Hey, guys!
The next stop on my spring break tour was Copenhagen, Denmark. After arriving late on Monday, we took a taxi to our hostel (the Copenhagen Downtown Hostel) that looked more like a popping downtown club than a place of lodging. As we made our way to the reception desk, music was pumping through the stereos, drinks were slinging, and people from all sorts of places around the world were happily mingling together. Upon going upstairs, I promptly laid down on my bed and passed out as my two comrades tried to find somewhere to eat late at night (I was still sick at the time, so no dinner for me). When they left, I got a punitively cold shower, making audible protests the entire time that people outside likely heard, and then went back to bed. The next morning, we got up early to begin our trek to Christiania, the hippy commune located in central Copenhagen that apparently has no laws and flies its own flag (more on this in a bit). Cannabis is also legal here (granted, "legal" in an anarchist community has little standing). I was finally feeling somewhat able to eat at this point, so we stopped at a bakery for breakfast. I ordered a cinnamon bun (anything cinnamon in Copenhagen is a must) and a chai tea latte. Both were insanely delicious and I wolfed then down. Not eating for days at a time sucks. After enjoying our breakfasts and free wifi break, we made our way to Christiania. This place is very easy to recognize upon arrival; there is a huge, wooden archway that says "Christiania" on the outside (and "You are now entering the EU" on the inside upon leaving. HA!) and has graffiti-covered walls encircling the territory (I didn't see a trace of graffiti anywhere else in the city). Upon entering, the smell of marijuana wafts through the air and little shops selling paraphernalia, tapestries, sunglasses, etc. abound. Since I had lost my sunglasses in Athens several weeks before (long story), I bought a pair of plain black ones. Now I can say I bought my current sunglasses in a legit hippy/anarchist society. We walked around the rundown shanty town's grounds for awhile and then I suddenly realized something: I didn't have my phone. In a panic, I stripped down my coat and scarf, frantically checked all my pockets, quadruple checked my bag, but it wasn't there. I finally remembered that I had taken it out at the sunglasses stand to check the conversion of krone to euro and must have left it there. So we fast walked back to the hippy commune where I essentially attacked the man working at this stand asking if he'd seen an iPhone in a blue case. Thankfully, he had it ("I was waiting around for someone to come running or call!"). God, that was a miserable 10-minute panic attack. But everything turned out fine. Rule of thumb: if you're gonna lose your phone, lose it in a place where hippies who won't steal your stuff live. After that near breakdown experience, we headed to Paper Island, a large, indoor street food market by the water. We were all freezing once we got there (Copenhagen is COLD, dude. I don't know why we chose all freezing-cold places for spring break), so we sat by a heater for a good 15 minutes before getting food. We walked by all the many stalls offering diverse food combinations from around the world, and I eventually settled on duck and chips. It was ridiculously tasty. Pulled duck and red cabbage covered a huge mound of vinegar french fries. I couldn't finish the whole thing, but I did a pretty good job. While there, we also ran into some of one girl's friends who are studying abroad in Copenhagen, It was a really weird, but fun coincidence for everyone. Next we walked to Nyhavn, the neighborhood right by a canal known for its colorful houses and its picturesque views. After a 3-way photo shoot, we headed into a waffle shop where one of us got a waffle with mint ice cream on top. Sadly, my stomach wasn't feeling up for that, so I just watched her eat it. We then visited the cleanest, nicest public restroom I've ever seen. It had dark, carved, wooden doors, for Pete's sake. Maybe this is a contributing factor to why people in Denmark are some of the happiest people on Earth (this is statistically true!). The trampolines by the water were our next stop. There are 5 trampolines built directly into the sidewalk near Nyhavn, and it's seriously the greatest thing. We spent nearly 45 minutes jumping, taking photos of us jumping, and videoing ourselves jumping. It was fantastic. I think we need them back home in the States (maybe it will increase workplace happiness!). We then went in search of souvenirs. Back in London a few summers ago, I bought a magnet that had all the places I had seen on it and decided I would get magnets for every city I visited in the future. While I haven't done this in Greece yet, I have done it for every destination I've been to on spring break. So I got my Copenhagen magnet (it has a bike on it, of course) and was a happy camper. Since we were already halfway there by chance, we ended up walking out to the Little Mermaid statue. This life-sized statue is located way out by the water far, far away from our hostel. I got a few pictures and even posed like the statue on a nearby rock, but it wasn't a life changing experience by any means. I think the freezing, wet weather put a damper on our moods and willingness to sightsee. So we shortly headed back to our hostel. A few hours later, I went to dinner with one of the girls traveling with me and one of her friends that's currently studying in Copenhagen. We ate at this nice little cafe that had shelves upon shelves of books lining the walls. I ordered tomato soup and an apple cider. After several hours of eating and talking about our lives, we went back to the hostel where I decided to go write a blog in the crazy reception/bar/party area. Once I was finished, I showered and then curled up in my bed with an episode of Sherlock (Denmark Netflix had Season 4 of Sherlock and I nearly had a joy-induced heart attack). The next morning, we checked out of our hostel at 10:00 am, as required. Since our flight didn't leave until 3:00 pm, we wanted to go visit the Round Tower and to do a little last minute sightseeing. We asked the hostel to store our bags in the free lockers provided, but unfortunately the electricity downstairs was broken, meaning the electric locks wouldn't work. So we had to trek all the way to Central Station with our stuff and then pay the equivalent of $9 for each locker. It was really annoying, to say the least, to pay that much to store our things for not even an hour and a half. The hostel really let us down and made no attempt to offer a discounted price for storage at the station. Oh well. Then figuring out which train to board to get to the Round Tower as well as buying train tickets was a whole other debacle, but we made it (eventually). Before climbing the winding incline of the Round Tower, we grabbed a super quick breakfast (chocolate croissant and a soy latte). The Round Tower was exactly what it sounds like: a single rounded tower. Although the ascent took a lot out of us, the view from up there was pretty nice. Thankfully there were no clouds or fog that day (of course the weather always clears and gets warm the day we leave. It never failed, regardless of which destination). Then we rushed back to the train, headed to Central Station, grabbed our stuff, illegally jumped a train back to the same stop we had been at for the Round Tower, and headed towards St. Peder's Bagery, a really famous and tasty bakery in Copenhagen known for its massive cinnamon buns. While enjoying our cinnamon goodies (at half price because there are half price cinnamon rolls on Wednesdays!), we also met up with a few of another girl's friends there. I ended up buying a cinnamon bun and a little spinach pizza for the airport. Both were magnificent, but the cinnamon bun was to. die. for. After our brief reunion and bite to eat, we boarded the train to the airport. Next stop: Amsterdam!
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Hannah BisbingStudent @ Penn State. Figure skater. Writer. Traveler. Coffee fanatic. Foodie. Semi-professional people watcher who recently returned home from backpacking around Europe. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise noted.
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