Wow oh wow did I love Copenhagen. It is my new favorite city! From the time I arrived to the time I sadly left, I had an amazing time. I arrived at my hostel around 8am (thanks to an early 6am flight from Bergen!) and couldn’t check in until 2pm so I slept on a large sofa bed that the hostel had in its lounge area. When I woke up there were about 10 others doing the same thing (it was a huge sofa bed) so at least I wasn’t the only weirdo doing this. After checking in to my room, which was great, I walked to the rose gardens and park surrounding the Rosenborg Castle. Everyone was lounging around, soaking up the sun’s rays.

Rosenborg Castle

The surrounding park

Around 5:30pm I headed back to the hostel to get a seat for the free dinner the hostel puts on. However, they only serve people seated in specific tables so you have to arrive early to make sure you reserve a seat! I really enjoyed this activity because it made it easy to meet people. I ended up meeting two girls from California who were headed off to college in the fall, one at Colorado College and one to Cal Poly. What a coincidence this was because the only person I know that goes to CC was meeting me the next day in Copenhagen. My new friend was thrilled at the prospect of meeting someone who goes to CC. We ended up bonding over the fact that the guys we sat with were rude and arrogant. After dinner we switched tables to meet some nicer people. Luckily I did. An Aussie (Brendan) and Kiwi (Ryan) sat down with us and we hit it off right away. I ended up talking with them the rest of the night before heading off to bed to catch up on much needed to sleep. I knew I would see them tomorrow as we both had decided to do the free walking tour.

Before the walking tour at 11am, I went to Stella Cafe and had a delicious omelette. After fueling up, I met up with Brendan and Ryan for the tour. As soon as the tour started we met another Aussie, Joanna, who ended up walking with us the rest of the tour. The tour was a great way to see all the main sites in Copenhagen, and because Copenhagen is fairly small, we really were able to see a lot of what I wanted to see. Half way through the tour, we had a 20 minute break to get some coffee and food. Brenden and Ryan went for the bacon wrapped sausages, while Joanna went to get coffee. I wanted a Danish pastry called kanelsnegle (basically a Danish cinnamon roll). IT WAS SO GOOD.

Kanelsnegle in all its glory!!

After the tour we headed back to the hostel to rest our feet and get a beer. At this point Adam Granath met up with me and the group. Also Brendan had a friend from Australia that lives in Copenhagen now so he met us as well. We were now a group of 6. Brendan’s local friend took us to a fabulous food market called Copenhagen Street Food. It’s right on the water and eating outside is a must. I had a yummy burger and some delicious ice cream.

The food market outdoor eating area

After eating, we went to a couple of different bars where we learned a traditional Danish drinking game, which is played at bars. It is sorta similar to BS, but uses dice. It’s called Mia and it’s super fun. After the first bar, we went to The Living Room, which was a totally cool, hipster bar with tons of comfy couches. We met up with more locals and headed to one of their apartments for more drinks before heading out to another bar. Really fun evening.

The next day I slept in (as I like to do) and went for a long run which included a stop at Kastellet, which is one of the best preserved start fortresses in Europe. It was built in 1662!

Windmill within the fortress

After my run I rushed through a quick tower because my cousin Delaney was set to arrive around 2pm!!! She brought along two friends, Julia and Annika. I was so excited to see some familiar faces. Delaney and Annika go to school together at Colorado College, and Julia (from Germany) spent a semester abroad at their school. After getting settled in the hostel room we set off to explore the city. Because I had been there for a few days I became a bit of a tour guide and took them to my favorite spot: Nyhavn, a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district. I can’t get enough of the colored houses all over Scandinavia.

Nyhavn

Exploring Copenhagen

Much deserved ice cream after walking around for hours

After walking around a bit our stomach started grumbling so we decided to try a restaurant that had been recommended to them: Cock’s and Cows. Delicious food, but with Copenhagen already being so expensive, it definitely wasn’t a place we could afford to go to twice.

After a satisfying late lunch/early dinner, we meandered back to the hostel to hang at the hostel bar. The four of us grabbed a beer and enjoyed talking with all sorts of new people. We also met up with the girl that is going to be a freshmen at CC so the four of the them could catch up on all things CC. Around 11, they all decided to go out, but I decided to stay and continue playing card games with Joanna and two swedes we had met (I am not super into the club scene). About an hour later, Brendan and Ryan showed up and dragged the four of us out to some bars. We were the only ones in the first bar we went to and they finally kicked us out around 2am because the bar was closing down for the night. We then found another bar that was tropical themed and proceeded to also close out that bar, but not before dancing to some fun music. We ended up back at the hostel around 4am (which is WAYYY past my bedtime), but I was glad I went out.

The next morning, Delaney, Julia, and Annika went on the walking tour that I had gone on, while I caught up on some sleep and then hung out with Brendan and Ryan at the hostel. Eventually they had to leave for the airport so we said our goodbyes, but hopefully I’ll see them again at some point! Once the girls were done with the walking tour we met up at the Copenhagen Street Food market for some late lunch/early dinner. After we walked to the rose gardens to hang on the lawn.

Opera house in Copenhagen (view from the food market)

Hanging at the park

Our bus to Hamburg was a night bus, meaning we were going to board at 11:30pm and arrive at 6am the next day. After a quick drink at the hostel bar, we grabbed our stuff and headed to the bus station.

Once on the bus we settled in to try to get some sleep before arriving in Hamburg. We quickly realized however that it was going to be tough because every 1.5 hours they woke us up by going over the loud speaker to announce a stop. Also, once we arrived at the German border, German officials came on the bus to check passports. Interestingly, they spent about 20 seconds on my American passport, but about 10 minutes on a guy who looked Middle Eastern. I guess in the past couple months they have started to check passports even between Schengen countries. Nonetheless, we were off again towards Hamburg. Once we arrived, we grabbed a local train to Julia’s hometown of Bad Oldesloe.

We were lucky enough to visit when there was a local parade happening so we got to see some local festivities before heading back to Julia’s house for a lovely breakfast made by here mother. We ate outside in their adorable gazebo.

The mayor of Bad Oldesloe

All the school children in the parade

Laney contributing an American favorite to breakfast: Toad in the hole

Breakfast in Julia’s backyard

After a much needed one hour power nap we headed back in to Hamburg. The first item on the agenda was a stop at a Hamburg court house where Julia’s awesome father works as a judge. The building was super cool and we got to sit in on the case he was presiding over. Even though it was in German and we couldn’t understand a word of it, it was still fascinating. After he was nice enough to give us a tour of the courthouse and then treated us to some yummy ice cream.

The courthouse where Julia’s dad works

Tour inside another court house

After saying goodbye we explored different areas of Hamburg and saw shopping districts, canals, and a beautiful government building.

A traditional German pastry!

We ended the day on a ferry around the river which gave us a unique view of the city.

On the ferry with Julia

A sculpture in Hamburg

We decided to make dinner for Julia’s parents when we got back so after grocery shopping we got to work! We prepared a summery spinach salad, quinoa, and sausages. T’was a great success. It was so fun to talk with Julia’s parents and learn a bit about their lives in Germany.

Homemade dinner

Sadly, Delaney and I were both leaving for our next cities early the next morning so we said our goodbyes and went to bed. Julia rode the train into Hamburg with us in the morning and I had to say bye to both of them as I headed to the bus terminal, while the two of them continued on to the airport as Delaney was going to Barcelona!

Now off to Berlin!!