Copenhagen

The diverse culture and impeccable people watching of a large city never ceases to intrigue me. In a 12 hour span of walking all over the city of Copenhagen, I witnessed some rather interesting sights. Royal palaces, 16th century European architecture, museums, blossoming gardens, prostitutes in action, street vendors selling marijuana and hash (which is illegal in Denmark), intricately built churches, unattended babies in carriages outside of cafes, The Little Mermaid statue, graceful swans floating along canals, a famous Danish fashion designer out walking his tiny fashionable dog, the changing of the guard, and a woman sitting in a large box attached to a bicycle while her man pedaled them along.

Rosenborg Slot & The Kings Garden


Woman in a box, attached to a bike.

We spent our weekend in Copenhagen with Henry's cousin, who lives in the city. She is a fashion designer turned engineer, an entertaining host, an amazing cooker of healthy food, and although she is my first and only personal tour guide of Copenhagen, I think it is safe to say that she is the best one around.

Friday night we had a small dinner party in her unique and creatively decorated apartment. She served us a delicious, vegan friendly dinner, and we all sat around drinking wine and discussing everything, from hookers to the Holocaust, until 3 in the morning.

Saturday afternoon, Henry and I headed into downtown Copenhagen. We decided to start our explorations with a guided boat ride through the canals. It only cost us 40 kroner each ($8 CDN), and was absolutely perfect. We sailed by all of the main attractions, including Nyhavn, Amalienborg, The Little Mermaid, and the Royal Opera House, to name only a few. It was money, although not very much, well spent, and I would definitely recommend anyone planning a trip to Copenhagen to take a canal tour.

Nyhavn

We met up with our guide (Henry's cousin) after the tour, and ate an amazing lunch at a sandwich and salad bar called Foodish. I'm not going to lie, at first I was drooling over Henry's American Club sandwich, loaded with bacon and chicken, but after the first bite of my hummus, couscous, and leafy greens sandwich on spinach foccacia bread, I got over it. It was the absolute most scrumptious sandwich I have ever eaten. I made Henry try a bite, and he was subsequently forced to admit that it tasted far better than his.

After lunch, we explored more attractions, including another up close visit to those we saw from the boat. Ten hours of walking had worked up some serious appetites. Since we were famished, stopping for dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant, Indus, was a no-brainer. Henry, a lover of Indian food, as long as it is not too spicy, wanted to choose the mild spice option for his dish, but the waiter wasn't about to let anyone at the table go mild. He told Henry he best order at least a medium spice factor if he was looking for a dish with any flavour, or why bother coming to an Indian restaurant in the first place? Henry did as he was told. Half way through his meal, he admitted to us that it was bit spicier than he cared for, but never one to waste, he ate every, last, fiery bite. By the end of the meal, giant beads of sweat were rolling down his beet red face.

I have my serious face on here...better for guarding Christiansborg.

What better way to end a perfect day of sight seeing than with an after dark walk through the sketchiest street in Copenhagen? So, we took a night time stroll along Istedgade, a street full of sex shops that display their freakiest toys and costumes in their windows, beyond sketchy drug dealers who waste no time approaching to ask if you would like to buy their fare, and prostitutes working every corner.

The prostitutes were dressed much more tastefully than I would have imagined, mind you, it was a chilly evening. The taste level likely drops, as the summer temperatures rise. The ladies have themselves organized on the street by race, so in one section you will see only African American women, and in another you can find the Caucasians. Prostitution is legal in Denmark, so neither the girls, or the customers are sneaking around, allowing us the opportunity to witness one of the girls get a customer. While the hooker scene in Copenhagen is not as overt as that of Amsterdam's red light district, it is still present, thriving, and rather entertaining.

Sunday afternoon, we went shopping at the Thai and Afghan Markets. Here we found delicious and incredibly cheap produce, which filled me with great pleasure. We paid only $3 CDN for two large boxes of strawberries, $2 for a pineapple, $3 for a huge bag of peas in the pod (my favorite), and only $2 for 5 yummy pears. I could have shopped there for hours, but my driver (Henry) was no where near as thrilled about the wild fruit and veggie bargains as I was.

It was a weekend of endless sightseeing, tasty food, and deep conversations. One of the funnest weekends I have had in Denmark to date. We already have plans to go back in the summer and check out the sights we missed this time around, and hopefully I can do some serious shopping!

One of my favorite statues in the city, of a Scandinavian mythological goddess.

I have written other, more detailed posts on some of the things I mentioned above. Click on the red high-lighted words in this first paragraph of this post for easy redirection, or scroll down the page to read the other three related posts.

PS: I talked lightly about the prostitution situation above, but wanted to mention that sex trafficking crimes are an on going issue in Copenhagen, and around the world. While choosing to work as a prostitute by your own free will is one thing, being kidnapped or abused into prostitution is another, and certainly no laughing matter. I do not want to get into the politics of all that on my blog, but thought it was necessary, in light of my nonchalance, to create a sense of awareness on the horrific issue of sex trafficking.