I spent last weekend exploring castles outside of Copenhagen, so this past weekend I wanted to see some important sites within the city. I’m pretty busy with classes during the week, so I try to plan as many activities as I can for Friday through Sunday.
On Friday, I met up with my friend Kerry from high school and my friend Lauren from my kollegium to explore for the afternoon. We first went to a neighborhood called Christiania, also known as the “free town” because it doesn’t consider itself part of Denmark. Only about 800 people actually live there, but it’s very well-known throughout the city. Shops in Christiania openly sell marijuana and hash, so you’re not allowed to take pictures while on the main street since Copenhagen police raids can still occur. Hopefully they won’t mind me writing a blog entry about the town. We did take a picture by a lake we found on the outskirts of Christiania.
Lauren and I possibly breaking Christiania’s law against taking pictures.Â
After Christiania, we walked back to the main part of the city (It’s so easy to get around Copenhagen) and took a canal tour of the city. The three of us weren’t super embarrassed about taking tons of pictures because everyone else on the boat was doing it too! We got to see lots of different neighborhoods and buildings in Copenhagen from the water for only 70 DKK, about 14 USD. It was definitely worth it, especially because for once it wasn’t pouring rain that day!
Lauren, Kerry and I by Nyhavn, where the canal tour began.Â
Saturday was another beautiful day, so after sleeping in I headed into the center of the city. It’s really nice living right on a metro line—it only takes me about 8 minutes to get to the main city metro station. I walked around the city with Kristen and Andy, friends from Bowdoin, and two of Kristen’s friends from her kollegium. We ambitiously journeyed from one side of the city to the other to see one of Copenhagen’s most well-known sites: the statue of the Little Mermaid. Andy thought it was a statue of Ariel, the Disney version of the Little Mermaid, but this mermaid is from the story by Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen was born in Denmark and lived in Copenhagen for many years. The statue was a little smaller than we anticipated, but I was glad to check the statue visit off my figurative to-do list!
Bowdoin picture in front of the Little Mermaid!
[pagebreak]
I got a very early start to my day on Sunday—6:40 a.m.—but it was definitely worth it. Like my castle trips last week, I went on a rock climbing trip in Sweden through DIS! We took a bus up to Elsinore, where I was last weekend at Kronborg Castle, and took the ferry across to the Kullen peninsula in Sweden on the Kattegat Bay. The trip from Copenhagen to Kullen only took about 2 hours.
Such a beautiful day in Sweden!
There were about 12 other DIS students on the trip, so we had plenty of chances to climb. The climbing runs were pretty short, but they were located on cliffs right next to the Bay, so the scenery was beautiful. I wouldn’t call myself an especially talented rock climber, but I used to do it at summer camp and think it’s a lot of fun. Of course, it wasn’t so fun when I chipped my tooth while climbing! I’m actually putting the blame on my eye doctor for that because I completely missed seeing a section of rock as I was reaching around an overhang and hit my teeth straight against it. Luckily, the chip is very, very minor, but I still think my smile is forever ruined.
On my way up…
to the top!
After a few hours of climbing, eating, and lying around on rocks, I was ready to swim in some Swedish water! Only two other girls were willing to brave the cold, so we made our way to the edge of the rocks and ran in. We swam to a little island and climbed up for a photo op, then jumped from the ledge into the water. I’ve been in 32 degree Fahrenheit water before so this definitely wasn’t as bad, but I still swam as fast as I could back to shore. That’s where my second injury of the day occurred: I cut the bottom of my toe on a rock and had to get it bandaged. On the bright side, I couldn’t feel any pain because the cold water numbed my foot!
 The courageous swimmers!Â
I wasn’t too excited about landing in the freezing cold water.Â
In the midst of all those activities, I did find some time to do homework, go out with friends, and catch up on some sleep. I only have two days of classes this week because I’m going on my first DIS study tour! My European Memory & Identity class will be in western Denmark and Germany from Thursday to Saturday. More on that next week!