tusind tak og vi ses!

may 15, 2013. my last day in copenhagen had finally arrived. i successfully completed my final exams, turned in all my papers, returned all my books and my trusty bike :(, and recovered my suitcase from the depths of the apartment as my room began to transform into the state it was in when i first walked in four months prior. unwilling to spend the entirety of my last day inside, melissa and i took this final opportunity to see and experience a must-do in copenhagen: the tivoli gardens.

the dragon boats with rådhuspladsen towering in the back

tivoli is a famous amusement park/ garden placed in the center of copenhagen. the park opened in 1843, making it the second oldest amusement park in the world after dyrehavsbakken (the park i had visited the week prior).

tivoli's moorish palace, the nimb hotel

walt disney visited tivoli and was apparently so impressed with the danish amusement park, he immediately decided disneyland should try to emulate its "happy and unbuttoned air of relaxed fun". while disney's sickeningly grandiose amusement parks have fallen victim to kitsch, plastic, and the idea of a tacky paradise, tivoli largely retains its original quaint, romantic air (though it is not without its consumerist faults). while the entrance fee and the cost of one ride was all we could really afford, the beauty of the extensive gardens bursting with newly bloomed flowers, and the cloudless and warm day made our little day-trip certainly enjoyable.

we went on the world's tallest carousel, the star flyer, which we used as one last chance to see all of copenhagen from up high. turn after nauseating turn, we sped past all the sites and sounds that had made copenhagen our home. we wound back down to stable ground and did walk through a couple of stands filled with tourist knick-knacks and other overpriced pieces of plastic, falling victim to a basket of fries and a cheap replica of the famous georg jensen daisy ring (maybe the next time i visit denmark i'll buy the real one). we found a nice spot on the grassy area in front of the open-air theatre, which features a variety of performances and concerts in the evenings, and enjoyed these last moments in the city before we realized the considerable amount of packing we had left to do and slowly made our way back.

many thanks to my wonderful roomie. a great room to come home to can make all the difference!

i've been away from copenhagen now for a month. i have exciting trips and adventures planned for the future, but nothing will compare to the one i just experienced. while i may not yet know or realize the full extent of how my semester abroad has changed me i do recognize a number of ways i've grown over the last few months. here are 10 off the top of my head: 1. living with 10 other roommates; 2. cooking for myself; 3. riding a bike as a main form of transportation; 4. bearing the cold; 5. always looking fabulous, no matter the weather nor the temperature; 6. making an effort to see as much as i can see and do as much as i can do; 7. being proud, yet critical of where i come from; 8. being observant and critical, yet tolerant and respectful of another culture and society; 9. being out-going and taking any chance to meet and get to know new and interesting individuals; 10. learning how to say "ja tak" to opportunity. 

while my time in denmark was unique, i know may 16, 2013 did not mark the end of my connection with copenhagen or with denmark. it will always be a part of me, a part of who i am, and who i have yet to be. i know i will be visiting the city of cyclists, of islands, of vikings, of monarchy, of fashion, of furniture, of architecture, of ballet and dance, of literature and music, of design, of cold, of candles, of hygge, of progressiveness, of beautiful people, of reserved people, of countless tower and church bells, of cafes and coffee and pastries, of carlsberg and tuborg, of expensive tastes, of hidden treasures, and of life and love and happiness. 

i guess all i can say for certain, right now, is tusind tak to all of københavn and all those who, at one point or another, in one way or another, were there with me. a thousands thanks for giving me the semester of a lifetime and vi ses until next time. hej! hej!

a trip down memory lane

at the beginning of april, my parents, sister, and uncle came to visit me in copenhagen for a week. eager to show them my life and new home, i took them around to as many places as the wind and cold would allow. we went around to the same spots i had visited during my first week to get situated around the small city that included nyhavn, christiansborg, strøget, and rådhuspladsen. after a day, even my sister seemed to know her way around. 

an underwater bronze sculpture inspired by the old scandinavian tale, agnete and the merman, is placed under the canal right across from christiansborg palace

the opportunity was great, however, to also get to visit some of the sites and spots of copenhagen that i had been wanting to visit and see. one of the best sites in copenhagen is rosenborg palace, about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. rosenborg palace was originally built as a country summerhouse in 1606 for king christian iv (why he would build his summer palace a mere couple of blocks from his main castle, i still can't understand).

the long hall (also the knight's hall) was
originally intended as a ballroom, then used as
a royal reception room and for banquets.
it includes the coronation chair and the
throne of the queens

a guitar covered with tortoiseshell and ivory
from 1703

the castle contains quite a large number of artifacts, as it should, seeing as the danish monarchy is the oldest monarchy in europe and thus contains items spanning a breadth of royal danish culture, from the late 16th century of christian iv to the 19th century. although the castle and artifacts throughout were dimly lit without any extensive, or even basic, descriptions for that matter, everything was beautifully arranged and well preserved.

crown of king
christian iv

of special interest were the crown jewels and the danish crown regalia. also the life guard, who guards the castle, were fun to watch and parade around for formal matters and, more importantly, tourist entertainment. the king's gardens, behind rosenborg just started warming up and though the gravelled walkways were still brown and the windy rather cool, it was nice to see the small number of danes coming out of their winter hibernation as families strolled and runners ran through the soon-to-be green and flowering area.

another nice aspect of having the parents in the picture was the food situation. while it would have been nice, it would have been a little difficult to have my mom cook for us all sharing the kitchen with my 10 other housemates in my apartment, so we resorted to eating out every lunch and dinner. a number of restaurants proved to be hits, including restaurant kronborg, madklubben bistro -de-luxe, and the indian restaurant down the street, while others proved to be expensive disasters, which my family now incorporates into daily family jokes. whatever the circumstance, it was nice to eat with them and share an aspect of copenhagen's culture that i was not able to afford on my own.

after such a stretch of gray and cold, it was so nice and hygge to have my family and become a part of copenhagen with them. it is thanks to them that i have had the travel bug since before i could remember and why i could take a semester of study abroad, and make the most of it. thank you for showing me the world mami and oci. i love you both so much and am so grateful for the opportunities you have given me. happy father's day!

 

copenhagen's oases

while the weather may have been edging toward spring for the last month during my stay in copenhagen, i did find a number of little escapes that i only wish i would have discovered earlier during the cold and gray winter/spring.

degas' "little dancer of fourteen years" with
rodin's "the kiss" behind it

the ny carlsberg glyptotek, an art museum built around the personal collection of carl jacobsen, the son of the founder of the carlsberg breweries, is one of the finest museums in copenhagen. it is home to a large number of antique sculptures from the ancient cultures around the mediterranean including egypt, rome, and greece, as well as more modern sculptures including a collection of rodin works (considered the most important outside of france) and some degas pieces. however, the museum is equally noted for its collection of paintings that includes an extensive collection of french impressionists and post-impressionists as well as danish golden age paintings.

the two wings of the museum are connected by the winter garden with mosaic floors, tall palms, a fountain and topped by a dome made in copper and wrought iron 

however, the best part of the museum was the winter garden that connects the two wings of the museum. underneath the dome are fountains filled with koi fish, marble sculptures, a cafe, and benches hidden among the abundance of greenery. i found one unoccupied bench nestled between two palm trees and with the trickling sound of water from the fountain and murmur of conversations from the cafe nearby, felt like i was totally on vacation.

a couple of days later, i went with my danish language and culture class to the university of copenhagen's botanical garden. it is particularly noted for its extensive complex of historical glasshouses dating from 1874 and is a part of the national history museum of denmark. it serves both research, educational, and recreational purposes. the botanical garden contains more than 13,000 species, almost all of which have been collected in the wild.

it was literally 1000 degrees inside the botanical house. butterflies flitted through the humidity, fish skirted amongst the aquatic pond plants, frogs croaked from the edges of the narrow footpaths, and i only wish i had found this little paradise sooner.

later that day, melissa and i went on a walk together one day and decided to visit amalienborg palace once more and visit frederik's church, popularly known as the marble church, right next door.

it is an evangelical lutheran church intended to commemorate the 300 years jubilee of the first coronation of a member of the house of oldenburg. it was beautiful and particularly calm inside as the sunlight streamed through the windows lighting up the golden mosaics throughout.

finally, i visited the rosenborg castle gardens (also known as the king's gardens) located in rosenborg palace's backyard. the oldest and most visited park in copenhagen was established in the early 17th century as the private gardens of king christian iv. danes young and old, students, and tourists were spread across the enormous gardens soaking in the sun and enjoying the greenery. so i found my own space, sat amongst them, and became another content and carefree dane.

black coffee and a black diamond

as finals week began, and my concentration at the apartment wavered, i rode my bike to the royal danish library, more commonly referred to as the black diamond, in an effort to be a little more productive.

view over the harbor from the atrium and the
library's travelator

i entered one of the study rooms, and was greeted by 8 filled rows of intensely studying students. i found one desk area empty and got to work. a couple of hours, powerpoint slides, and pages of notes later, i had my fill of material and went to reenergize with a good cup of coffee. 

melissa and i had been told that copenhagen's the coffee collective is the best coffee to be had and i have to agree (for $7), it was. the coffee shop also functions as a micro roastery and coffee consulting company founded by world barista champion, klaus thomsen. the tricked-out espresso machine, called 'the spirit', is manufactured by kees van de western and is the first in use in the world. each cup of coffee is made with the greatest care, employing a combination of state of the art technology, beakers and vials from a chemistry set, and the well-trained human hand.

and while i'm on the note of coffee, i should also pay tribute to one of my favorite go-to coffee shops. sankt peders bageri, just around the corner from my apartment, was a (relatively cheap!) bakery and patisserie that gave me the perfect coffee and chocolate croissant on those days i needed an extra little something sweet.

a ride to remember

during my last weekend in copenhagen, louise, my sra, and a group of girls from the apartment took one last extended bike ride together out of the bustling city, past the sandy and fishy-smelling beaches near lyngby and, 45 minutes later, arrived at dyrehaven (the deer park), a forested park that covers nearly 11 square kilometers. 

the park is known for its mixture of huge, ancient oak trees and large populations (over 4000!) of red and fallow deer. we rode our way into the park along with an endless procession of old cars for some sort of old car show and found a nice little mound where we ditched our bikes, spread out our blankets, nibbled on some small snacks, and warmed our faces in the sun.

it seemed we couldn't lie there for long enough. but eventually, we made our way back to our bikes and slowly mozied our way to the eremitage palace, christian vi of denmark's palace, just down the road, used to host royal banquets during royal hunts in dyrehaven.

never intended for residence, the palace originally
featured a hoisting apparatus able to hoist the table
from the basement to the dining room, allowing the
king and his guests to dine without any waiters
present, or an "eremitage" (in solitude) 

we then entered one of the most famous parts of the park known as dyrehavsbakken (the deer park hill), commonly referred to as bakken (the hill), which opened in 1583 and is the world's oldest operating amusement park. it's a pretty cute, with a handful of rides, shops, outdoor arenas and restaurants that are apparently known for serving some of the best traditional danish-style food. it was getting pretty late, so after taking a quick walk around the entire park we unanimously agreed on all going on one ride: the rutschebanen (the roller coaster). this wooden roller coaster was opened in 1932, thus claiming to be one of the oldest wooden roller coaster's still in operation.

i'm still not quite sure if agreeing to go on the world's oldest wooden roller coaster is necessarily impressive, or downright mad, but regardless everyone who went handled the ride quite nicely. i'm not quite a fan of amusement rides myself, but i must admit this was a good one. we were rewarded with a giant double scoop ice cream cone topped with a large flødeboller, a chocolate covered marshmallow confection, as we made our way out of the park and back to our bikes.

from a twisting ride through the air, to the straight ride on the sturdy streets back home, we all agreed that the day was the perfect addition to the giant ride that has been our semester abroad, one we hoped wouldn't necessarily end once the semester was over.

biking big

on a cloudy and incredibly windy evening, my housemates went on a bike ride following the metro line from nørreport station near our apartment, to ørestad, a developing city area that is being developed using the new town concept with the metro as the primary public transport grid, connecting it with the rest of metropolitan copenhagen. the ride took us past some of the biggest names in danish (and international, for that matter) architecture, focusing primarily on big (bjarke ingels group) and some designs of note and of use by this incredibly young and innovative group. (all photos are courtesy of http://www.dac.dk/)

the first building we rode past was not a 'big' design, but a notable one nonetheless. three silos, all once a part of the soya bean cake factory, have now been converted into 'the gemini residence'. the old seed silo consisted of two raw, naked concrete cylinders. the apartments have been positioned on the outside of the two cylinders, whose glass walls and wide balconies offer panoramic vistas of the harbor and city. the silo cores have been converted into a lobby space throughout the height of the building. while we wanted to get closer and have a look around, the building and its immediate vicinity is strictly off-limits to non-residents and loitering near the harbor area (even though it is a perfectly nice and open spot with great views of the harbor and the city) is not allowed. taking something very proletarian and making it exclusive and elite. how danish.

gemini residence takes its name from the astrological sign gemini,
the latin name of the zodiac sign 'the twins'.

farther away, well outside copenhagen, we arrived at 'the mountain dwellings', a modern ten-level 'housing mountain' used for housing and parking. the 80 penthouse residence was designed by big architects who wanted the relaxed atmosphere typical of suburbs united with the social intensity experienced in an urban setting of dense buildings and city life. the mountain pops out of the ground like a suburb full of courtyard gardens spreading across the tall building: suburbanity and urbanity melting into one. while it's a visually intriguing building, no doubt, there are aspects of it that look quite 'gimicky'. and walking up the stairs to see the view from the top allowed us to look into each apartment - their shades wide open - and into the lives and details of every resident. while copenhagen might pack in a lot of people, this certainly seems excessive and a little out of place.

the northern and western facades of the parking garage depict a
photorealistic mural of himalayan peaks

the southern side of the building showcases each apartment's roof garden, edged by elevated flowerbeds in the shape of planter railings, designed to block the view to neighboring, lower-level apartments

seen in the parking lot, the underside of each level of apartments features a distinctive color scheme of psychedelic hues which, as a tribute to danish 1960s and 70 furniture designer, verneer panton, are all exact matches of the colors he used in his designs. a swiss-manufactured ski lift-style inclined elevator moves along the wall of the garage for access to the apartments

right next to the mountain dwellings lie the vm houses, inspired by le corbusier's unité d'habitation concept. shaped like the letters v and m, the apartment is designed with an emphasis on daylight, privacy and views. however, i still don't understand how an entire apartment made out of glass, and the design of the balconies, especially when occupied, make any part of this building seem private.

farther down the road is ørestad's high school, the first school in denmark with an architectural design intended to correspond to new visions on content, subject matter, organization, and learning systems. flexibility and openness are key words for the building and traditional spaces such as classrooms and lounges no longer exist in the high school of the future. instead, the building is divided into four "study zones." each has its own floor, which are linked by a wide, spiral staircase leading toward the roof terrace. however, we all wondered, if concentration and creativity are emphasized in this design, are not also short attention spans and distractions?

at the very tip of ørestad south, is a large figure-eight shaped building called 8tallet - formerly known as big house and our final stop. by this point we had biked from our apartment in central copenhagen to basically the airport. 8tallet is the largest residential building in denmark, with a 1.5 km-long path running around the entire perimeter of the building. what interested us more, was the cafe, located below the apartments, where we were about to devour a what might've been the largest burger i've seen in denmark. the shape of the house is turned and twisted so that it looks like a large infinity sign from above. we walked to the top of the building and saw copenhagen in the distance from one side, and the edge of the world from the other. an endless meadow, kalvebod fælled, seems poised and ready for a flood of young architects and handfuls of apartments and other buildings that are bigger, better, more innovative and make a louder statement than the last. regarding the future of danish architecture, i think it imperative to keep asking of designers and architects alike to keep in mind what has actually put denmark on the map in terms of danish design and architecture: the functionalist tradition - setting aside ego, and designing a product/building that can actually be used to improve people's lives. 

with the rain beginning to pour and the wind never seeming to die down, we began the long trek home, looking longingly at the metro speeding by us toward the city, the one place in all of denmark that doesn't seem to allow bicycles. but we made it home, soaked and exhausted, still full from dinner and stuffed with danish architecture.