A Scandinavian Ferry Tale

Copenhagen, 1 April

A bit bleary-eyed but well-rested, Johanna, Francesca and I left Jean at our Berlin hostel in order to catch a train to Copenhagen. After a short stopover in Hamburg, we settled down on the train only to have to randomly board a ferry to cross into Denmark.


("Why are we on a ferry? What the?...)


Bewildered at the unannounced transfer, we followed the other passengers into the bright seaside sunshine and up into the towering white ship. As soon as we left the shore, an ethereal sort of fog settled on the water, and we were left to wait out the voyage on the upper deck.

Once we arrived on land our train ride was only another couple of hours. At first glance, Copenhagen reminds me of a Little Amsterdam, but trendier and more expensive. The architecture's not incredible but the beautiful people walking the streets kind of are. I've never felt so positively shabby, in my thrice-worn t-shirt and dusty jeans... even in Italy or France! Oh, well. If it's between a flight somewhere interesting or new clothes, I pick the flight any time.

We walked around for a while and then had a great cheap buffet at a Mediterranean place called Riz Raz. Tomorrow we want to see a lot more but to our dismay, Fran flies back to Manchester and then Canada, so Johanna and I are on our own! We've had a great time so far but I hope she has an amazing time back home :).

2 April

We were woken up this morning by the rowdies in the dorm next door banging on their metal lockers, accompanied by random yelling in the hallway. Our dream of one extra hour of sleep was futile. It did force us, however, to wake up and get out the door to see more of Copenhagen.


It's been a bit of a revelation this trip to take it easier and really enjoy a city rather than rush to certain sights: Copenhagen especially lends itself to laid-back exploring because it's a bit thin on the famous places but loaded with atmosphere.


Edvard Eriksen's 1913 statue of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid has become an emblem for the city. She sits on a small rock at the mouth of the harbour... a little sadly, I think. It could be because she's missing her true love, or possibly because of the huge smokestacks behind her.

After seeing the statue, we headed to Amalienborg Palace, the royal family's winter home, to see the changing of the guard. This is my first time at such an event, and I must say, I loved the military pomp! The band was great and the setting, the huge palace plaza with the Marmorkirken (Frederik's Church, below) in the background, was beautiful. Sadly, Francesca had to leave to catch a flight back to England right after, so we had to say goodbye and part ways.


Johanna and I decided to walk to the "free city" of Christiania (it's an independent city mostly populated by hippie types and intellectuals) on the other side of the river, although we didn't quite get that far--lunch quickly took precedence, and then we passed the Parliament buildings in the old royal home of Christianborg Palace on our way to spend time at the National Museum. This info-packed, enthusiastic museum was, thankfully, free (unlike everything else here--money just flew from our hands, with the exchange rate and price of food) and pretty engaging. The amount of information was actually almost overwhelming. Needless to say, we took frequent breaks.


(Above: From bright blue to black--stormy skies over rush hour traffic)

After the less-so-but-still-kind-of commercialized Eastern European countries we've been to, Denmark's a punch in the face from the world of MTV and H&M. Everyone's command of English is nearly perfect too, so it makes things easier--especially because all signs are in Danish and impossible for us to pronounce correctly, despite our best efforts!

Tomorrow we're off to our last city (on our last train ride!), Stockholm. I've heard good things. Good, expensive things...