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.
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