Hej Hej

As unbelievable as it seems, my four months in Denmark are at an end. It seems like mere days ago that I hauled my jetlagged carcass off a plane and into an almost completely unknown country. It took about half an hour for me to realize that I had picked the perfect place for me. Even accidentally buying buttermilk instead of normal milk was unable to lessen my enthusiasm for the country.


Over the course of the next few months our apartment straight out of the pages of an IKEA catalog became a home.

Group dinners became a highlight. Pictured here: Latkes in progress.

What started out as a random group of strangers coalesced into a family unit. We got hyggeligt, swapped the most outrageous Youtube videos we could find, made gourmet meals on a whim and were just generally great friends. Skindergade 40, 3rd Floor, you will forever hold a place in my heart.

The family, together at last. Notice the American Gothic interpretation going on on the far left.

I learned how to cook things I never dreamed I'd ever be able to make. I discovered how few clothes I really need.  Although I didn't think it possible, I became even more independent. I figured out a several things about what I want to do with my life.

Hint: It does not include sitting at a desk day in and day out.

I came to understand a culture very different from our own. I picked up some admittedly limited Danish.  I became  much more outgoing. And organized. And I made some of the best friends I could ever hope to have.

'Where's the party?' 'It's at A Bar.' 'Yeah I know. But which one?'

Studenterhuset. So glad we barely benefited from your presence.

Stay tuned for further musings, reflections, and venting of reverse culture shock. 

To Be Or Not To Be

No trip to Denmark would be complete without a stop at Hamlet's castle, also know as Kronborg Castle, began life as a fortress called Krogen in 1420. Its position along the sound between Sjaelland and Sweden allowed the Danish kings to exact tolls from all ships passing through. Frederik II renovated it into a Renaissance castle which then proceeded to burn down. Christian IV, when he wasn't too busy being totally awesome all over the country rebuilt the castle into what it is today.


Some fun trivia: The cannons on the rear battlements of the castle are the oldest in Denmark, and are still used on special occasions.

These cannons.

They are so powerful that windows behind them have to be opened when they are fired, otherwise the shock waves would shatter them.


Shakespeare never actually went to Helsingør, but rather relied descriptions of the castle brought back by Christian IV's theater troupe, who he was acquainted with. Elsinore, the name of Hamlet's castle in the play is derived from  Helsingør, the town where Kronborg is located.


The location of this castle is quite simply phenomenal. Luckily, by sheer dumb luck I got a perfect day for my trip- sunny and brisk, but not quite mind-numbingly cold. The waterfront was gorgeous, the lighting as is always the case in these northern latitudes was almost sickeningly perfect, illuminating the most minute details of everything.

A bird was here.

Frost in the grass.

Christmas decor. Sorry to subject you to these artsy shots of mine, but I like them.

Ice crusted rocks along the water.

Hej Hamlet. Just look at that southern lighting.

Sunset. At 15:00.

She's Back

Yes, the Little Mermaid has finally been returned to her post on the harbor. Now that I actually have the luxury of time on my hands, I was able to go on a nice long bike ride yesterday, and naturally she was one of the stops. This trip took me down towards Parliament, along the harbor, down to Kastellet where the Little Mermaid is situated, and then back up though the Jul Marked in Nyhavn.

Looking down the waterfront.

This chap s also guarding the harbor.

There she is. Finally.

People take their Jul very seriously here.

 One of the Danes I've met here told me a story about the Little Mermaid. An American couple stopped him one day as he was walking near the park where it's located to ask him where they could find the statue. They had assumed it would be very easy to find. After he pointed them in the right direction, they proceeded to ask him what the hours for the restaurant were. Confused, he asked what they were talking about. "The restaurant in the Mermaid," they replied.


Sadly, that is apparently not an isolated incident. So please, Americans, be advised that the Little Mermaid is in fact little- roughly life sized. 

Oh, and I went to a dedicated Lego store. I was in heaven.

Study Break

Apologies for the recent lack of posts, as I have been undergoing a period self-imposed isolation in studio in order to get my final project done. Now that it's complete I'm free to regale you with the stories of my final (unbelievable to me) adventures in the city I have come to love so much. 

For now though, lets hear about the glorious study break us some of us stressed architecture students took last week. If I needed any more proof that Copenhagen is possibly the coolest and most relaxed city ever, this would be it. Where else would it be acceptable to wage a snowball war directly in the city center, and where else would locals deign to lob a few snowballs of their own into the fracas?

Grant, gathering more ammo.

This may be the first real smile I had on that entire day.

This was made even more hyggeligt by the presence of the giant Christmas tree which has been erected in the middle of Rådhus Plads.  Sure, scalewise  it's got nothing on the tree at Rockefeller Center, but it has so much more character. Best mental health break ever.

Good Day, Sunshine

Today started out like every day of the past two weeks: dark and snowy. Personally, I have no objection to this. Snowy-dusted streets and classic Christmas decorations just go to add to the already amazing atmosphere of this city.

I see nothing wrong with this picture.

But then things took a turn for the unexpected. Only in Denmark would a five minute appearance of unobstructed sunlight induce a studio full of stressed  out architecture students to unanimously leave their desks. Yes folks, that's right, the sun came out today, and we were perfectly positioned to bask in all its glory.

Just look at the joy on those faces, faces which until seconds ago had been grimacing over X-acto knives  and floorplans.

My daily view from our attic studio, augmented by an unexpected visitor.

Getting Hyggeligt With It

As the snow begins to fall on Copenhagen and the days become continually shorter, we find ourselves more and more desirous of a little 'hygge' in our lives. No folks, that's not a typo, that's the Danish word meaning cosiness, comfort and home-iness. Unfortunately there's no direct translation to English, but that's some of the appeal to the word. It's a concept we mollycoddled Americans never had to develop, since with the exception of Alaska, I doubt there's anywhere in the country that has to contend with 7 hours of sunlight per day.

The snow doesn't stop. I love it.

This is the skyline. At 3:30 p.m.

Not surprisingly, candles have become as much of a household staple as toilet paper and the kitchen even more of a social hub than before.  So of course we had to decorate it. Many thanks to DIS and our glorious SRAs for teaching us some traditional Danish crafts.

The embodiment of hygge.

The international 'Merry Christmas' cabinet.

The infamous Danish star.

We also got the added bonus of  teaching Danes to make snowflakes, since apparently this is not a craft they are familiar with, and drinking gløgg- Danish mulled wine. Glorious.

More Wandering & Transportation Debacles

Our last full day in Oslo was spent roaming the city once again. Braving the extreme wind and cold, we checked out Akerhus Festning, the original fortress built to protect the city. Parts of it date back all the way to the early 13th Century. It has withstood numerous sieges, and also served as a prison in its spare time.

It's pretty attractive for a military installation.

Serious firepower.

The view over the harbor.

Leave it to the Scandinavians to create a hyggelig fortress.

After some more rambling around the city, we met up with a family friend of Sonny's co-worker for coffee and a brief jaunt through the artsier district of Oslo. Good times.

In order to make our 6:45 flight Monday morning we were up at 3:15 and trekking across the frozen wasteland to what we had been told was the bus stop for the Flybussexpress. It wasn't, so when the bus arrived at the actual stop, a good 200 meters away through the woods, we got a good workout in sprinting to get to it before it left. That hurdle cleared, it seemed we were good to go.

We were however, not taking the weather in Copenhagen into account. Due to high winds and heavy(ish) snow, Kastrup Lufthavn was completely shut down for three or so hours. So we got to spend an extra two hours sitting on the plane in a "remote parking location". Lucky us.

When we should have taken off.

When we actually took off.

On the bright side, we did get to see this amazing sunrise.

The cause of all the problems. 

Hikings With Vikings

Maybe hiking isn't quite the right word, but it rhymed, so it will have to do. I suppose rambling across the countryside is a more accurate way to put it, but that doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Don't think for a second that I'm complaining about the lack of mountains or anything of the sort though. A three hour walk through frosty and snow-covered Norwegian woods (get it?) and fields was a great way to spend the morning. I came to the unexpected realization that the countryside surrounding Oslo looks exactly like northern Vermont. And I mean exactly.

A picturesque frozen stream.

Even the ice here seems cooler than our indigenous variety.

Sun in the pines.

A rare moment of sunshine.

A very Vermont-y looking river.

On the way back to our hostel, for the combined purpose of doing something productive and warming up we made a side trip to the Edvard Munch Museum. The museum owns almost all of his works, as he left all the ones which had not been sold at the time of his death to the city of Oslo. I quite like his painting style, so I found this particularly enjoyable. 

The Scream. Brings back fond memories of 5th Grade art.

Great color on this one, the name of which escapes me.

The Airedale. I love it.

Another one that I really like which I've forgotten the name of.

Vikings & Sculptures & Ski Jumps, Oh My

On day two in Oslo we decided to hit all the free  and/or cheap tourist attractions in the area. Therefore we went to the Holmenkollen ski jump, which sadly was under construction, so we couldn't even get close to it. But even so it's an amazing structure more than capable of being admired from afar.

Thar she blows.

At the Viking Ship Museum we got our student discounts, making it essentially free. But even if it cost me $50 I would have gone. As a self-proclaimed Viking nerd, I found this museum absolutely amazing. The ships were extremely impressive, and quite enormous, and the artifacts recovered from the three ships housed in the museum were gorgeous.

The Oseberg ship. It is a believed that a Viking Queen and her slave girl were buried in it.

The Gokstad ship, burial site of a chieftain.

A wagon found in the burial site at Oseberg.

No one is really sure what this guy is for, but scientists think it might have been mounted on a pole and carried at religious ceremonies.

A decorated bedpost. Where can I get a bed like this?

 Finally we went to the Vigeland Sculpture park. This is a section of the much larger Frogner Park in western Oslo. Sculptor Gustav Vigeland was commissioned by the city to create the artwork for this area. I'll just say the sculptures were very interesting and thought provoking.

Run away.

Angry Baby.

Apparently this man does not like children.

Partner yoga.

Relaxing.

The final sculpture.