Week 13: Family & Friends

Elbert Hubbard once said “no man (or woman) needs a vacation so much than the person who just had one.” I can definitely attest to that! I woke up Monday (4/9) feeling physically better. I felt even better throughout the week when I found out during both one of my Monday/Wednesday classes and my Tuesday class that deadline for looming assignments had been postponed. Enough about schoolwork though.

I spent Wednesday (4/11) packing very lightly for my first (and only) solo trip. After class on Thursday (4/12), I took the Tube to Heathrow for by British Airways flight. Never again was I going to anywhere else for any other carrier. I even enjoyed a whole row all to myself (not that the flight was very long; nevertheless, I was very comfortable). Before I knew it, I was in Copenhagen, Denmark!

My arrival was a little anticlimactic, however. Before I could meet up with aunt and uncle, I had to pick up my luggage (more like my smaller-than-a-duffle-bag size bag). After everyone else on the flight left, the carousel continued to go round and round, but my bag was nowhere to be found. So, I got in line and reported my luggage as missing at the desk. Then, I was greeted and comforted by my aunt and uncle. After a bit more investigation, we decided to head out of the airport.

Let me just say – Denmark and its language are absolutely beautiful. Copenhagen was the first city (outside of London) that I could truly see myself living in. Han Christian Andersen is the pride of the city, so it was only fitting that our first stop was —what has been commonly called— Den lille havfrue (the Little Mermaid). After just a brisk walk along the water in Churchill Park, there she was. A solemn young figure modeled after the title character in Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale. Why did I describe her as solemn, you may ask. Read the original version. You’ll understand.

Then, my aunt and uncle treated me to a traditional Danish dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. I had a very delicious white fish topped with a mountain of baby shrimp sandwich on rye called Stjerneskud (Shooting Star). Obviously, this was not your regular ‘American’ sandwich. Danes do not just stick things between two pieces of bread. They lay out the pieces of bread and stack the ingredients on top. They call it smørrebrød (open sandwich). Delicious!

Upon our arrival to their house—it really hit me: I have nothing else to wear except the clothes on my back. Lucky for me, my aunt still had some of my cousin’s clothes (whom I will introduce more formally later on), which she offered to me (even more luckily—they fit!). Later that evening, we stopped by a family member’s house on my uncle’s side. I sat their in awe (and pitched in when I could) listening to cousins, aunts, and uncles easily transitioning from English to Danish to Tagalog and anywhere in between. Most of the girl cousins were my age and graciously made plans to take me out in a couple of days.

I woke up Friday (4/13) morning to a familiar smell. I walked into the kitchen and was warmly greeted by my aunt who had cooked a traditional Filipino breakfast of white rice, eggs over easy, and tocino. A true taste of home! My elation continued when my aunt informed me that she had been calling the airport and they found my luggage! So, we headed back to their airport to reunite me with my bag. We came back to the house to drop it off and shortly after, we hopped onto the bus (gotta love convenient and reliable transportation, especially when gas is over 10 Krone a liter!) It costs about 1 U.S Dollar to buy 5.6 Krone. Therefore, 10 Krone is about $1.80. So, it would cost $1.80 to buy 1 liter of gas. One liter is only .26 of a gallon. To buy 1 gallon, you would have to buy about 3.8 liters. So…you would have to pay nearly SEVEN dollars for ONE gallon of gas in Copenhagen. No wonder everyone bikes around here!

We ended up on the world’s longest net of Strøget (pedestrian streets) lined with shopping and dining. My cousin Michelle, better known by her nickname Cielo (pronounced Shell-o), met up with us to, well, walk around. Soon, we reached the memorial anchor to mark the beginning of Nyhavn (New Harbor), which actually is not new. In fact, it was built in the 1670’s, making it the oldest part of the Copenhagen harbor. We all grabbed a Danish-style hot dog from a pølsevogn (sausage wagon), where a vendor squirts the requested condiment into a roll with one hole at the end and then inserts the sausage, which is thin and long. (I decided to try sennep, the traditional, sharp flavored, golden brown mustard of Denmark. That mustard definitely had kick!)

Before we could even finish our hot dogs, we were in a boat for a tour of the manmade canal trimmed with boldly-colored and picturesque houses and restaurants. (Famous Danes such as Andersen and H. Holms lived in these houses; number 67 and number 55, respectively). We also passed by the old Stock-Exchange building, Holmen’s Church, the Little Mermaid statue, a Danish library, the Viking Ship Museum, the Christiansborg Palace, and much more!

After our boat tour, we strolled over to Amalienborg Palace, the heavily guarded residence of the Danish Royal Family. Denmark’s constitutional monarchy the is one of the oldest and most established institutions. The ‘palace’ is more like a square of palaces because there are four of them: Moltkes Palace (Christian VII's palace), Schackske Palace (Christians IX's palace and residence of Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik), Levetzaus Palace (Christian VIII's palace and residence of Crown Prince Frederik) and Brockdorfske Palace (Frederik VIII's palace).

Lunchtime arrived before I knew it and I could not wait to try another open sandwich. Oh so good! Danes love their carbs because the weather requires it, so I did not feel bad having another sandwich. I definitely earned my meal, though, because our next stop was Rundetaarn (the Round Tower), which was built to serve as an astronomical observatory, student church, and university library. The tower is called round for obvious reasons. What is not so obvious, however, is the unique (at least in European architecture) spiral walk, which winds for 209 meters (more than 8200 feet!). Reaching the top offers the reward of not only the magnificent view of old Copenhagen but also the beautiful 350-year old wrought-iron lattice that surrounds the platform. After wrapping up with souvenir shopping, we stopped by Cielo’s apartment where I met her boyfriend and father of her baby.

Our next stop was a family members’ house for dinner. There, I not only met Michael, his wife Angela, and their son Paolo, but I also met my cousin’s son Benjamin! I kept the two young boys company while also learning more about Danish cuisine, traditions, and even more of the language, which to my untrained ear sounded Oriental in pronunciation and Germanic in vocabulary. We enjoyed a delicious family meal before heading back to my aunt and uncle’s house.

The next morning (4/14), my aunt and uncle took me to a Danish wholesale market (think a smaller-scale Costco) to basically spoil me. (I totally regretted bringing only such a small piece of luggage because I could only get what could fit in it!) I picked out an awesome pair of sandals, a medium-sized purse, and of course—chocolate! Danish chocolate is A-MAZ-ING. Just ask my friends (especially Rasa) because I brought back a box of creamy milk chocolate and white chocolate bars.

My fun just started because I met with the cousins I mentioned earlier and they took me to Tivoli—Copenhagen’s 150-year old amusement park. The old-world carnival-style atmosphere was definitely a treat because there were more than just roller coasters. In addition to an on-site lake, which is a remnant of the city’s moat, there were also fountains and live entertainment.

Later that evening, the cousins and I met up with my cousin Cielo at a pedestrian street, where we had dinner at Hoppes Bar. Then, we headed out to lively part of town where I just had to hop on a bike just so I can say I rode a bike in Denmark. We shared great drinks and conversation before calling it a night because I had to be up early the next morning to catch my flight.

I had the pleasure of hanging out more with Benja on Sunday morning (4/15) before I was dropped off at the airport. I expressed by gratitude and bid my Danish family goodbye and headed back to London, where a different set of familiar faces was gathered.

I did not mention it earlier, but the day I headed out of London was the day that Becca’s guy friends were heading into London. While I was gone, the guys got a chance to see the city and hang out with the rest of the gang. On Sunday night, we all headed out to International Night, a cultural performance of the different cultures represented by Richmond University.

What a week for family and friends! With friends visiting from Los Angeles and visiting family in Copenhagen, I am pooped! With less than a month left of my European excursion, I will spend my time hitting more spots in London, but also preparing to head back home.

See you soon!
Danielle