Wonderful Copenhagen

Yes, their tourism catchphrase really is "Wonderful Copenhagen," Although the Danish spelling of Copenhagen is Kobenhavn, the "o" having a slash through it.

You probably heard of our misadventure with the canceled flight. Our flight was first delayed until 1 AM, and then canceled. By the time we finally got into our hotel room, it was almost three in the morning, and we were all very tired. In spite of the late hour, it was the best overnight experience we spent on our adventurous young college-student backpacking trip around Denmark. The other nights were spent on triple bunk beds at crowded hostels, and one was at an incredibly sketchy motel in Roskilde. The adventurous sleeping accommodations were part of the fun of the trip.

This sculpture is, to me, the epitome of Denmark. It displays the courageous Bishop of Absalon, who founded Copenhagen under the reign of the first unified king of Denmark: Valdemar the Great. The site of the Bishop of Absalon's castle is the present-day Christiansborg palace, which contains both the state rooms of the royalty and the Danish parliament. Also, the statue is made of the same greenish copper as many decorative structures in Denmark, another prime example found in the background of this photograph.
One of the neatest things about Copenhagen is that it was where Hans Christian Anderson lived and wrote his fairy tales. One of the most photographed sites in Copenhagen was this statue of the little Mermaid, resting in the harbor not far from Amalienborg Palace (where the royalty currently lives). It was fun to see it. Did you know that in the actual fairy tale, The Little Mermaid doesn't end up with the prince? She ends up giving up her life instead of killing him, and is turned into foam on the crests of the waves by the sea witch. Isn't that sad?
The Viking Ship Museum was probably my very favorite part of the trip. I loved learning more about the vikings! Plus, any museum with a section of dress-up clothes for adults gets an A+ in my book. The harbor of the viking ship museum contained several examples of true-to-form reproductions, based off of the five original thousand-year-old vessels found thirty years ago that formed a blockade in a long-ago sea-faring battle. The vikings were seriously cool. That ship with the colorful stripes, toward the left of the photograph, was a reproduction of one of their large military vessels. It would have carried 65-70 men, as well as their oars and supplies. Each man was required to be provided 5000 calories a day by law, which gives you an idea of the size of these massive men. I was heartily impressed.

The above is Frederiksborg Slot, or Palace, in English. This was a museum, with all of the rooms refurnished to look as they might have in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There were interesting elements of the Rococo period that survived intact. I enjoyed seeing these, particularly the chapel affixed to the palace. It was lavishly and beautifully decorated.
It's always jarring to realize one is in a different country. To think that that flag flying is the equivalent to them of our stars and stripes, and probably causes the same thrum of belonging for them as the American flag does for us.
Everyone bikes in Copenhagen. EVERYONE. This was not an isolated bike rack. there were enormous bike parking lots everywhere! There was a full lane designed for bicycles next to every single city street that cars drove on. Speaking of cars, they drive on the right side of the road, which was very jarring for me, and tricky to get used to again. I hope I don't get hit by a bus when I go back home!

Copenhagen was an amazing experience, and I haven't described even a fraction of it in this blog. I learned almost as much in those four days as I have during our entire trip to England thus far.

The Seats of Power and Theatre Walks

The Seats of Power walk was one intense walk, subject matter-wise. Number 10 Downing street, Whitehall, Buckingham Palace, and the horse guard all in one walk? It was staggering, not because of the distance, but because I didn't even know what the significance of half of those things was before!

The memorial for the Battle of Britain was beautiful with its relief sculptures and both exciting and respectful depiction of the soldiers. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” said Winston Churchill. How true that is. The more I learn about the behavior of the British people and military during wartime, the more I deeply respect them, and feel I understand them better. Men really show what they're made of when they're put through trials like those.

I've noticed that there are a lot more memorial statues in Britain than in the United States. There are just so many! War heroes, famous nobility and leaders, pioneers in various fields, and any other notable, exceptional human seems to have some sort of visual representation somewhere in the city. Even George Washington has a statue, and he led the troops fighting against Great Britain! I think it says something about the mindset here. A lot of what the people here seem to hold dear, to commemorate, and to use to show respect and appreciation is in the visual arts—architecture, statuary, and paintings. Age is more important than size, and meaning is more important than virtuosity. In nearly every case I've found, this is a very admirable quality.

I only looked at the cabinet war rooms from the outside on the Seats of Power walk, but it was fun, because they had sidewalk chalk out, and were allowing people to draw on the sidewalk, expressing their opinions and love for those connected with the war. I drew a box. “Love can't be contained,” I wrote next to it, with little hearts shooting out. I drew the box on accident in the first place, but I rather like how it turned out.

I would like to take this opportunity to give myself some credit for taking the most British-y British picture of Great Britain that ever was taken. In a single snapshot, this is London: If only I could have stuck in a telephone box as well, it would be complete. :)

Trafalgar square truly is the heart of London! It's close to everything that is generally considered of great consequence here. Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, the National Gallery, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, and 10 Downing street are all just a stone's throw away, and that's just a handful of the nearby sights! Going on these walks has given me an even greater appreciation of Trafalgar square. Not just for its beauty and teeming life, but for its position as the heart of London. It makes me want to learn more about Lord Nelson, whose statue stands tall in its midst.

We passed by the exclusive men's clubs on Waterloo Place, and it made me think. It seems like it would have been rather a sore spot for the feminist movement, containing all that genius in one place and blocking an entire gender out of it. I understand the cause, though, and seeing its results, I can't but agree with it. That is something I'm going to have to congratulate the male sex for. Could women ever organize a club to talk about purely intellectual and scientific things, without either clawing out one another's eyes or resorting to discussions about make-up? Perhaps I'm too hard on the gender, but I've never been so fortunate in my life to watch something like that meet with a measure of success. It made me think about the differences between men and women, once again

I wish I'd known more about Scotland Yard before I went there! I know I've heard the name here and there, but it would have meant so much more to me if I could have read a novel in which Scotland Yard played a big part and then gone to see it. Number 10 Downing street reminded me of something that makes me a bit sad. It's said that Number 10 is their equivalent to our White House in Washington, D.C. If Downing street is likened to the White House . . . what is our equivalent of Buckingham Palace? I really almost wish our country had a monarch in the same way as Britain. They look up to and admire Queen Elizabeth so. She stands for what is good in British culture, with her diplomacy and grace. Americans seem to set up horrible examples for the masses. Instead of a noble figure all can admire, those that get the most attention and coverage are the celebrities that drink themselves to death, or get caught doing drugs. I really admire this facet of British culture, and I wish we had a way to emulate it. Perhaps this aspect is why the First Lady in America is so generally looked up to. Couldn't Jackie Kennedy be compared to Lady Di? I shall hope so, for the sake of our country.

The picture, by the way, is not of Scotland Yard, but of a police station just down the road from Covent Gardens. It just so happens to be the station featured in the series of popular detective novels Shannon enjoys reading, so it was fun to see it in person.

I always love visiting Chinatown in various cities. I was happy to get a couple of sweet rolls stuffed with bean paste, which is my favorite Chinese treat. Yummy!

I was expecting Piccadilly Circus to be bigger and more flashy than it was. Someone said it was London's equivalent of Times Square. I was mildly let down, but I don't think I would have liked it to be just like Times Square, now that I think on it. Being big and loud and flashy is really more of an American-made concept, sad though that may be. I agree with that more after visiting Las Vegas than ever.

I saw some funny street performers at Covent Gardens. There was a very good statue-man, painted all in bronze and gold. There was a Jack Sparrow that was the most convincing I've ever seen in person, including Disneyland. Perhaps the pint, and the fact that he was standing outside a British pub, speaking in a real British accent had some weight in the matter. When I went back another time, I also saw an entertainingly masochistic man lie between two beds of nails and have someone stand on him. Yikes!

The Country Walk: A Dream Come True. sort of.

Many things I have thus far experienced during my stay in England have surprised me by the sensations they've produced. I have had many pictures in my head of British culture, and what I have thought it would be like. Every one of those pictures has been so far accurate, and the country walk is no exception. I've always imagined British countryside to be wet, green, flowered, charming, and most of all? Romantic. That, it was.

I stayed for the second half of the walk, which ended up being quite exciting. I wasn't quite smart enough to get my umbrella out for the first part of the rain. Perhaps I thought it would stop, but I think it's more likely that I was just enjoying feeling tragically romantic, like Maryanne in Sense and Sensibility, who wandered the English countryside in the rain and broke her ankle, then had handsome Willoughby ride up on a noble steed to save her. Good news: I didn't break my ankle. Bad news: No dashing young man showed up. Then I reminded myself that Willoughby really didn't end up being a particularly great fellow and I felt a little better, but it was a poor consolation when I couldn't feel my soggy toes.

Eynsford castle was really cool—I love looking at ruins. I crawled over all the walls and read all the plaques. It was a lot of fun. My favorite ruins are those that seem the very least touched by anxious renovators. There was an old spiral staircase with the steps entirely worn off, and that was neat. The very best part, though, was climbing up the wall and sitting in an ancient window. That was fun, but I started making Dr. Soper nervous, so I climbed back down. There are no crazy boys on this term to climb on things and be stupid, so maybe my subconscious feels it needs to compensate.

We took the train to Shoreham, in the heart of Kentish countryside. Kent really is “the garden of England.” There were not only endless fields of crops, but small patches of forest, and some of the loveliest gardens I've seen. I love that the houses, even the small ones, often have names, like “Ivy Cottage” or “Bridge house.” The above picture shows the garden of "Bridge House."

Our first stop was the small village chapel of Shoreham, with its churchyard, so similar to the ancient ones we've seen so far. I love taking pictures of cemeteries—is that strange? They're all just so beautiful, and so serene. Especially when the cemetery is in such a beautiful place, like the one in my hometown. I often go there alone to think, watching the horses graze in the pasture across from the quiet stones. Sorry—too much information. At any rate, I was touched by a particular grave, within the chapel. “Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth Rutter.” it read, “the Wife of Samuel Rutter. She was a Prudent, Obliging, Virtuous Wife. A Careful, Tender, Affectionate Mother. An humble, Faithful, Pious Christian. She ceased performing the duties of these Several Relations Sep. 1. 1741 Aged 36.”

I love the fact that England values its countryside so highly that it insists on sharing it, always. Is it the National Trust that keeps those walkways open to the public, no matter who owns the land? I am very grateful for that. It's quite a stark contrast to some beautiful, wooded mountain areas in Utah with tantalizing trails, blocked off by a sharp sign: “No trespassing.” This opposite mindset is one of my very favorite things about England.

We passed several sites having to do with hops and hop farms. Hops are used to make beer, and are grown in many places throughout England. We saw a hop farm, and the place where hops are dried. Brother Chiddock told us about his boyhood, when a lot of his friends would spend their summers working and playing at hop farms, and all sorts of expressions arose from things like that.

Overall, the walk was a wonderful, beautiful, amazing experience that I will remember for years to come. My favorite bits of England so far have been outside the cities.