Glögger: Passport Update: Can I find a Danish in København?

No really, there must be a danish somewhere! My only goal on our trip to Copenhagen was to find a really delicious danish and a good cup of coffee. Fortunately, we found even more than delicious danishes and strong coffee! Also, I (re)discovered that Danes call Copenhagen, København. I remember in Spanish class that the US is Estados Unidos but it always surprises me when we constantly translate a city or country into our own language. Why can't we just call it by the same name? Personally, I like saying København (pronounced like this) much more than Copenhagen ("Copenhaaaagen"). Anyway, I digress.

delicious danishes and coffee -- yum!

Jon, Calvin and I met up with our friends, Samantha and Kyle, in Copenhagen. They were halfway through their tour of Europe and were open to meeting us in Denmark and traveling back with us to Stockholm. It worked out perfectly because
we wanted to see a new city and Stockholm has near-dirt cheap flights ($60 one way) to Copenhagen every few hours.

Jon and I were able to navigate through the city fairly easily and I was ever thankful that the Danish and Swedish languages are similar enough for us to get by. "Tack" is already part of our normal reflex whenever we are interacting with someone so people thought we were being extra polite. The guy at the 7-11 store smiled at me gratefully when I asked for a croissant in English and then said tack when he handed me my change. That's just how I do business!

Who doesn't love being on the water?

We met up with Sam and Kyle at the apartment (thank you airbnb.com), unloaded our bags and headed out to explore (what we do best). We wandered a bit, grabbed some beers at a grocery store and settled down in a beautiful park with a beautiful country-home turned royal castle in the background, Rosenborg.

Rosenborg behind a fearsome lion

Tree lined walk way through the park

We ended up just hanging out in the park for pretty much the entire afternoon. The beers were cold(ish) and everyone was just relaxing and watching Calvin run around. Calvin demonstrated more of his natural sponge-like abilities as he sat with us and watched 2 guys attempt to do headstands for about 15 minutes. He just sat there and watched. And watched. Then, out of nowhere, Calvin stands up and puts his head to the grass and his rump in the air -- attempting a headstand of his own. Really kid? Really? His ability to pick up new things is amazingly quick and he reminded me just how much I underestimate him. We had a ton of fun helping him do his headstands/handstands andit also turns out that he is abnormally strong and can hold a handstand for longer than I can hold his legs in the air.

Once he started...

He just wouldn't stop!

Leaves!

Kyle was well-decorated

After relaxing for the day, we ended up sending the boys to get some food at the grocery store so we could put Calvin to bed and have a nice dinner "in." Eating out these days is pretty much nonexistent since Calvin's bedtime is at 7pm and we can't exactly leave him once he is down for the night. Fortunately, Sam and Kyle had no issues taking it easy and we made sure we had more than enough beer and wine to keep us all in good spirits (see what I did there?).

The next morning, we hopped on a train and headed out to Helsinbørg to see the castle where Hamlet takes place. Unfortunately, Hamlet wasn't really mentioned during the tour of the castle but it was rumored that Shakespeare found out about the castle because they threw such awesome parties there. Everyone was drinking, dancing and a theatre troupe from London was commissioned for entertainment. It is thought that some of the actors in that group reported back to Shakespeare about "those bad ass Danes" and that some awesome stuff MUST be going on behind the scenes. (They were right).

Kronborg Castle with moat

Gorgeous

Kronborg

The castle is built upon casemates (which just feel haunted) where you can meet Holger the Dane -- an impressive figure made out of concrete where legend has it, he will arise and turn to flesh and blood if Denmark is ever threatened. He is an important historical myth for Danes. Some wonder, "Well...umm...where was he during WWII?" Valid question. There WAS an important resistance cell during the German occupation of Denmark from 1940-1945 that operated under the name "Holger Danske." It seems they were channeling his strength and power since he did not exactly rise up and fight off the Nazis. If he didn't then, it makes you wonder how bad things would have to get before he will...hmm...

Holger the Dane...intimidating even when he is asleep

We loved exploring the castle and learning all about its history. There were some interesting stories during the tour that made us all wonder if the castle was haunted. Answer, yes. A fellow blogger provides a recap of a ghost hunters international show here if you are interested in royal family hauntings. It was all very interesting and was one of our favorite parts of our trip (the castle, not the haunted part).

Of course, Calvin gets the luxury of sleeping in the most beautiful places

Visiting Kronborg was a full day excursion so it didn't leave much time to explore Copenhagen. We had a 5pm flight the following day and had enough time to visit the Mermaid (she was right around the corner) and find a playground for all three of the boys -- Jon, Kyle and Calvin. To sum it up in one word, the Mermaid was "disappointing." In two words, "tourist" "trap." And it wasn't so much of a trap as just a waste of time. There were buses of tourists getting off to take pictures of the mermaid but I don't really see why. She didn't even have beautiful scenery behind her to make her truly photograph-worthy. I kept trying to find her best angle but there was a nasty port in the background that looked so industrial.

Copenhagen's Mermaid...

On the other hand, right around the corner from the boring mermaid was the fantastic statue at the entrance to the park. It was multitiered with 4 pools and was originally supposed to be placed in the city center outside of city hall, but was instead, placed in an obscure location by the harbor front. It's a shame more of those Mermaid picture snapping tourists didn't get to see this awesome Danish chick keeping her bulls in line while she's plowing through some major water. There is a mythical story with this fountain as well (thanks Wikipedia) and apparently, a 9th century poem describes how the Swedish king Gylfi promised Gefjun the territory if she could plow it all in a night. She turned her four sons into oxen and the territory they plowed out of the earth was then thrown into the Danish sea betwen Scanie and the island of Fyn. The fountain is impressive and there is water spraying everywhere -- water from her plow, water from the oxen's nostrils and the whole thing makes for a huge display. There were also snakes on the side that frightened Calvin a bit, which is always fun. If you are in Copenhagen, skip the mermaid and spend a few minutes with this chick. She is much more interesting.

Wikipedia pic: Gefion Fountain

We had some time to burn, so we hunted around for a playground for Calvin to expend some energy before getting on our evening flight. It turns out that swinging is scary when you are an adult. Somehow, you are more keenly aware of your mortality and the fact that the risk of swinging high isn't worth the reward. When both Jon and Kyle started swinging, the entre wooden frame started creaking and bending under the strain of adult male weight. It held but made Jon nervous enough to want to jump off quickly. Ørstedsparken was beautiful and had a wonderful lake with picturesque flowers. It made me want to grab a nice book and lay in the sun and soft grass and just relax. I love how Copenhagen can be a beautiful city with castles and statues and still have enough green space for relaxation.