Copenhagen (3/17-22)

10 days and 4 cities (1 more than expected!) later, I am back in Madrid! The past week and half has been incredible, but after constant movement, I am enjoying having time to rest and relax, especially because I caught a nasty cold during the trip. Over the next few days I'll be posting about each city that I visited over my break. First stop? Copenhagen!

Copenhagen is an expensive land of colorful buildings, black clothes, and beautiful people. The cobblestone streets are filled with cute shops, bike riders, and groups of 8 year olds walking alone. The Danes are quiet people and averse to small talk, and I learned that crowds are definitely not synonymous with noise. Out of all of the places I visited during this week, I found that it was easiest to pick out the Danish social norms. I arrived on the night of Thursday the 17th, where I met up with my friend Avantika who I mentioned in my last post is studying in Copenhagen. On my way into the city from the airport, I rode on a full, yet nearly silent metro with two very well behaved dogs. Pretty much the opposite of a metro experience that you find in Madrid. Once I arrived, we went out to an Irish bar to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, where we found a very festive crowd and a live band playing traditional Irish (though they also played Take Me Home Country Roads...I think they were a bit confused), and afterwards I headed back to the hostel that I was staying at for the one night.

The following day was spent wandering the streets while Avantika was in class. My hostel was in the famously picturesque neighborhood of Nyhavn, and I spent a long time taking pictures of the beautiful façades, before strolling down the streets and orienting myself within the city, while attempting to avoid getting hit by the hoards of bike riders. Avantika had warned me of one of thesocial norms that she had the hardest time adhering to, which was that in Denmark it's considered very offensive and even threatening to look or smile at dogs and babies. Dogs and babies are basically the only thing I smile at in the streets, so refraining from doing so (especially in a place withan abundance of cute dogs and babies), was definitely a challenge.

Later in the afternoon we headed to the autonomous community of Christiania. Christiania is a former abandoned military base that a group of hippie squatters took over in the 1970s, and now has a population of about 1000. The residents of Christiania are either descendants of the the original squatters, or people who have applied and been accepted to a wait list of potential residents. The homes are simple shacks, most without indoor plumbing, and they are not sold, rather they are given to a chosen person on the wait list after an extensive application process, ensuring that they share the same values as the rest of the community. The community has an open cannabis trade (centered at the aptly named Pusher Street), which is technically illegal, however the police turn a blind eye because it brings tourism and is so beneficial for the Danish economy. I learned a bit of this from Avantika, however a lot was explained by a woman that we met named Tanja. Decked out in a cheerleading outfit and roller skates, she appeared to be in her late 30s and was doing a photo shoot in the middle of the road, and we began talking to her after petting her dog (which is apparently acceptable in their community!). She's the lawyer within Christiania, and we ended up talking to her for about an hour about everything from the history of Christiania, her own life (apart from her lawyer duties, she is a professional belly dancer, was born in Denmark, traveled through South America for 5 years, lived in Barcelona for 5 years, lived in a trailer under a bridge by choice in Christiania for 8 years, and now has a farmhouse just a few hundred yards away from said bridge. Also her sister was an au pair for Mark Zuckerberg), and our own philosophies. Pictures within Christiania are not allowed, which is probably for the best, as it allowed us to truly take in the cool village, full of artists, avant garde shops, and beautiful land.

Dinner was at Paper Island, a huge warehouse by the water filled with street food stalls. It was a little pricey, but very yummy, and a fun scene. Afterwards we spent the night out with some of Avantika's Danish friends. Yay locals! It was a great night, but we didn't stay out too late, as we were preparing to make an international trip the following morning.

Yes, the next morning, we boarded a train to Sweden! It was a very anticlimactic ride, though it was pretty cool going over a bridge and seeing Denmark on one side, and a whole other country on the other side. There was no real reason for going to Sweden other than...we just really wanted to go to Sweden. After arriving in Malmö, we visited a castle turned museum which had a fascinating mix of exhibits, including one on the Holocaust and Malmö's role as a refuge for survivors, as well as one on Swedish dads who use all of their paternity leave, which was definitely interesting to view from the a U.S. perspective. After a quick and hilarious encounter with a fenced-in field full of dogs (which purpose remains a mystery), we made our way to the town center, and at the risk of sounding very inarticulate, just looked so Swedish, which was particularly emphasized by buildings with classic brown frames criss-crossing throughout it. Our trip came to a close after eating some famed New York cheesecake-- cause when you're in Sweden, New York cheesecake is the obvious choice, and I said goodbye to the Nordic country that I spent too little time with.

Other highlights of the trip included visiting the palace, and climbing up the tower to be greeted with a spectacular view of the city, visiting street markets, stumbling upon a late night jazz concert, and eating some pretty unbelievable pizza (It was so good. So GOOD, I tell you!). Something I noticed about Danes is that they are incredibly trusting. With biking being the main form of transportation (maybe even more than walking!), it shouldn't come as a surprise to hear that the streets are lined with bikes, but what was surprising to me was that they were on the streets sans lock. I must have seen hundreds and hundreds of bikes just leaning up against buildings that people left. This is also shown through the metro system, as there are no gates or turnstiles restricting access to the metro. There are places where people are supposed to swipe in and out to deduct money on their metro cards, however this is strictly their responsibility, and anybody can jump on the metro without paying. This would definitely not fly in the States! Danish people also appear to be frequently nauseous. I was bewildered by the fact that while I was there for about 5 days, I saw no fewer than 4 people throwing up on the streets, both during the day and night.  Not really sure why this was, but it was not a pretty sight. Get it together, Denmark!

My overall opinion of the city wasn't tainted too much by this, however. I left on the night of Tuesday the 22nd, said to leave Copenhagen, but eager to reach Budapest.