Today I took my time waking up. It is the weekend after all. Plus last night my host family had some friends over for dinner, and they were still here when I got at 12:30. So I joined then all at the kitchen table. They probably didn’t head home until about 1:00-1:30, so that meant going to bed around 2:00, which meant I was definitely going to sleep in. Thankfully when I woke up I noticed that the sun was beginning to shine through. It meant that it was going to be a pretty day outside! I then got myself ready to head into Copenhagen because I was planning on trying to finish my sight seeing for my history assignment today.
When I got on the bus to head into town I ran into a few of the students that live at the Folkehøjskole down the street from my home. They were all headed over to Sweden for a good part of the day. They did invite me to join them if I wanted to, however it was little too last minute for me. However, all the people that I have met who are staying at the location seem really nice. I think I am definitely going to try to catch up with them again and try to hangout with them over the weekends a little – which would definitely be nicer because they are SO much closer to my home.
Once I arrived in town I started to visit different locations for the day. I began with the market on Stroget. It was interesting to learn more about the “square”. Primarily that the unusual shape of the square signifies that it used to be one of the two major market places in Medieval Copenhagen. I then made my way over to the King’s Square and then back over to the New Harbor. While I had been to the New Harbor (Nyhavn) before, the sun was shining just perfectly on all the colorful townhouses on the harbor. It was gorgeous.
I then made my way over to Christiansborg Castle, home to the government in Copenhagen. I had been to this location before, however I also visited a few other sights in that same area. Including a little courtyard, which is bordered by the National Archives, Library, and military archives. It was a very pretty little courtyard, and I cannot wait to visit this place once it becomes warmer outside (I must admit that I was getting cold at this point, mainly in my feet. Because there was still snow on the ground my shoes started to get wet and my feet were forever frozen).
I then made my way over to the Royal Library, aka the Black Diamond. I went ahead and walked inside just to check it out. It is a very modern building that sits right on the harbor. When you are inside of it, it almost looks like it is sitting on the water because the windows lean out to the water giving the appearance that you are over the water rather than next to it. It is very interesting too how they have linked this newer building with the old one that sits and connects right too it.
My next stop was the Riding Complex to Christianborg, this lended a very pretty view of Christiansborg castle from the opposite side. There were not many people over in this area probably because there wasn’t much around it but it was still a pretty place to check out. This part of the castle is the only part still standing from the “old” castle (prior to the one that currently stands at this location); part of it is also still used as a stable. I didn’t explore that much, but I am sure I will go back to check it out more later.
My last two places that I had to visit consisted of another church (which was once the first hospital in Copenhagen), just the exterior, and the most beautiful square in Copenhagen – Greyfriars Square. It was just very idyllic and is lined with restaurants on the ground floor. It was pretty quiet there – again it was cold outside and it was getting late on a Saturday, so people were beginning to head home. Cool Fact: this square used to be home to a church/monastery most of which has been destroyed. However in two of the restaurants that surround the square sit on remnants of the cellar of the old monastery. This is too cool to know and not go back to, so I am positive that I will go visit one if not both of those locations.
After all of that, I had finally completed my assignment (at the least the first part, since I still have a few questions to answer and type up). At this point I could no longer feel my feet and was getting tired, so I decided to simply head home.
Once I got home, I decided to try to work on a little bit of homework and then just relax for the rest of the evening. Fortunately my host sister, Caroline, was also home for the evening. So we got some time to just hang out. (Everyone else had other plans, so it was just us.) We ordered pizza for dinner, watched the worst movie I have seen in a long time, and then watched some regular TV. That was pretty much it for today. I am going to head to bed at a decent hour – which will have to be soon since it is already past midnight here – because I am headed to a local Abbey tomorrow with a group of students from DIS and have to be in town by 11:45am. I am really excited about it!
Random Observances and Notes from Today:
1. Saw what I believe to be a 4 or 5 year old drinking Red Bull.
2. Saw a woman cross country skiing down by the harbor.
3. I have heard about this one but this is the first time I witnessed it. Saw a baby lying in their stroller outside a café in the cold while their mother was inside purchasing something. This is a very cultural thing, where it is a mutual trust between all people in the city that the baby will be perfectly fine. Don’t worry the children are always bundled up and usually napping, so they probably have no idea what it going on. It was definitely interesting to see.
4. Lastly, I definitely enjoying going to this 15 sights for my assignment however I must visit them all again when the weather gets nicer and I find the time. I did appreciate it though because it makes me aware of all the history that is around me everyday when I walk to class, walk to the station or wonder around town.
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