Tidbits from the past few days

On Wednesday (7/24) I climbed to the top of the Church of Our Saviour. The church is famous for it's gold spiral external staircase. Before we could make it to the outdoor staircase, we had to ascend the church interior. It was a hot day and space inside was cramped-- climbing through the indoor tower was like crawling through an attic for ten minutes. However, the stuffiness was short-lived and forgotten once I reached the spiral staircase. 

Panoramic view from the top 

fluffy friend

On Thursday (7/25) afternoon I studied at The Royal Library. The Royal Library is called the Black Diamond because when the water reflects on the black marble and glass walls, it sparkles like a diamond. This is the largest library out of all the Nordic countries-- it is connected to the old royal library, has a concert hall and an eight story atrium, houses numerous historical relics, and is a great place to study.

The Black Diamond Library

Atrium

On Thursday night I went to Pumpehuset, a famous Copenhagen concert venue. The summer university program organized a Danish music experience with a variety of performers. The event was enjoyable but I wasn't there for too long.

Danish rappers

After Pumpehuset, I went to Sam's Bar for some karaoke. While waiting for some other friends to arrive, I made some Danish friends -- Camilla, Casper, and unfortunately I don't remember the other woman's name lol. I was practicing my Danish with them (they said I have a really good accent!) and asked them about a couple old Danish songs I learned about in class: Smuk og Delig (Beautiful and Lovely) by Anne Linnet and Sexchikane (Sexual Harassment by Shu-Bi-Dua). I thought it was a bit odd when we were deciphering the lyrics of Sexchikane in Danish class, but apparently it was a popular song in the 70's and a lot of people today know it as well. Unfortunately, Smuk og Delig and Sexchikane, were not in the karaoke book but we had fun singing Allstar by Smashmouth instead.

Gettin down with the Danes

On Friday (7/26) I went on one last outing with Bunny and Bjarne. We went to Frederiksborg Slot, aka the Versailles of Scandinavia. Frederiksborg Slot was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV between 1602-1620 and used by the royal family until a fire destroyed most of the castle in 1859. Philanthropist, J.C. Jacobsen of the Carlsberg Brewery, stepped up to rebuild the castle after the fire and converted it into a national history museum.

Castle actors - King Frederik IV and his daughter

Fun fact: Since the 16th century, males of the Danish monarchy have been named Frederik and Christian in alternating order.  Currently, the crown prince Frederik and his wife have two sons, Prince Christian and Prince Frederik.

The Great Hall

Modern Art Gallery on the third floor

Danish rendition of Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People'

Baroque-style garden

Today, Saturday 7/27, I went to Torvehallerne, an indoor market in Nørreport similar to San Francisco's Ferry Building. At this food oasis, there are over 60 high quality vendors, ranging from Paleo meals and gourmet chocolate to fresh fish, cheese, and sushi. I loved Torvehallerne and will be returning sometime in my last week here!

Smørrebrød - Open face sandwich, Classic Danish Food 

Delicious duck confit sandwich from Ma Poule's 

Berlin, Deutschland

This weekend I went on a Berlin trip organized by the summer university program. Our bus left Copenhagen at 6:45am and we arrived at the East Side Gallery at 2:30pm. The East Side Gallery is 1.3 km long and is the longest surviving piece of the Berlin Wall. 118 artists from around the world were invited to paint on the eastern side of the wall after it was dismantled in 1990. Not all of the murals on display are originals-- in 2009, a $3 million restoration project allowed the original artists to reproduce their work-- many of which were badly damaged by graffiti and vandalism. 

Some Heads - Thierry Noir (France)

My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love - Dmitri Vrubel (Russia)

Following our visit to the East Side Gallery, we checked into Hostel Meininger in the central Mitte district of Berlin. I shared a three bunkbed room with five other girls from my program. After dropping off our bags, we walked to Hofbräuhaus - the largest beer hall in Europe. Hofbräu is a chain of beer halls, the original is in Munich and there are franchises all around the world. We enjoyed traditional German food and of course, beer!

Prost!

Schnitzel - (actually originates from Austria)

1 litre

Met up with my friend Leo from high school-- he's studying in Berlin for the summer!

On Saturday morning, we took a walking tour around Berlin. The weekend weather was very hot (mid 80's) this weekend so it made for a sweaty walking tour. We started off at the Brandenburg Gate and then made our way to the Holocaust Memorial, Check-point Charlie, Reichstag Building, and ended the tour at the Berlin Cathedral on Museum Island.

Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial

Berliner Dome

After our walking tour, we were given a one-day metro pass to explore the city. Lea, Lizzy (both from U of Wisconsin), and I went to Alexanderplatz station and took the U-bahn to Stadmitte station to check out some shops. After picking up some souvenirs, we took the metro to Kreuzberg, an artsy neighborhood of Berlin (Leo said it was equivalent to San Francisco's Mission district). For the readers from SLO, I wanted to check out the neighborhood behind Kreuzberg café's namesake. Kreuzberg was not as busy as Mission Street but it had a similar hipster vibe.

Alexanderplatz metro station 

Me, Lizzy, and Lea on the metro 

Coledampf's & Companies - hip Kreuzberg café and houseware store

At around 4pm, Lea and Lizzy retired to our hostel to take a nap. As usual, I had a pretty good amount of energy so I took to exploring the city on the metro by myself. I wanted to check out the Victory Column that stood out on my map. A 15 minute walk from Tiergarten metro station brought me to the base of the column. Similar, to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the column stands at the center of a roundabout traffic circle and is accessible by underground passageways. For 2.5 euros, I climbed 285 steps to the top platform where I had a panoramic view of the city.

The Victory Column -  inspired by the 1864 Prussian victory over Denmark in the Danish-Prussian War

Fun light installation in the underground passage that mimics your movement

Glass mosaic at the base

View down Straße des 17 Juni

On Saturday night, I celebrated my 20th birthday at Matrix. The club is located in ten basement vaults of the Warschauer Straße railway station and houses nine bars and five dance floors. Being in my 20's is exciting.. I look forward to what adventures are in store!

TWENTY

On Sunday morning, we went to Sachsenhausen Memorial, a former Nazi concentration camp. Sachsenhausen was an all male camp, primarily used for housing political prisoners. Amongst the many terrible work details was the boot-testing track. Mostly pink triangle (homosexual) prisoners had to strap on heavy sacks and test the durability of boot soles over various surfaces. The average life span of a prisoner put on this detail was six days. Puma was one of the German companies that used Sachsenhausen's brutal labor services. Sachsenhausen provides a worthwhile learning experience and serves as a reminder about one of human history's worst atrocities.

Sachsenhausen was the last stop on our tour of Berlin before heading back to Copenhagen. One thing I had to try before I left Berlin was currywurst-- a German fast food dish consisting of fried pork sausage and curry ketchup. Cheap currywurst (< 3 euros) can be found all over Berlin but I didn't get around to trying it until a café near the memorial. The currywurst was underwhelming but still satisfying... sausage is always good and I am glad I got to try it.

Currywurst

Our bus made it back to Copenhagen around 9pm. I wish I had more time in Berlin and definitely want to go back. Although my first impression of Berlin did not blow me out of the water, once I explored a little bit more and went out at night ;) I grew to like the city more and more.

Ferry ride

Final exams are next week so I am in the library studying. I can't believe I only have two more weeks in Copenhagen-- time passes too quickly!

CBS library

Amager

Amager (pronounced Am-ar) is an island connected to the eastern part of Copenhagen. Copenhagen is only 34 square miles (smaller than San Francisco) and has roughly 560,000 inhabitants. Today's weather was perfect-- mid 70's so I went on a long bike exploration to the other side of the Copenhagen metropolitan area.

My residence is flagged, I live in the Frederiksberg borough

1st stop: havnebadet Islands Brygge -  jumping 16 ft is so fun!!

After lounging at the harbor bath, I followed my internal compass east towards Amager. I had read rave reviews about Ismageriet  and went to try it out. I got a 3 kugle cone with pistachio ice cream and strawberry and elderflower sorbet, and a flødebolle (chocolate covered marshmallow). Fun fact: chocolate-coated marshmallows originate from Denmark and the Danes are the largest producers of these treats-- producing 800 million a year. Flødebolles and guf (marshmallow cream) are characteristic Danish ice cream toppings. Ismageriet definitely lived up to the hype-- possibly one of the best ice cream cones I've ever eaten. I am sure that it weighed at least two pounds and I enjoyed every lick of it :)

nothin' like ice cream on a warm summer day

Since I was already in Amager, I figured I should bike around the whole area. With my hand still sticky from my massive ice cream cone, I biked to Amager Strand (strand means beach). It was about 7pm when I got there so the crowd had subsided but the beach is packed on hot days.

On my bike ride home, I encountered a Danish rock concert in The City Hall Square. The band Dúné rocked out in front of a big crowd-- I thought they were pretty good!

This post was a bit rushed but I'm off to Berlin for my birthday weekend! Hejhej!

What do you eat in Copenhagen?

If you know me at all, you know that I love to eat. Luckily, I am in one of the world's gastronomic havens. Although I will not be eating at Noma, the world's #1 restaurant in the world, I have had my share of good food! (FYI: Noma's reservation book opens once a year and in half an hour, all tables are booked solid for the year). Food in Copenhagen is quite expensive, according to numbeo.com, restaurant prices are 55.26% higher here than in San Francisco. To live economically as a student and prevent myself from going bankrupt, I prepare most of my meals during the week. Since I am not the best chef and my kitchen is very modest, I eat a lot of fresh produce and eggs.

Salad: Arugula with jamon, walnuts, tomato, red bell pepper, cucumber, chive crackers and balsamic vinaigrette

Chocolate muesli with strawberries and milk

I love sandwiches

Spinach fettucini with frikadeller (meatballs)

Mother italian restaurant - Alisha and our salamina pizza

Back home, I don't drink much milk-- but because the dairy here is fantastic, I've drank several cartons. In line with consuming dairy to get 'cultured', I have also been eating a lot of ice cream. Soft is (soft serve) is very popular here and the average price for a lille cone is 25 krone ($4.55 USD). The price for regular two scoop cone is 30 krone ($5.34 USD). Although I have a penchant for sweets.. I do have to eat real food sometimes when I go out. In order to save time and money, I look for take-away food options instead of sit-down restaurants. 

Reinh van Hauen - Fragelite cake and Æggsalat sandiwich with shrimp and curry avocado creme (really good)

This is Harry's Place. Of the many pølsvogns in Denmark, this shop has been here for more than 50 years. Frequent clientele include prime ministers and locals alike. I got a huge 1/3 lb grilled pølser with bread. When I tried slicing the bread to place the sausage inside, the man behind the counter told me that the sausage was too big and the Danish way was to eat the bread as a side. I dipped the toasted bun in ketchup and mustard and ate it between sausage bites. When the man behind the counter saw a customer approaching, he warmed two buns and served them to him right when he reached the counter (good service for regulars). Mr. Regular ate the buns in the same manner that I was suggested, so I'm glad I fit in like a Dane :D