The Breakdown of Explorations

Night one I was greeted with a fællsspisning with family and it was the perfect warm welcome to my journey. What a hyggeligt evening!

The first day began by going to Charlottelund on the coast, an old Danish fort on the coast that is now a small urban camping ground. Then we drove up the east coast along the ocean to Hellsingor to Kronborg Castle, where Hamlet “takes place” and I finally saw sleeping Holger Danske. Holger is a viking from the old Danish tale that says he will continue to sleep until Denmark is attacked, in which case he will wake up and defend the country. To me, Holger sleeping symbolizes the peace and happiness Denmark owns and continues to have overall, despite our ever-changing world of politics, violence, and terrorism. Like any country, it has its downsides of course, but overall, the atmosphere feels calmer, with more freedom and tranquility. While walking around the castle, my host mom bought me a “Slentre Bar”, another symbol to me of the pace of the country. “Slentre” means to “stroll” and the idea is to savor the mouth-watering chocolate and caramel bar while strolling around and relaxing, exactly what we did at the castle. The day ended with the perfect inspiration to begin my trip with seeing a touring piece of theater for social justice at the Design Museum in Denmark. The piece invoked a sense of purpose for this entire journey and longing to begin studying and dive into more theater throughout this entire journey.

Charlottelund Fort

                             
                 Holger Danske                      Kronborgslot in Hellsingor ( with Sweden across from it)

Slentre Bar

Friday, my youngest host sister arrived home from boarding school and it was so much fun to speak with her because the last time we were together, she was just beginning to learn English and now she is practically fluent. We walked around the pedestrian street (another one of my favorite things about Copenhagen) Strøget, took a trip to the famous Round Tower to get a view of the city, and later went to one of my favorites: The Little Mermaid, along with seeing Denmark’s new first statue of a black woman, “I am Queen Mary”. And the strangest of them all, walking alongside a live recording of a famous Korean cooking show in Nyhavn!

      Strøget ~Pedestrain Street Round Tower Views

  Den Lille Havfruen   

     

                       Nyhavn 

                           

                                            "I am Queen Mary"

Saturday was probably my favorite day because it was just so relaxing and joyful. It began with a trip to Hellrødstrand (the beach) and Rosenhavn (the garden on the harbor) and continued with a traditional Danish smorgasbord lunch with friends, walks around the park, and a lovely dinner and ice cream with family.

                         

Sunday was the big “Tour de Denmark” as my host mom and I called it from a family Baptism to crossing the Copenhagen marathon lines to Tivoli (to see my host sister dance) to showing up a day early at a Lisa Nielson concert. (Haha!)

Monday consisted of more exploring of Carlsberg, an old Danish brewery, and Frederiksborg Castle, where we saw The Chapel of the Royal Orders of Knighthood, including the current queen’s, Queen Margrethe II. The day ended with actually going to see the famous Swedish singer, Lisa Nielson, on her “reunion” tour.


Tuesday was filled with catching up with old friends, seeing Assistens Cemetery in Nørrebro with H.C. Anderson and Kirkkegård’s grave, walking along the “lakes” in Copenhagen, seeing Christania, and a fascinating exhibition on sound waves and solitude at Cisterne. (Cisterne is a dripstone cave/old cistern now turned into a museum.) My last night ended in a hyggeligt time reliving childhood by creating chestnut animals and American s’mores, blending our cultures together, laughing a LOT, and spending time together.

             
           Assistens Cemetery                            "Genetically Modified Little Mermaid"

It was a full, blessed experience and I look forward to hopefully returning soon.