Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Køpenhavn

I arrived in Copenhagen that evening and met Erik Wasli, Eric's first cousin, at the platform. Luckily I had sent him a few pictures and I had done some research online, so we both vaguely knew what eachother looked like. They only lived a short bit from the train station, so it was pretty conveniant.

That evening we talked over coffee and tea, and I went to bed pretty early. Erik is a psychotherapist and he has an office down in the basement, complete with it's own bed.The next morning we all went out and saw the Copenhagen City Museum (which they had never been to). It was full of typical things Danes used throughout history ´(tools, plates, etc.) as well as the history of the city. It had quite a nice ballroom at the top, too. (Erik is waving)

Apparently Denmark has been having very poor weather for the last few weeks. Rain, rain and more rain. It was no different that day, so they let me borrow a rain jacket so I didn't walk around in a giant poncho looking like a fool the entire day. After the museum we climbed up the large tower that Christian IV (probably the most famous Dane ever) built. The passageway that winded up the tower was wide enough that he could ride his chariot up to the top. From the top of the tower, even though it was raining, you could get a pretty good view of Copenhagen. If you'll notice, there are not a lot of sky scrapers in Copenhagen. The city is mostly against them in order to preserve the uniqueness of the town. After all the sightseeing we got some lunch at one of Erik's favorite places to eat.

We wandered around the city for a little while and stopped at a few stores before deciding to head back. That night we had good dinner (pasta with feta cheese, olives and pesto) and settled in to watch "MASH".

The next day, it was raining quite a bit but it stopped and Kare, Bjarke and I went on a bike ride to the Open Air Museum - a museum consisting of several types of old Danish houses and exhibitions on how they lived. Surrounding the houses were nice fields and farms, so it seemed like you had traveled straight into the Danish country side. I couldn't resist the urge to join in on some old school Danish recreation.

After the bike ride we had some hot tea (it's pretty cold here) and hung around the house for the rest of the night. We had steak and potatoes for dinner and afterward watched "A Fist Full of Dynamite". As you can see, it was a pretty relaxed visit to Denmark.

The next morning we had some real Danish pastry (so I can tell you all how good it is when I get back) and I went and got my haircut...It was getting really bad. After that I went with Erik and Bjarke to visit Miriam (Arne's sister). She had tea, cookies, cake and sandwiches all laid out for us. We talked about my trip for some time before it was time to go meet Kare, Molly and her youngest child at Tivoli Gardens - Copenhagen's famous theme park right in the middle of town.

Kare bought Bjarke and I an unlimited ride pass, so we went on all of the rides there (well, most of them at least). After riding them, we went and got some Chinese food at the Chinese Tower and then relaxed outside at a tea house and listened to the live music (it was Greenland weekend at Tivoli, so it was all Greenlandish music...if that's even a word I don't know) until the park closed.

The next morning I caught a train to Stockholm after saying farewell and many thank yous to the Wasli family across the pond. Their hospitality made me feel right at home.

Sorry this post wasn't as entertaining as the last. Writing that last one took a lot of writing energy out of me. Maybe something extraordinary will happen in Stockholm.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Ryan,

I'm so glad you were able to spend time with the Wasli Family. How wonderful to have some down time and meet relatives I've never even met....I know it meant a lot to Aunt Miriam to see you again after all these years !!!!! We wish we could have been with you.We cant wait until you get home. Much Love, MOM