Copenhagen, Part II

The last time I posted, it was Monday morning and I was getting ready to embark on my last day in Copenhagen.  I had originally planned to have a leisurely morning of sleeping in late and enjoying the hotel breakfast, but my inner alarm clock was not going to let that happen.  Awake, showered, and fed by 9:30, I quickly finished my blog post which I had started the previous night and checked out of my hotel.  It was a perfect morning with a clear blue sky, so I was excited to be on my way.


I didn't really have any set plans for the day, but I quickly realized there was a great attraction just a five minute walk from my hotel.  The Copenhagen city hall is located right on the square next to Tivoli.  It's free to walk around inside and it's a beautiful building.  Lots of windows keep the huge center room bright.  It was cool to walk around the building, but the best part is the clock tower.  A few of only 20 Danish kroner allows you to walk up the more than 300 steps (many of which are spiral staircases!) to the top of the clock tower.  It was super windy up there, but a fantastic few of the city.  Plus, I even asked a nice man to take my photo!  Finally some proof that I've been to Denmark!

Photo of city hall from my first day in Copenhagen.

Inside.  I love the Danish flags everywhere!

View from the top! And nice clear sky.

No laughing at my hair -- it was windy!

After checking out the city from above, I decided it was time to move onward.  Strolling through the streets, I ended up on the little island that holds Christiansborg Palace.  Here are the offices of the Danish Prime Minister, the Danish Parliament, and the Danish Supreme Court.  The queen also uses the space as Royal Reception Rooms.  Basically all branches of the government make use of this huge building.

The front of Christiansborg Palace.

When I first arrived, the queen was actually meeting with some people in the reception rooms, so the majority of the palace was closed.  However, I could still go down into the ruins.  Apparently over the last hundreds of years, multiple buildings have been built on this same site, including the first and second Christiansborg Palaces (the current one is the third).  It seems that the site has been plagued by fires.  Hopefully the current building will remain standing for a while.  So I explored the ruins for a bit (and enjoyed the cool air of being underground).  However, I didn't take any photos because it was pretty dark.  Plus I figured no one would want to see a pile of stones that were a part of the first palace's foundation.  Not exactly thrilling stuff.  Still, all of the plaques also had information in English (unlike the Geology Museum that I visited on Sunday), so it was a really informative exhibit.


Wandering out the back of Christiansborg Palace, I found myself near one of the many canals of Copenhagen.  Figuring I had nothing else planned for the day, I took another harbor cruise (seriously, the Copenhagen Card is the best thing ever!).  It was the same company that I took the cruise with the previous day, but because we were leaving from a different spot in the city, the tour was slightly different.  Even though most of it was the same information (and even though it was rather windy), it was enjoyable to rest a best and get a different view of the city.  

Photo from my harbor cruise.  The new Royal Danish Playhouse.

By the time the tour was finished, the queen was done with her meeting and the Royal Reception Rooms were open to the public!  I quickly headed inside for fear that she would close them again.  Man what a gorgeous building!  Each room was decorated so nicely (including one that had a painting of ducks!) and the views of the courtyard and the surrounding city were quite nice.  Though I wasn't supposed to take pictures, I did snap a quick photo of the thrones.  

Thrones.  Not nearly as fancy as the thrones that kings and queens of the past used (pictures in my last post from Rosenborg).

After getting my fill of royalty for the second day in a row, I wanted to visit the Hans Christian Andersen museum.  At first I couldn't find it and then the sky opened up on me (the weather changes so fast here!), so I made my way to a coffee shop and enjoyed a muffin and cold drink.  I ended up staying there a while reading and listening to all the chatter around me.  Eventually I realized that I can be lazy in a coffee shop anyway, so I headed back out to search for the museum again.  Finding it right next to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum (no need to visit since I'm sure it has all the exact some stuff as the one in Myrtle Beach), I headed inside and spent the next hour reading a selection of his short stories.  I love how the ones that became really popular (ex: The Little Mermaid) are not really the happy stories that Disney portrayed them as.  In Andersen's version, the little mermaid has her tongue cut out, not just her voice taken away.  It's funny how the originals are changed to make them more family friendly.

Statue of Hans Christian Andersen from the museum.

Once I finished up with the museum it was after six and I didn't really have much left to do.  I plan on catching the metro to the airport around 7:30 or 8 for my 10 pm flight.  I sat outside for a while, but people were smoking everywhere and a drunk dude sat down next to me.  Deciding I had had my fill of Copenhagen, I hopped on the metro a little ahead of schedule and arrived at the airport super early for my flight.  Since I had plenty of time to wander around, I now feel like an expert on the Copenhagen airport.  But I arrived home safely right after midnight (and it was still light out!).  It's funny that I've only been in Bergen for five or six weeks, but it felt like returning home.  I guess that's a good thing considering I've still got a month and a half left here.


Anyway, that was my Copenhagen adventure!  I'd say it was a great experience and I've love to go back to the city sometime.  Right now, though, I'm content with Bergen.  I like the smaller city feel and the surrounding mountains.  Copenhagen definitely didn't have the nature aspect that Bergen offers.  My next update will be about all that I've neglected to say over the past few weeks.  Somehow I always do a great job procrastinating with this blog -- it's good practice for when I want to put off all my assignments during senior year! :)


Oh and I think this is a fun way to end this post.  Legos are pretty popular here, and there are plenty of places that sell them.  The biggest and best location for buying them is the official Lego store on Stroget, the pedestrian street in the middle of downtown.  You can probably buy every kind of Lego you would ever want here, but my favorite part was several life-sized Lego figures and an entire wall made of Legos that depicted downtown Copenhagen!

Legos!

Copenhagen

Clearly I don't do a good job with frequent updates.  But I'm going to take a break from the regular talk about Bergen because this weekend, I'm in COPENHAGEN!

Day One

To get the cheapest airfare from Bergen to Copenhagen, I had to catch a flight at 6:45 am.  Which meant waking up at 4 and walking to the bus stop while it was drizzling.  Clearly Bergen was upset that I was leaving for the weekend.  But I wouldn't let the weather get me down because I was pretty exciting to go on this trip.  Plus, the bus to the airport was crowded and I had to stand (which I didn't think was a big deal since it was a quick 15 minute ride), which apparently means I didn't have to buy a ticket!  I'll stand every day of the week if it means I can save a few (or 50!) kroner.

After landing in Copenhagen, the first thing I noticed was all of the bikes!  There were bikes EVERYWHERE!  And all of the streets seem to have a bike lane and sometimes there are even streetlights specifically for bikers.  Compared to hilly Bergen, Copenhagen is incredibly flat, which probably helps explain why so many people bike.  I like this about the city.

 Just a few of the bikes that I've seen so far.

Before leaving for Copenhagen, a family friend suggested that I hit up a cafe called La Glace.  She said they had the best hot chocolate ever.  So the very first thing I did once I landed (aside from being amazed at all the bikes), was search for the cafe.  It took a while and a few wrong turns, but eventually I found it!  Realizing I needed Danish kroner since they didn't take US credit cards, I hit up an ATM and then finally got to enjoy the hot chocolate!  Definitely a great way to start my trip.

 Hot chocolate and a yummy pastry from La Glace.

After filling my belly, I still had a few hours to go before I could check into my hotel.  At the airport I had purchased a Copenhagen Card (which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone visiting), which got me free admission to many of the city's museums and attractions, including the zoo!  I have always loved checking out the animals (assuming they have large enough enclosures) and this one certainly did not disappoint.

 Hippos at the Copenhagen Zoo.  I probably sent too much time watching these guys, but they were pretty interesting.  I liked their ears!

The bears were also pretty entertaining.  They kept climbing up the tree trunk in their enclosure!

After the zoo, I walked back to the main downtown area and it was time to check into my hotel.  I'd like to say thanks to the strip club across the street (and the one next door) for keeping my hotel fairly cheap.

 Too bad my room is on the inside of the hotel so I can watch people as they go in and out.

My room is nice and cozy.  It's small (as I expected it to be), but the bed is comfortable.  Plus I feel very European since my bed just has a comforter and no top sheet.  How fancy!

 Yay for a big bed!  My bed at Fantoft is only a twin, so this was a treat.

After dropping things off at my hotel, I wanted to do a little sight-seeing.  First I went to the Rundetarn, or the Round Tower.  It's right in the really touristy part of town, so it was super easy to find.  You can walk all the way up to the top and stand on the roof to get a good look around the city.

The Round Tower from the street.

And a view from up top!

To finish off my first day in Copenhagen, I decided to go to Tivoli, which is the world's second oldest amusement park.  I wasn't looking to go on any of the rides or to eat at any of the restaurants, but I thought it would be fun to walk around for a bit.

The gate of Tivoli.

One of the first things I came upon was the Peacock Stage, which is where they have pantomime shows.  I only watched about half of one, but it seems to be about the relationship between a young girl and her forbidden lover.  And lots of silly pranks, of course.

The theater.  The peacocks tail opened up to reveal to stage.

Some of the performers.

The best part of the show was definitely the peacock that randomly walked by!  I guess they're free to roam around Tivoli.  His squawk sounded awfully like the bird Kevin from the movie Up.

PEACOCK!

Though it was only 7:30 at night, I was exhausted.  Waking up at 4am definitely took it's tole on me.  I headed back to my hotel to get some sleep, but first I noticed the lights had been turned on at Tivoli.  They were pretty cool looking!

Lighting the path.

Day Two

The plan of attack for my second day was to hit up a lot of museums.  It wasn't supposed to be great weather, so I figured I should spend the day inside.  First up was the art museum.  It was a beautiful building, but I've got to say that I've never been that interested in art.  I was probably only inside for about thirty minutes.  My mom would be proud by how little time I spent there.  My dad would be appalled.  

The art museum.

One of the works of art in the modern art half of the museum.  I thought it looked pretty cool.

Next up was Rosenberg Castle.  Standing in one of the parks downtown, this is probably one of the easier castles to visit if you're in Copenhagen.  Some of the other ones are a bus ride away, but this was within walking distance.  The castle houses the Royal Collection, which includes things as varied as past kind's desks to their thrones to their crowns.

View from outside.

In the mirrored room.  The only proof I have that I was in Copenhagen.

Thrones.

Crowns!

Continuing with the royal theme, I next visited Amalienborg Palace.  Here there are four identical buildings surrounding a courtyard (and a statue of someone on a horse.  The Danish love to portray their important people on horses).  I believe the queen currently lives in one of these buildings.  One of them has been turned into a museum.  I probably wouldn't recommend visiting this particular museum because it mainly had dresses that the queen has worn to royal events.  Not exactly my cup to tea.  But the buildings are beautiful!  I'm really impressed with all the gorgeous architecture in Copenhagen.  All the buildings have so much history behind them.  Most of the photos that I've taken are just buildings that I think look really nice since nothing in the United States even comes close to this level of history and grandeur.

One of the four mansions at Amalienborg Palace.  Do note the beautiful blue sky.

A view of another of the buildings, this time also showing the king on his horse statue and in the background the dome of Frederick's Church.  Now the sky is cloudy and depressing.  This photo was taken probably thirty minutes after the first one.  It was such a windy day and the clouds were flying by, which made the weather pretty unpredictable.  Cloudy one minute, then sunshine, then rain.  Just make up your mind!

After I got my fill of royal artifacts, I was wandering around the waterfront and stumbled upon a sand sculpture contest!  Some of them had really great designs and all were impressive.  The sand castles I make at the beach are pretty basic and underwhelming compared to these! 

A Greek themed sand castle.

I think this one was based off Copenhagen landmarks.

Man with bunny ears?

Finally to finish my long day of exploring Copenhagen, I took a harbor cruise.  It might not have been perfect weather, but it was nice to see so much of the city in a short period of time.  Plus it gave me a chance to relax since I had been walking for the previous six hours or so.  I also realized that I take really terrible photos.  Below is the only one I'm willing to share.

View of the Nyhavn from the water.

Alright, that about wraps up my first two days in Copenhagen.  Today looks like it's beautiful and sunny, so I'm going to head out and do some more adventuring!  I'll be sure to write a second update detailing my remaining time in this great city.

Gamlehaugen

I have a decent amount of photos to upload from the last two weeks or so.  Instead of one giant post, I'm going to break it up into several smaller ones, so I'll try to have several updates this week.

First, Gamlehaugen.  According to a sign at the park, Gamlehaugen translates to the Old Hill.  (According to Google Translate, it means old heap, which doesn't sound nearly as nice)  About a ten minute walk from my dorm, the mansion of Gamlehaugen is where the royal family of Norway stays when they are in Bergen.  Wikipedia tells me that it was built in 1900 and I've gotta say that it looks great for being over 110 years old.

While scoping out a bus stop that I need in order to get to the airport, I saw Gamlehaugen off in the distance.  And once when hiking, I also spotted it from above.  Thinking that it looked pretty cool, I decided to check it out.

Gamlehaugen as viewed from the top of a mountain.

Once I reached the park that includes the house and the surrounding grounds, I decided to first walk down to the water.  I've been told that this is a good place for swimming, though I bet it's pretty chilly.  It is a nice view and the water was super clear!

Looking one direction from a trial that ran along the water. 

From a different part of the trail, out into the wider part of the bay.

 Looking up toward the house from the water.  It's definitely a place that can hold many, many people.  When the royal family is not in town, it's a museum.

Surrounding the house is lots of green space!  There are plenty of trails and a giant lawn for people to gather on.  The weather has been great recently, so I'm sure this park is getting a lot of use!  Some of the trails are pretty steep, which was nice because I felt like I got a little work out while being a mega tourist and photographing everything.

 Example of the giant lawn.  There's also a greenhouse!

Little statue of King Haakon VII.   He was the first king of Norway after they became independent of Sweden, so I suppose he was the first king to use Gamlehaugen.

Basically this is yet another example of all the beauty that in contained in the little city of Bergen.  Nestled right in between several mountains, I think Gamlehaugen would be an ideal residence.  Probably quite expensive to maintain though (I doubt you could find anyone to cut this lawn for only $25!).

Another view of Gamlehaugen. 

My last view of the gorgeous house as I walk away.  (Do note the clear, blue sky! YEAH nice weather!)

On a completely unrelated subject, NEVER EVER leave out bananas or banana peels.  You'll quickly become infested with numerous fruit flies.  I can't even count how many I killed today.  I took out my trash this morning, but it still seems like they're multiplying! AHHH.

Bjerknes Centre

Whoops, somehow I let too much time go by without an update. Considering I've been here for three and a half weeks and nearly 100% of my posts have been about what I do in my free time, I figure I should mention the work I've been doing. You know, the reason I'm in Norway in the first place.

This summer I'm fortunate to be interning at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research. The Bjerknes Centre, a Norwegian Centre of Excellence, is part of the University of Bergen and is associated with the Geophysical Institute. The group that I'm a part of works with climate models. The specific project that I'm focusing on is called RiskChange and it's concerned with Scandinavia and the future implications of climate change. Specifically we're looking into Copenhagen, Oslo, and Bergen. My part of the project is to validate the model. To do this, I will be comparing observational data from various meteorological stations around Norway and Denmark to output from the climate model. The idea behind this is that if the model does a poor job reconstructing the past (called a hindcast because it's basically a forecast for what has already happened), then its projections for the future should not be taken too seriously. Ideally the model's results will look somewhat similar to the actual observations, which indicates that the model should do a good job predicting the future. The climate model just finished running, so I'll start looking at the data over the next few days.

After almost a month here, I've gotta say that my favorite part of the Bjerknes Centre is the people. The researcher that helped me get over here is Stefan and he's really nice. Which is a good thing considering I'm invading his office for the summer. Plus he's American and he spent a year at UNC as a postdoc, so we've got a common background. Everyone else has been really welcoming as well.  There are people here from all over the world (and from Norway, of course), so it's cool to hear so many accents in one place.  Plus, the Bjerknes Centre seems to do a great job pulling in professors and researchers from BLANK universities to give talks in the weekly seminars.  I've really enjoyed those so far.  This week there is a professor visiting from University of Washington, which is where I'm considering applying for grad school, so I'm definitely going to try to get a brief meeting with him.

Below are a couple of photos of my building.  I think it's nice, both from the outside and inside.  Sadly there's construction on the first floor, which is so loud and tends to vibrate the whole building.  I suppose all the crashing gives me something to listen to.  Plus I must admit that I'm slightly jealous of the workers who are smashing down the walls below me.  I mean, who wouldn't want to sledgehammer something?

 The Geophysical Institute/Bjerknes Centre.  A view from the street.

My side of the building.  I'm on the third floor!