Summertime in Copenhagen

Copenhagen definitely has a split personality....it is a completely different city in the summer as opposed to the winter due to the long summer days (in July the sun doesn't set until 10:30/11:00) contrasting with the dark, rainy winter days (with only about 8 hours sunlight...though one almost never sees the sun through the clouds). Therefore, there is a completely different vibe in the summer with people out happily enjoying the fantastic, humidity-free days with temperatures in the 70s. We get a couple good weeks in the 80s as well!

Some of my favorite summertime activities have been:

THE BEACH
At least once a week...usually more, I head to one of the cities many beaches either to run or meet friends for volleyball, frisbee, and swimming. My favorite beaches are Bellevue in Klampenborg -a great 30 min bike ride north, along the water, from my apartment- and Amagerstrand Beach - about a 25 min ride through the city.

Julia, Cecelia, Jan and I are usually brave enough to venture into the Øresund Straight which connect the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Many afternoons and evenings are spent playing beach volleyball at Bellevue.

Amager beach has a great path to run on along the beach, so I head there after work whenever I can motivate myself. It also has a great view of the offshore windmills.

One day there was a circus in town and they had the elephants out in the park next to the beach. Sure, the rope they had places around the elephants was electrified, but honestly I don't think that rope could have kept any elephant from charging if he/she had really wanted to!

THE LAKES

Copenhagen has 5 artificial, rectangular lakes that cut through the middle of the city. Apparently they used to be used as a water reserve, but now they are an excellent place for a run, a walk, to relax on a bench and read near, and to sit at one of the many cafes along the edges and enjoy the view.

SUMMER FILMS

Zulu Sommerbio takes place during August and there are free movies shown at night all over the city. Some are Danish, but many are Hollywood blockbusters like Casino Royal, The Departed, The Devil Wears Prada, etc. It's been great to meet up with friends for dinner and then head over to a park for an evening movie.

JAZZ FESTIVAL

Copenhagen Jazz Festival is held for 2 weeks in early July and jazz musicians can be found all over the city's many squares as well as in the concert venues.

Congratulations Steve and Anna!!!

On July 21, 2007 Anna and Steve were married in a beautiful ceremony at Christiansborg Slotskirke, a gorgeous Danish church right downtown next to Parliament.

I know Anna and Steve from church and was fortunate enough to be invited to share in their celebration. Anna, being a member of the Danish church, was able to have her wedding at one of the affiliate churches around the city which was absolutely beautiful.

Anna's dad walked her down to aisle to meet Steve and his brothers who were the groomsmen. I didn't understand most of the service, which was all in Danish since Anna and Steve are both Danish, though Steve grew up in Australia. Nevertheless, it was a touching ceremony with a choir in the uppermost balcony which made it sound like angels singing from above.

Following the ceremony Anna and Steve greeted guests outside ....many cars slowed down to see what was going on as we waved Danish and Australian flags..the princess of Denmark is Australian, thus they likely thought it was some kind of christening for the newly born crown princess!

Natasha, Austin, and I took some pictures outside the church.
Afterwards we went to a reception, which was originally scheduled for outside in the Royal Gardens, but unfortunately the morning was a little rainy and they moved it to the basement of one of the churches. At the reception Anna and Steve cut a huge, and delicious, cake for all the guests to enjoy along with tables filled with fresh cut fruit. Later that evening, as per Danish tradition, a smaller group gathered for the wedding dinner and a night of toasts!

Here are Steve, Austin, and the Nielsen boys (Matthew, Stephen, Thomas, Timothy, and Johnathan) who are the sons of Pastor Erik and his wife Kim.

Sankt Hans

On Sankt Hans day (history below), Bethany and Jared hosted a BBQ at their house as a goodbye party for our friend Brett who was moving back to the States....he's a Duke grad student and despite that, a great guy! After I rode through a passing monsoon to get there (had to stop under a bridge to keep from getting completely soaked) it turned out to be a fantastic evening!

We played a very entertaining game of Apples to Apples in Bethany and Jared's amazing backyard - complete with frog pond, raspberry bushes, and enormous snails! Have I mentioned how much I love playing games with the international crowd - games like Catch Phrase, Apples to Apples, Boggle, etc., where you have to come up with words/descriptions quickly are hilarious with non-native English speakers...despite the fact that their English is almost perfect, they miss out on all the slang and cultural-isms.

Then we all headed to the beach, but not before Austin and I got to spend some quality time with the Bajna sisters - Julia and Cecilia).

Austin and I rode our bikes and then he demonstrated how to use the tricky, yet ingenious bike rack. Since biking is so popular here, many people don't have cars because they are outrageously expensive and you don't necessarily need one, there are tons of creative bike racks all over the city. Here, you flip the holder over your handles bars...as opposed to the more common way of holding the wheel in place.

There were HUGE bonfires all up and down the beach but sadly my camera battery died - but I will borrow some pictures from friends and get them posted.

Sankt Hans In Denmark, it was an official holiday until 1770, and in accordance with the Danish tradition of celebrating a holiday on the evening before the actual day, it takes place on the evening of 23 June. It is the day where the medieval wise men and women (the doctors of that time) would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.

It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings, by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water well tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by (i.e. on the shores of lakes and other waterways, parks, etc.). (Wikepedia)

Easter in Copenhagen

Yes, this is many months late...but I'm finally getting caught up on postings!!

Easter in Copenhagen is a big vacation time...Thursday, Friday and Monday off. I hosted a brunch for Katie (friend/coworker from DC) and Grant and Nikki Skelton my favorite Australians in Denmark! (Grant works with me). Katie brought french toast casserole, which Grant, in true Aussie fashion, nicknamed "cobblestones." I made scrambled eggs and fruit salad and Grant and Nikki brought some great cinnomon bread.

After brunch we headed to church where we enjoyed a predominantly musical sermon to celebrate.

Alphabeat!

Last night we headed to Tivoli - one of Copenhagen's most famous attractions. Tivoli is an amusement park/performing arts venue right in the heart of Copenhagen. I've already got my season pass! Every Friday there are concerts and last night was a big night because it was the 10year anniversary of the Friday night concerts.

At 8pm Alphabeat performed, followed by a 10pm main concert of 5 different Danish bands. The crazy thing is that they all sing exclusively in English - which makes sense because only 5million people speak Danish (and nearly all Danes speak perfect English), so they vastly expand their opportunities to "make it big" by singing in English. And luckily I had Julia to interpret all the talking in between sets to me...since that was still in Danish!

Alphabeat is a total "teeny bopper" band (as evidenced by the fact that we were some of the oldest in the crowd) but they are fun and crazy and have no inhibitions dancing around the stage like fools - very entertaining!

Here is my favorite Alphabeat song!

Sticks 'n' Sushi

Copenhagen has lots of great sushi places. My favorite is the chain Sticks 'n' Sushi.

Not only is their Sushi great, but one of their locations is a great 20min bike ride up the coast from my place complete with english magazines to read while waiting for take out as well as a short ride up to the park to enjoy takeout with friends.

And just look at the creative packaging!

Dragor

Dragor is an incredibly cute little fishing town about an hour outside of Copenhagen that we decided to explore one afternoon.

Here is Austin leading the charge through the narrow, cobblestone streets of this town.

We randomly came across a recreation park where they were hosting a bachelor party complete with human bowling, sumo suit wrestling, and boxing. We took advantage of the empty boxing ring!

Oh how I miss my "wee friends" from Northern Ireland - Julianne, Jenna, Danielle, and Jenna were studying in CPH for a semester, but headed back home at the beginning of the summer.