Kobenhavn (a.k.a. Copenhagen)

Copenhagen is an interesting city and has some of the "classic" European things including a castle, a palace, and a windmill. I think compared with other major cities I went to, it has a bit more of an urban, yet still historic feel to it.

* I attended Church and fortunately had all the meetings translated in English with the use of some interesting headphones, amazing technology!! Luckily I wasn't the only one who was wearing them. I still had the opportunity to slaughter the Danish language by attempting to sing the hymns. The Copenhagen temple was around the corner from the chapel and I was glad I could see it. Another highlight for that Sunday was seeing the original Christus statue (as replicated in LDS temple Visitor's Centers). It, as well as the statues of the 12 Apostles by the same artist in the same church, are wonderful works of Christian art. I attempted to catch a Carl Bloch painting but that shall have to wait until a future trip.

I had a nice walk along the harbor and was able to see the Little Mermaid statue. Hans Christian Andersen (no known relation to myself) is the famous Danish author of the tale. Tourists swarmed the statue but I was fortunate to get a few shots.

Fredericksberg Garden was a lovely park to spend a Sunday afternoon in. It even has hammocks! I rocked out, literally.

Copenhagen was still a pretty busy place at night and was bustling with tourists who were enjoying the end of the weekend. There was a long pedestrian street with lots of shops and some museums (I did stay away from the Erotic Museum). Other sites included the Round Tower (one of the oldest observatories in Europe, dating from the 1600s) and the World Clock Tower (supposedly one of the most accurate clocks). I set my travel alarm clock to it, but unfortunately a couple nights later it fell and the battery came out. Oh, well. Someday I would definitely like to go to the top of the Round Tower to get a sweet view of the city.

Some other random observations:

* Outside the train station I saw a male bike-taxi driver wearing a shirt that said "BYU Women's Track" which included the old BYU cougar logo. I thought it was pretty funny. (I know this must seem like an inside joke for some readers.)

* I don't like Copenhagen laundromat dryers. I couldn't get the dryer off of the "cool down" setting. At least the dryer was in English, unlike the washer with which I had to take a complete guess on how to operate.

*It was my reminder to put on sunscreen. Th sun seemed to be on steroids and I did get burned. I had a really nice ankle-sock line the next day to show off with my sandals.

* I cannot praise the strawberries enough. So good! And so good looking!! Not quite like the genetically-induced-oversized - mutant-looking strawberries that I have grown accustomed to in California.

*This was my first time staying at a YMCA hostel. I really had the urge to start singing the YMCA song and do the dance, but I settled for a more discreet whistling of the Village People tune.

*Danish danishes (the pastries, they're not called danishes in Denmark) are, not suprisingly, better in Denmark than the United States. I made sure I bought one at the train station before I left for Norway.

That's Copenhagen in a nutshell. Stay tune for Oslo, Norway next.