As you have probably noticed in my past posts, I am not staying with a Danish family yet and am just spending time in Copenhagen. That defies the concept of a homestay, doesn’t it? Tomorrow our flight leaves to the city of Aalborg on a different island of Denmark, making today our last day in the beautiful city of Copenhagen and we did not waste any time.
The Vikings have long been associated with the Scandinavian countries, Denmark especially. Today we were given the oppertunity to learn more about them and too see to-scale reproductions of their ships made from actual wood salvaged from the remains of sunken ones. To think that the wood is the wood that the real Vikings used so many thousands of years ago leaves me in awe. There were also full reproductions of Viking ships and costumes that we wore to take photos in.
Later, we bused to nearby Roskilde Cathedral, a beautiful brick and copper building from circa 1100 (!!) that is the burial site for many Danish royals. There was a christening going on there for a little boy now named Viggo so it was filled with nicely dressed people and beautiful choir music. It was a truly magical moment when we were walking through the many rooms with the royal tombs and we could hear both our tour guide talking about the history of the cathedral along with the organ and choir music for the christening. It’s hard to describe the grandeur of the many rooms of the cathedral, but how intricate and ornate everything was blew me away. Nowadays it’s all about minimalism. Driving into the area we saw a flea market and some shopping streets, so everyone asked for some time to explore. This fulfilled part of my travel philosophy (must-dos when travelling) which is to:
– Try the street food
– Go to a grocery store
– Go to a flea market
Our group returned to the Viking Ship Museum for another Danish lunch, which I enjoyed more than the lunch we got on Day 2. Perhaps it is because the flavour of the food wasn’t as different as it was yesterday, making it more enjoyable? One thing I have to say I do enjoy though is the bread and how seedy and nice it is. Though I’ve heard mixed opinions about it from peers, I absolutely love it and am considering making some when I get back home to Canada.
The Crown Jewels of the Danish monarchy are stored in the underground cellar of a castle called Rosenborg, situated in the middle of Copenhagen. The castle was beautiful, just like every other one we have seen and we even had the chance to see guards. Unlike what I expected, the guards interacted mildly with visitors rather than being strictly stern. Leading down to the cellar, we saw some questionable statues whose faces still threaten to haunt me. However, what made me slightly overwhelmed was the abundance of jewels and general pompousness of the entire collection. It made me wonder how royals could live such a rich and indulgent lifestyle without getting sick and feeling bloated with riches.
I mentioned doing a walking tour of the shopping district called Strøget in my Day 1 blog, but today we actually got the chance to shop there. We were given some freedom as to where to go and it was definitely a lot of fun that way. My particular group went to a store called Tiger, basically a combination of IKEA and the dollar store and we also went to the famous design store Hay House and took in the beautiful products and view. Once again, we concluded our day with a visit to Tivoli, where we had Italian food for dinner.
Something that shocked us was that when a pizza was ordered and you wanted to split it, all parties would have to each pay a ‘split fee’ that caused the price for the split pizza to be the the same or close to being more than just getting a whole pizza. As well, water in a pitcher actually has to be purchased when eating at a restaurant. That is unheard of in Canada. I am assuming that since we were in Tivoli Gardens when this occurred, it was just a common thing in tourist attractions. Even tickets for a single ride can cost $15 CND. That is a major thing I was warned about travelling to Denmark. The prices for some goods are either the same or much more than what we would be used to paying in Canada.
Another thing that I had noticed over the past few days is the friendliness of the Danes. A few occasions have occured in which someone will approach us with stories and goodwill. While my friends and I were taking photos together outside a coffee shop, someone actually decided to photobomb us. We ended up laughing and smiling at each other for about a minute! It was so sweet.
Tomorrow we leave Copenhagen for our homestays in Størvring which I am incredibly excited about. It will be very nice to meet the family I will be stay with and to learn more about their way of life and the education system through staying with them. I’ll keep my experiences posted but until then, enjoy the faces of these terrifying statues from Rosenborg.
