As I mentioned in my last post, last week I decided on a whim to surprise my girlfriend, Taylor, in Copenhagen where she is studying. I woke up one morning in Edinburgh and decided it had been too long since I had seen her (almost a month) and jumped on the next bus to the airport. One of the main reasons I am traveling alone and without a scheduled plan is to be able to do things like this. Well it was a great idea, but the Edinburgh airport is pretty small, and with the Fringe Festival coming to an end that weekend, most planes were booked or had extremely high prices. The cheapest flight I could find in the next couple days flew out of London, so thats where I headed. A couple days later, I landed in Copenhagen, and with the help of Taylor's roommate and a mutual friend of ours from school, also studying in Copenhagen, I figured out where to meet Taylor and surprise her. She was touring Tivoli Gardens, a beautiful park in the center of Copenhagen that Disney World is supposedly designed after. Long story short I am struggling with my dying phone trying to contact my friend when suddenly some girl jumps on me and hugs me -- Oh hey Taylor. She saw me first! Thats not how this is supposed to work! But it was great to see her, and we spent the next few hours doing absolutely nothing but walking around just being happy to be with each other.
The next few days seemed to fly by. London, Edinburgh, you guys were great. But nothing compares to Copenhagen, at least not yet. The people are the friendliest people I have ever met, the city is big but has a small city/big town feel to it, and the bikes-- there must be 20 bikes to every car there. Maybe that sounds like an exaggeration, but it isn't. The transportation system in the city is so much dependent on bicycles that their is a separate section of the road for bikes on almost every street, and when their isn't, the cars know that the farthest right side of the road is reserved for bikers. I can't say enough how cool this was to me. Taylor and I rented a bike for me while I stayed there, and the first day I was terrified riding around a city (especially with a bike that brakes when you peddle backwards...last time I used one of those was at school and I got hit by a car - yay). The cars were scary but the other bikers were even more terrifying, they seemed to think six inches of room to your left was enough to pass by without even a hesitation. It took me the first day to realize their was a system though. The bike paths, for the most part, had their own traffic lights. The bikers are supposed to stay on the right side unless passing someone, and use signals to turn or stop using their hands, just as a car would. Before long I got used to it and I realized the coolest thing about the bike system in this city- bikes were just as, if not more important, than cars on the road. In the US if you cut off a car they will honk and swear at you, that is if they bother to stop in time not to hit you. In Copenhagen, even the taxis would swerve or slam on the brakes to get out of your way, and not once did I see a car do otherwise. When they turn they look in their mirrors for bikers every time, since one time without looking could result in them hitting ten bikers and being in the wrong for all of it.
Ok enough about bikes. But seriously, if America could do to New York what Denmark has done to Copenhagen, well--- it wouldn't be New York anymore. I don't know why I even presented that scenario, it's just not possible. When pigs fly.
Anyways, my time there was perfect. Taylor would have school in the mornings, and then we would meet up and tour the city together. In the few days I was there, we biked around the whole city, went to a Nik and Jay concert in Tivoli with her roommates and friends (hugely popular boy band in Denmark, we couldn't understand a word they said but the place was so packed they must be good), checked out Christiania, the self-proclaimed "Freetown" by the anti-governmental Hippies in the 70s, taking over an abandoned military base; cool, but kinda creepy. We spent an afternoon checking out Amalienborg Palace, which is actually four palaces that make up the prime residence of the royal family, then toured the magnificent Marble Church, also part of palace system. We strolled in to find it empty, with the sound of an organ playing and a man singing choir music down below. We ate at a "rolling sushi" restaurant where it was all you can eat sushi brought around on a conveyor belt, and we ate till we were sick. We spent a day traveling to Kronborg Castle, a fortress just outside of the town of Helsinger that is better known as the setting to Shakespeare's Hamlet, and then ate some amazing ice cream at the oldest ice cream store in Denmark, opened in 1922. I'm not kidding, we did a lot. I know I am probably forgetting a ton. I'm sure Taylor will remind me of more later and I will update/add to this post what I can.
I still need to talk about the people of Denmark, so far the happiest and kindest people I have met, with not one exception. A couple times, Tayor and/or I would ask someone for something, such as if they knew if the grocery store had something, and every time the stranger would go out of their way to help, even searching for the object for ten minutes while Taylor and I felt guilty for making them work so hard (true story, happened twice). These people didn't work there, but they helped without hesitation and always with a smile. Another time I accidentally bumped into an old lady and before I could even apologize she turned to me with the biggest smile and, in english (cause I stick out like a sore thumb as an American somehow), said it was okay. Seriously, these people have harsh winters, rainy summers, and ridiculously high costs of living, and yet could not be any happier. Bravo, Copenhagen.
Before I go I just want to thank Lindsay Kimble for her help surprising Taylor, and Julie and Nana, Taylor's roommates, for their incredible kindness and hospitality the last few days.
Currently on a train through Sweden, arriving shortly in Stockholm where I will then take another train to Arboga where I will be meeting up with one of the greatest people in the world and one of my first Au Pairs - Linda Ohrn!
More on her and Sweden to come! I hope everyone is doing well at home, keep in touch :)
- Matt
Location:Copenhagen, Denmark
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