Goodbye Denmark, I'll miss you

This is a very sad day for me. It's my last night in Copenhagen. My last night in the city that I have fallen madly in love with. And this is my goodbye.

I've learned so much about life, culture, and myself on this trip. I have gained so much self confidence and have learned to trust my instincts. From learning how to pack for a weekend in just a backpack to learning how to navigate a country where I don't speak the language, I have gained so many important skills and learned lessons that I'll carry with me for my entire life.

As my final post, I've decided to make a list of the things that I'll miss the most about Copenhagen.
1. The buildings - The builings in Copenhagen are usually at most 4 stories, so you can see the city skyline from almost anywhere. They also have the most adorable architecture and are extremely colorful. I love it
2. The tattoo culture - I'll really miss seeing so many incredible sleeve pieces
3. The dogs - I love seeing them off the leashes
4. Always having something new to do; I have never felt truly bored
5. Accessibility to other countries and being able to hop on a train and be in a new city
6. The beautiful canals that are all over this city
7. The parks - The Danes make such wonderful use of green space. I'll really miss being able to sit out in a park with a beer and a good book.
8. The weather - Copenhagen summer has felt like Indiana spring. Although it is a bit moody and unpredictable in terms of rain, sunny days are so perfect: 70 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight breeze. The perfect time to sit in one of those parks.
9. The fact that you shop for a meal on the day that you plan on making it instead of buying lots of stuff in one trip to the store. The store is a short walk away so it makes it super easy. I also love that everyone uses the reusable grocery bags, and are heavily encouraged to because the store charges per plastic bag; it saves a lot of waste.
10. The walkability of the city. My calves have gotten so toned because I love just walking around the city! It honestly feels like a small town, with its narrow cobbled roads and the short buildings. It's so perfect.

I love this city so much, and leaving it makes me sad. This day is of mixed feelings; I can't wait to see my loved ones, but I wish I could just bring them all here!

I know I will come back to Denmark someday. I'm determined to. Until then, goodbye Copenhagen, and thank you for the life-changing experience.

Danish desserts

So I am just going to shamelessly brag about all of the wonderful desserts I have had in Copenhagen. I've devoted this final week to having at least one amazing dessert a day.

Apple pie from a local traditional Danish restaurant. 

A cake called HC Hat from the famous Copenhagen bakery, Conditoriet La Glace. Starting from the bottom, it's chocolate cake, then caramel ganache, then caramel mouse. It was surprisingly light and very delicious. 

A cake called Summer Love from the Andersen bakery, another famous one in Copenhagen. It's a layer of almond cake, then strawberry and rhubarb compote, then a layer of white chocolate mouse. It was absolutely divine. 

A lemon meringue tart, also from the Andersen bakery.

Elderflower ice cream from Paradis. It was absolutely perfect. I am so in love with the elderflower flavor, which is really popular here in Denmark.  

Chocolate mouse with almonds from one of the food carts at Paper Island, which is a warehouse here in Copenhagen full of food trucks. It doesn't look like much, but it was extremely rich, and I don't think I could have eaten more than this.

Raspberry tart from Brioche Dorée in the glass markets, which is another place full of yummy food stands. It was delicious; a perfect balance between tart and sweet.

A flødeboller, which is a chocolate covered sort of meringue with a cookie on the bottom. They are very popular in Denmark. This one came from a chocolate shop and was of really good quality and very yummy. Also, it's coated in coconut, because coconut makes everything better. 

The Holocaust - What I learned in Poland

I will preface this post with a warning that it is not a happy one, and if you are looking for something light-hearted then I suggest you skip this particular post.

I'm enrolled in a European genocide class for which we took a one-week trip to Poland and visited the Chelmno and Auschwitz camps. The class has been incredible, and I have learned a lot. The trip was definitely emotionally heavy, but it was worth it. We saw a lot, but I will cover a handful of things that have really stuck with me.





Approaching Auschwitz II - Birkenau, I could feel how imposing it was. It has the grandiose, highly organized structure you would expect from the Nazi regime.

We got to see one of the transport cars that took prisoners to the camps. The door came up to my shoulders; I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been to be told to jump out of the car without stairs.

We went inside a reconstruction of the crematorium in Auschwitz I, and saw the remains of the crematoriums in Auschwitz II, which were blown up by the Nazis as they retreated from the camp.

The cans of the gas Auschwitz used, Zyklon B

Most of the human ash was dumped in a nearby river. Some of it, however, was dumped in small ponds within the camp. Thriving on the nitrogen-rich deposits, these ponds are now lush, green habitats full of frogs. There is something truly beautiful in life taking back the area in the face of so much death.

Pile of shoes

One of the most difficult things to see was the exhibit of all the personal effects, especially the shoes. There were two massive piles of shoes. It put it into perspective just how many people were imprisoned and died in Auschwitz. 

Overall, the trip was eye-opening and informative. It wasn't easy to see the camps and hear all of the stories from my teacher, but I am very glad that I took this course. I feel like it had a positive effect on my life and my personal growth.

Frederiksborg castle - Wealth and gorgeous gardens

Denmark is packed with castles, most of them of Renaissance architecture and all of them beautiful. Frederiksborg palace is no exception, although it's much more of a palace than a castle. It's absolutely massive!












Of course, like all the other Danish castle, the ceilings are beautiful.

Moving model of the universe

And it's full of shiny, expensive things.

They also had neat Viking paintings. Given that I'm a huge fan of the show Vikings, I got a bit nerdy about these.

The best part, though, is definitely the castle gardens. They are extremely beautiful and well-maintained. They are very large and consist of different tiered levels, making them an interesting place to explore on a nice Danish summer's day (sunny and about 70 degrees Fahrenheit).

Møns Klint - The white cliffs of Denmark

This past Friday, I went on one of the best hiking trips of my life. In southern Denmark, about 3 hours away from Copenhagen by public transit, is a place called Møns Klint. It's a white chalk cliff right on the ocean, and it's absolutely stunning.

I had to take a train and two buses in order to get there, and I definitely improved my public transit skills and gained some confidence on the way.


Once you get there, the cliffs are free to visit, and there is a lot of good hiking to be had in the park. The first thing I did was go down to the narrow shore at the bottom of the cliffs. This involved going down, and inevitably back up, 994 steps. Despite the exhaustion I felt afterwards, the views were undoubtedly worth it.
 

I also hiked the trails on top of the cliffs and found even more amazing things to see. The ocean water was so clear that you could see where there were and weren't patches of seaweed. It made for a beautiful experience that I can't find the words to describe. Good thing I have a camera!

The peregrine falcon actually roosts in these cliffs so they are protected by the EU. I didn't get a chance to see one, though.

The forest that I hiked through on top of the cliffs was also filled with beauty. I did manage to get myself lost in it for a while, though. I had accidentally wandered off the trail. Everything was so green. It reminded me a lot of hiking in the state parks back in Indiana.

































Møns Klint is beautiful and definitely makes the list of things a person must see if they ever visit Denmark. I was quite sore the next day, but didn't mind at all.

Rosenborg castle

Right in the middle of Copenhagen is Rosenborg castle. It was built in 1624 and designed by King Christian IV, who is probably Denmark's most famous king. Throughout all of the Danish castles that I've visited, many of the mantles had C4 motifs on them, which I'm pretty sure refer to him.


The castle is another beautiful example of Renaissance architecture right in the middle of the city. Of course, it's in the middle of central Copenhagen, which hardly feels like a city at all at least by modern expectations, so it hardly stands out.






The castle is surrounded by one of the best parks in Copenhagen. I actually visit this park frequently to read in the sun on a nice day.

The garden even has a statue of Hans Christian Anderson, which isn't all that surprising given that he's one of history's most famous Danes.









The interior of the castle is as beautiful as you'd expect, filled with priceless pieces of art and interesting glimpses into the way the royal family lived in the 17th century.

Tiled toilet room

They really had a thing for making the ceilings as beautiful as possible with carvings and paintings set right into them.












The top floor is almost entirely devoted to the throne room, which is absolutely gorgeous. The king's throne is made of narwhal tusk, which insanely cool, and the queen's throne is made of silver. The thrones are guarded by three lion statues.