The Danes Live in Denmark, Not the Dutch.

I took advantage of my fall break and decided to take a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, from November 8th - November 12th. I found a cheap round-trip flight for $75 and a hostel in the city center for $12 a night. I hadn't heard anything negative about Denmark, and some of my German friends said it was a beautiful country with kind people and I was going to love it.

November 8th:

My original plan was to take a bus from Hull to the Interchange, then a train from Hull to Manchester Piccadilly, and a second train from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester International Airport. When I got to the train station, I found out that my original train had been canceled. Now I had to take a train from Hull to Leeds and then Leeds to Manchester Victoria (the wrong station to be at when trying to go to the airport).

I planned on getting to the airport two hours early, but because of all the train changes and delays, if I had taken the bus from Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly and then a train from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester International Airport, I would've had 45 minutes to get my boarding pass, go through security, find my gate, and board the plan. I ended up grabbing a cab to the airport to make sure I was able to catch my flight.

I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare (shout out to my taxi driver), boarded my flight, and off we went to Copenhagen International! It's cool to land in Copenhagen because you make a U-turn over the water between Denmark and Sweden and get a beautiful view out of your window. We landed around 4 PM, and after deboarding and going through immigration, I was out of the airport around 5 PM. I caught the train from the airport to the central station and walked about 6 minutes to my hostel.

When I got to the hostel, I quickly took a shower to refresh and found a kabob shop to get dinner from called Killer Kabobs. The kabob was mediocre at best, and as soon as I was done with it, I headed to bed. I was recovering from a cold, so I barely slept the night before and had to get up at 6 AM to catch my bus on time. I wasn't too stressed because I knew there was a lot in store for me over the next few days.

November 9th:

When I was looking for things to do in Copenhagen, the main suggestion was a Copenhagen card, which allowed you access to over 100 different tourist attractions/activities, including museums, castles, and access to all forms of public transportation. I got the card to use on the 9th and had quite a time exploring the city and seeing different attractions.

The first thing I did was the Canal Tour. This hour-long tour showed you a variety of different iconic and impressive things along the canal, such as The Opera House, Amalienborg Palace, the Black Diamond, BLOX, The Little Mermaid statue, and the Circle Bridge. The sky was so beautiful to look at, and I enjoyed seeing Copenhagen in the light for the first time on the water.

Afterward, I wanted to go to The Round Tower, a circular tower with an observation deck at the top where you can observe the whole city. The street leading to The Round Tower has dozens of luxury shops, like Balenciaga, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and more. While walking to The Round Tower from the Canal Tour, I stopped in a couple of shops to see if there were any souvenirs I could get to remember my time in Copenhagen. I also walked past one of the Christmas Markets (in early November, I know) that I decided I wanted to come back to later.

It takes a long time to walk up to the tower's observation deck, but it's well worth seeing the view. It's really cool to see the city from above. And the walk down is much easier. After my trip to The Round Tower, I went to the Christmas Market and got some danish style mini crepes and hot chocolate while I looked around at all the booths set up. It was nice to just take a second to enjoy the city and some delicious food.

After my trip to the Christmas Market, I went to Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. I have been to one in San Antonio before and wanted to see what was different. The main difference is that this museum was mostly interactive, and (obviously) it focused on records broken in Europe rather than the US. After the museum, I spent some time walking around the city just to see what I could see.

I stumbled across the City of Copenhagen Museum and went in there next. There was stained glass leading to the museum entrance, and the museum was broken up in a very understandable way. You walked through different rooms that led you through the history of Copenhagen, with the final room being about modern Copenhagen. There was information about the statistics of Copenhagen and the problems the government was trying to fix.

After the museum, I grabbed dinner at a burger restaurant called Vesterbros. I headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before my early morning. I had an exciting adventure planned for the 10th, and I didn't want to risk falling asleep during it.

November 10th:

My dad went to Sweden years ago and absolutely loved it. So when I saw there was a day trip from Copenhagen to Sweden, I knew I had to book it.

The first stop on this day trip was about 45 minutes away in Kronborg, which you've probably heard of before as Elsinore when you read William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. The castle is absolutely stunning, made of white stone with a green roof. I didn't go into the castle, but I got the chance to walk around the outside and explore the rocky beaches. Across the water - 2.5 miles away - is Sweden. After taking my pictures (and some rocks), I grabbed some coffee from a local cafe near the castle and enjoyed the ambiance of Helsingør.

But that was only our first stop. Next, we boarded a ferry to Sweden. But this blog is about my time in Denmark! To read about my adventures in Sweden, check out my other blog: What's the Strangest Place You've Met a Jehovah's Witness? I'll go First...

November 11th [ Happy Veteran's Day, Grandpa :) ]:

On the 11th, I booked another day trip, but I wasn't going international this time. This tour took us to four beautiful and rich-with-history locations in Denmark. The first stop was Roskilde Cathedral, which was built in the 1000s and has suffered two major fires (the latest being in the 1400s). Roskilde Cathedral is where Danish royalty is laid to rest when they die, so not only did I see a church from the 1000s and a Bible from the 1800s, but I also got to see the elaborate caskets of previous Danish rulers.

The city Roskilde Cathedral is really beautiful, with cobblestone streets, a view of the ocean, and lots of golden yellows. We got to drive through the city when we went to our next stop, The Viking Ship Museum.

Apparently, a lot of Viking ship pieces were found in Denmark, and they put them together to create the Viking ships from hundreds of years ago. The museum has a lot of information about the ships, Viking travels, and Viking lifestyle that was really interesting. The coolest part of the museum is how workers recreate Viking ships using the same tools and materials that the Vikings would use to learn more about them. It was cool to see them in action.

After the museum, we went to Frederiksborg Castle, which is big and beautiful. It had stunning ceiling paintings, a beautiful ballroom, and a breathtaking church. The furniture and art are from all different centuries, as many different kings lived in the castle. Frederiksborg Castle also is famous for its gardens, but unfortunately, they were closed due to renovations.

After seeing Frederiksborg Castle, I grabbed some lunch at a local cafe called Cafe Valentin, and we were off to our fourth and final location for the trip. And you'll never guess where we went.

I was back in Kronborg for the second time in two days, but this time I went inside. Many of the original pieces in Kronborg were taken by the Swedes, including a fountain with a dancing Neptune (which has never been recovered). However, some of the original floors were still in place, and the dungeons and cellar remained relatively untouched. I also saw the infamous Ogier the Dane statue. Legend says that the statue will come to life and fight off the enemy if Denmark is ever under attack.

Once we left Kronborg, the group headed back to Copenhagen, where I went back to my hostel, grabbed a snack - "movie theatre popcorn" from the bar - and headed upstairs to pack everything up and get ready to leave the next day.

November 12th:

I made quite a few international friends on this trip that I've found a way to keep up with, and everyone I met ended up leaving on Saturday, like me. I checked out of my hostel at 10 AM before heading to a small cafe called Petról before I headed to Central Station. I took the train from Central Station to Copenhagen International and then got a flight to Manchester International. Once I landed in Manchester, I got a train from the airport to Manchester Piccadilly and then a second (third?) train to Hull. When I got to Hull, I took a bus to the university, and I was back where I started a few days ago, but this time, with a lot of new stories.

In order from right to left: Statue outside of the Copenhagen Museum; Working cannons used to salute to Queen; Frederiksberg Castle; Fredericksburg Castle ceiling; Fredericksburg Castle church; Outside of the Viking Ship Museum; Alter in Roskilde Cathedral; Roskilde Cathedral; Kronborg Castle; Stained glass in the Copenhagen Museum; City of Copenhagen; Copenhagen skyline; Houses seen on the Canal Tour; Morning sky in Copenhagen; View during the Canal Tour

For more pictures, go to my Photos page!