Danish, Anyone?

Another weekend, another trip. Last weekend Madison, Rachel, and I traveled down to Copenhagen for the weekend to stay with Madison's sister and brother-in-law (who, by the way, own an amazing apartment with an awesome view. Very, very cool people), and in true "gang" fashion, the adventure began before we even left Växjö. Rachel, on one of her many, many, many excursions around the EU, recently purchased a Eurorail Pass, meaning she could get on any train without paying for a ticket. Which meant that this trip would be incredibly cheap for her. Turns out, this wasn´t the case. She forgot her Eurorail pass back in the apartment, noticed she had forgotten it while we were on the bus to Alvesta to catch our train, and ended up paying the same amount Madison and I did for our tickets. Poor, poor Rachel.

But wait, that's not all folks. No, heaven forbid we have a smooth trip to Copenhagen. Instead, we missed our first bus and ended up waiting 20 minutes outside in the freezing cold, the second bus we stepped on in the city was having issues because they couldn't change the bus number that is displayed on the outside of the bus, and to top it all off, the train in Alvesta was almost an hour late. Rachel, Madison, and I ended up singing songs on the train platform and doing little dances to keep ourselves warm. Not happy about that. Oh yeah, and remember how Rachel had to purchase tickets for the train? The train attendants didn't even come around to check tickets, which meant Rachel spent over 15 bucks (I know, I know.. big spender) on an unneeded ticket. Dang. However, we finally arrived in Copenhagen and was greeted by Thomas, Madison's brother-in-law (not to be confused with Tommy, Madison's fiance) in incredibly short shorts and a Gandalf the Grey-type hat. Yes, we could all tell Halloween was two days away the moment we stepped off the train. We ended up heading back to their apartment and crashed in their living room.

The next day, poor Hanna (Madison's sister) had to go to work, and Thomas had school, so the mini-gang (it's really time consuming to type out Rachel, Madison, and I each time, so because Tommy wasn't there, we will now be referred to as the mini-gang. It'll help fend off carpel tunnel for at least another week) headed out on our own to the large city of Copenhagen. Oh, by the way, in case you didn't know, Denmark is the oldest kingdom in the world, as we all discovered that day. (To Madison and Rachel: it is NOT the oldest kingdom in the kingdom.) We ended up seeing an old summer castle/mansion that was used to store royal antiques, as well as a get-away for royalty back in the day. And apparently, as Madison so quickly pointed out, my doppelganger is King Frederick VI, who just so happened to be one of, if not the, dumbest kings Denmark has seen. Thanks, Madison. My pride just dropped ten points. We also hit up the Treasury, where we saw a lot of old bling. My eyes hurt when we left from all the shimmering diamonds, sapphires, and rubies.

After that, we hit up the art museum. I know what you're thinking: but Jordan, why would you step foot in an art museum after your last scarring experience? Because it was free, my friends. Free! The museum ultimately had a price: another scarring experience I will never forget. I'm going to save you the details, but I'll leave you with something to ponder about. Think of a video exhibition. Now think of a video with the title "Horse Sacrifice". I'll just leave it at that. PETA would definitely not be proud.

After that horrible experience, Thomas finished his Finnish class, picked us up, and gave us a scenic drive around the city. We ultimately ended up at something I've been waiting to see for years: The Little Mermaid. Built in honor of the late H.C. Andersen, the statue is of, well, The Little Mermaid. We had previously thought the statue would be a replica, due to the fact that the real one was supposed to be in an Expo in Japan, which was incorrect. While we didn't see the "real deal" (it's in an undisclosed location with descendants of the sculptor), we saw the "real replica", if that makes any sense. Anyway, big crowd pleaser.

After that we hit up the Pentagon of Denmark, which is actually star-shaped, that produced enough flour to produce bread for up to three years if the fort was surrounded by enemies. Of course, with the invention of airplanes and parachutes, the fort would now prove somewhat ineffective. After that, Thomas had to head to work, so he dropped us off in a shopping mall--just what the girls wanted. I just tagged along. Hanna picked us up hours later, took us back home, and we just chilled in the apartment.

The next day Thomas had to work, so Hanna took the mini-gang out on the town. The best place we stopped at was a little cakery (don't try and look that one up; I'm pretty sure it's not a real word). This cakery is incredibly famous, and is a huge tourist attraction; yet it's tucked away in a small area of town that many people do not know about. Paradoxical? You bet. We also saw the changing of the guards, which was pretty cool. One of the mansions/palaces had the Danish flag flying, which meant one of the royals was staying in the palace! Apparently this is pretty rare, considering the royal family has numerous houses to stay in, so we considered ourselves very lucky.

We also went to a zoo! The first real zoo I've been to (at least, to my knowledge.. because Sea World does NOT count). It was awesome--the polar bear was by far the best. Oh yeah, we also hit up Freetown Christiana. One of the most uncomfortable experiences on the trip. It put the horse sacrifice to shame. Wikipedia it, because it's too unsettling to reminisce about. Oh yeah, and there's a very large church across the street from the Freetown. Ironic, don't you think?

We also climbed a spiral tower onto one of the oldest observation decks in Europe; I'm pretty sure it's the oldest on the continent. But I dunno. I was too busy huffing and puffing while climbing the dang thing to pay attention to details. Pretty awesome view of the city from atop the tower. Oh yeah, and we may or may not have gotten lost in a giant, fenced arboretum. Yeah, we definitely got lost in a giant, fenced arboretum.

We also went to a cemetery where famous people rest, including some old dude who helped create the first atom bomb (names elude me), as well as H.C. Andersen. His was the only publicized grave, which I felt was incredibly heartless. And by publicized, I mean there were signs that pointed towards his grave, which was weird. It's a grave, for God's sake. Let the poor man rest in peace. So, naturally, I ended up taking pictures of the grave. What can I say? I'm a hypocrite.

The weekend was also another weekend of firsts for me. For the first time, I tried spinach pancakes (they were incredibly delicious), hardboiled eggs (I know, I know: it took me 20 years to try it? The smell put me off), and winter chocolates. All of which were incredibly tasty. And this time, I was under budget for the entire trip (I'm looking at you, ridiculously expensive Stockholm...)!

Finally, it was time for us to return back to campus. We bid farewell to Thomas and Hanna, thanked them generously for accommodating us, and hopped on the somewhat long train ride back. It was an awesome trip to a beautiful city.

Great. And now I'm craving cake.

(Custard cake, aka Othellokage. Best. Cake. Ever.)