people there, despite the cold weather and the rain, and tons of exhibitions, including a giant bunny bouncer.

Me wearing a free poncho at Faellenparken

Giant bunny bouncer!!

Anyways, Frederiskborg Castle was beautiful - it was surrounded by water, like any good castle. The ceilings were more elaborate than most I have seen, and everything appeared to be made of gold. It was truly a magical place, and there was even a wedding that took place while we were there!

Marcin also liked the ceilings in the Great Hall

Wedding - look to the far right. The groom is in a white tux and the bride in a white knee length dress.

The gardens were also magnificent. We decided that we would have to return just to spend a day in the gardens.