Caitlin Takes Copenhagen : A Visit from Chelsea and Valary

Chelsea and her friend Valary arrived in wonderful Copenhagen a week ago. It was Valary's first time in Denmark, and I have to say she hit most of the highlights! They had a very busy week and I was able to join them for most things because it was Easter holiday. Here's a little summary of our exciting week together in Cope City:

Christiania

Prayer flags in Christiania

Jan took us all around Christiania (if you don't remember from my previous post, that is the little hippie/free/socialist community within Copenhagen). Then, he drove us around the city and pointed out important landmarks including the infamous Little Mermaid. I have to admit, that was the first time I've visited her this semester. After a busy day of touring, we ate lunch at a cozy little cafe and then headed back to the Larsens for a power nap before going out. We went to a club called "Night Fever" that played all 80s and 90s music. Needless to say, we danced like fools and sang obnoxiously all night.

The one and only, Little Mermaid

Baby Danes mimicking the Royal Guards at Amalienborg

On Easter, we went over to Anne's apartment in Frederiksberg. We cooked egg bake (which apparently is very American and Anne got a kick out of) and sat and talked. It was weird not to be home for a holiday, but I was lucky to be able to spend it with Chelsea and some good friends. Chelsea and I skyped my parents that night, which was very nice. On Easter Monday, Chelsea and Valary and I went to Dragør to admire all the cute yellow house and sailboats. Then we met up with Anne again for a delicious dinner at Puk (I'm starting to become a regular).

Dragør Harbor

So fun to all be together!

My delicious Danish stew at Puk

Tuesday was a beautiful day! The sun was out in full force and so were the Danes. I swear Copenhagen's population has doubles since the weather has started getting nice. I met up Chelsea and Valary after class to enjoy a Sommersby in the sun. On Tuesday night, the Larsens treated us to Sticks'and'Sushi, which was super lækker as always.

New wild Sommersbys

Sticks'and'Sushi :)

I did not have a field study on Wednesday, so I had my entire day free to explore with Chelsea and Valary. We spent the day touring Frederiksborg Slot and Kronborg Slot--two of Denmark's famous castles. Anne was able to come with us, which made it even better (it's always good to have our "official" tour guide along)! Kronborg Slot is the castle where Shakespeare's famous play, Hamlet, takes place. We were able to go underneath the castle into to "casemates," which are cemented vaults where prisoners and artillery were kept. Holger Danske is also found in the casemates. Holger is a statue of a sleeping Viking who protects Denmark. According to legend, he will wake up if Denmark is ever in grave danger (apparently Denmark wasn't in real danger during World War II...). We finished of our day by heading to Nyhavn to watch the sunset. It was the perfect ending to the week.