Copenhagen!

Hey guys!
I am so sorry that I haven’t updated for so long. I haven’t been keeping my promise of updating
often- my bad. One of the reasons why I
haven’t updated recently was due to the fact that I have been studying for my
final exams for the past two weeks so I haven’t done much of anything during
that period of time. However, as of
10/15/11 I completed my Basics in Supply Chain Management exam and free for the
next week or so. Going back three weeks,
I got to take a major trip to Denmark and other areas with my friend Laura, who
is from Germany. The trip came into
being from the simple task I was given to go and get my student visa card from
any permit office in Sweden. I was given
a list of all government facilities regarding visas and immigration by
university staff (including the locations of all detention facilities if I was
caught not having this card after 3 months) and I had to choose which office I
wanted to go to.
Going down the list, I noticed that there was an immigration
office in Malmo, which is located in the South Western corner of Sweden. With the other two close locations being
Stockholm (which I had toured a couple weeks earlier) and Gothenburg (smaller
city, where I flew into to go to Jonkoping), I decided that I would take a trip
down to Malmo for the day and check out the city. During class, I mentioned that I need to go
to Malmo to Laura, and she told me that she was interested in going with me to
Malmo, and that we should go see Lund and Copenhagen as well. I agreed within a matter of seconds after the
idea was brought up. After buying our
tickets, we had it all planned out- leave for Malmo at 330 in the morning on
Friday, go to Malmo and visit the immigration office, look around the city, go
to Lund, look around there, then go to Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, we would stay at a hostel
close to the town hall and along the river for the night, then meet with my
buddy David and look around the city.
From there, we would catch the bus from Copenhagen to Jonkoping and be
back in Jonkoping by 130 Sunday morning.
Our adventure started at the Jonkoping bus station at 315,
where I met Laura and we waited for the bus to arrive. After boarding the bus, I was asleep within 5
minutes after the bus left the station, and woke up 10 minutes prior to our
arrival in Malmo. Getting off the bus,
we found ourselves in an industrial area, with the “Turning Torso” building off
in the distance. Pulling out our maps,
we went off in search of coffee, and the immigration permit building. I am proud to report that we were successful
in finding both. With coffee in hand, we
strolled along the water and found ourselves on neighborhood streets on the far
North side of the city, surrounded by little houses, shops, and the occasional
apartment complex. After arriving in the
permit office, standing in line took longer than getting the permit
itself. All I had to do was go into an
office, give my name, show the papers, give a shipping address and I was good
to go.
From there, Laura and I went on a sightseeing spree- and
covered everything from windmills, to parks, to gardens, to castles, to the
waterfront. On a particularly
interesting note, I was walking with Laura in front of an old castle that was
built by the Danes when they occupied Malmo, and I happened to see a guy
wearing a North Park University sweat shirt.
After asking him about it, it turns out that I went to school with his
younger brother when I was an undergrad.
After our conversation, I had to reflect on what were the chances of
running into a guy in a foreign country wearing a sweatshirt from a university
that makes up around 3,500 students.
Exploring the waterfront, we had a great view of the sea, the turning
torso, and if you looked way off into the distance, you can see the bridge that
connects Sweden and Denmark.
Shortly there afterwards, we hopped on a bus and went to
Lund, where one of the top two universities in all of Sweden is located. Lund is a beautiful city with a wonderful
campus, a gorgeous cathedral, and great shopping district. I did notice however that it is a college
town, and if you don’t know anyone there, it is hard to “get the most” out of
Lund. I do recommend visiting though,
and it happens to be the alma mater of my Swedish professor on an unrelated
side note. Laura and I ended up having
dinner at an Asian restaurant that was offering an “after work” special. Swedish restaurants often offer a special on
early Friday evenings that usually consists of a small buffet and a cheap
drink. This was a particularly weird
restaurant- the hostess was incredibly rude, but hey- can’t let the small
things get you down. From there, we
prepped for our trip to Copenhagen and waited for the bus back at the bus
station.
Boarding the bus, we ran into fellow Jonkoping University
students on the bus. One was headed to
Berlin, while the others were headed to Copenhagen as well. One of the most amazing things about going
over from Sweden to Denmark is the massive bridge that spans across the channel
between the two countries. From the
massive bridge, you go into an underwater tunnel, which then ends into
Denmark. Arriving in Copenhagen, we
walked to our hostel and were assigned rooms.
The hostel we stayed in was called Dan Hostel, located literally right
next to the river and right down the street from the famous Town Hall. This being the first time I stayed in a “professional”
hostel, I was amazed at how nice it was.
It had a student pub, a nice lobby, a clean cafeteria, and comfortable
rooms. I stayed on the ninth floor-
which resulted in an awesome surprise come sunrise.
After meeting back up with Laura about a half an hour later,
we decided to go on a walk around Copenhagen.
It amazed me on how beautiful the city was- from the tall cathedrals, to
the beautiful homes that lined the streets, to the canals running through the
city. After a half an hour walk, we met
up with my friend David Roby from back home in Seattle. After introductions, Laura retired for the
night and I went with David for a beer.
Hanging out on a dock with beer in hand, it was great to catch up and
share the experiences we’ve had living abroad.
Calling it a night, we decided to meet up again the next day.
Waking up at 9 in the morning, I got to look outside and was
awe-struck on how beautiful our view was.
Our window looked out onto town hall, multiple cathedrals, and a huge
part of the city. Walking outside, we
decided to make our way to the town hall, and then explore the rest of the city
from there. The town hall is
incredible. Not only was it massive and
beautiful, it was a symbol of the power held by the Danish empire during the time
it was built. On an interesting note, a
large part of Sweden was part of the Danish Empire for an extensive period of
time. Hanging out in the plaza next to the
town hall, Laura ran into one of her roommates that stayed with her for the
night. We asked if she would be
interested in joining us in touring the city, and she was more than happy to
accept. From there, we headed north to
look at the famous gardens and palace that was a short walk away.
I was extremely impressed with the gardens and the
castle. The castle is impressive, with
massive windows, tall towers, and an overall beautiful layout. Much to my dismay though, part of it was
under renovation. This has plagued me
for a huge part of my time here in Sweden- visiting famous monuments that were
under repairs. Never the less, this is a
must visit for any visitor here in Copenhagen.
From there, we decided to find something to eat and get a coffee- the
drink of choice for many Scandinavians, and myself. This errand led us to a coffee shop that was
located right next to the water and the docks.
After getting a coffee and a Danish pastry (yes- this was on purpose) we
relaxed and people watched right next to the docks.
Copenhagen was an incredible time! We travelled and visited multiple cathedrals (my
favorite being the Marble Cathedral), multiple palaces, a massive
fortification, and the famous Mermaid statue in the Copenhagen harbor. In the early evening, we were able to meet
with David where we decided to check out the more “unseen” areas of Copenhagen
by tourists. I speak specifically of
Christiana- the “Green Light” district of Copenhagen. This is the pot selling area of the city,
where you are not allowed to take pictures because cannabis is still illegal,
but it is sold in stalls in this area. It
was basically a little San Francisco in Copenhagen- filled with pot smoking
hippies. After spending some time
looking around there, we walked along the canals and then headed towards the
train station.
After hanging out for a while there, we walked up to the bus
stop and started saying our goodbyes- when I heard a massive “OH NO!” come out
from Laura. As it turns out, we had
mixed up departure times for our bus, and the bus left 20 minutes earlier- and
it was the last one of the night. Going
from a relaxed setting to being in full panic mode, we scrambled back to the
train station to found out how we can get back home. With the only options being a train ticket
that cost around $300 or waiting till morning for the next bus, we waited for
the next bus. Sense we had accidently
expanded our trip by a good 8 hours; we decided to go out again- to a kebab
shop not far from the train station. As
it turns out, it also happened to be in the Red Light district as well- so I
got to be in the Red and Green Light districts in Copenhagen within a matter of
hours. After hanging out for another
hour or so, we split up and went back to the Dan Hostel to drop off Laura’s
former roommate. After saying goodbye,
we began our wait in the train station.
Our night at the train station was filled with announcements
over the intercom, people walking by who were staring at our bags, and
drunks. After telling a drunk to leave
us alone, who really wanted to have3 a drunken conversation with us, another
one decided to pass out directly in front of us. It took security a good 1.5 hours to figure
out that he was there. Finally, 5.30 AM
came and we went to the bus station to catch our 6 AM bus. We took this bus to Gothenburg, where we
caught a transfer bus that would take us to Jonkoping. We arrived a mere 11 hours late. Despite the turbulent ending of our journey,
we had a great time and I highly recommend visiting Southern Sweden and
Copenhagen. My following posts will talk
about my trip to mainland Europe. Thank you
for reading guys and I will talk to you again soon!
Later!