Currently (as I drafted this blog on Sunday, August 3), I'm sitting on a plane, thousands of miles away from where I spent my summer--the bulk of it, anyway. Flying back home, a mix of thoughts float through my mind.
The process of returning home itself can be a bit exhausting. Moving out of my dorm yesterday, walking around the city, then waking up in the morning and arriving to Lufthavn today (Copenhagen Airport) all within about a 24 hour time period, in retrospect, is quite a bit of activity in a day's time.
After turning in my Tietgen keys yesterday, I trekked across town to check into my hotel for the night. Elyse and I had booked Hotel Nora a few weeks ago since we both were staying one extra night. The nice, kind-of quaint hotel was a straight shot from Norreport metro station, about 10 minutes away. However, with how much stuff I was carrying, this walk was a haul. At that point, I had two smaller bags on my hands plus my suitcase and tote bag carry-on. If I thought dragging my bags and feet through the gravel leaving Tietgenkollegiet was rough, long walk down uneven sidewalks leaving the metro was miserable.
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| Very last breakfast in my kitchen! |
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| Room is cleaned. Bags are packed. |
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| Sad face in response to leaving Tietgenkollegiet 153. |
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| After leaving my keys in the ADM mailbox, I officially became a non-resident of Tietgenkollegiet. |
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| Bye, Tietgen! Thanks for being the best dorm ever. |
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| Last time boarding the metro at Islands Brygge, the stop I took practically every day while in Denmark. |
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| Cooling off in the hotel reception room while playing on my iPad and drinking chocolate milk (it comes in a can!). |
However, life was better after resting in the hotel reception, waiting for our room to be ready. We ended up on the top floor in room 445, so I left my suitcase downstairs at the desk. Call me lazy if you want, but I was not about to haul it up the stairs because our hotel was elevator-less.
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| The hotel entrance was a bit tucked away, so it was kind of hard to tell where to go at first. |
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| Hotel Nora |
Upon getting settled, we left our hotel and headed towards Osterport. There, we rented white City Bikes for an hour. After putting in our information and credit card numbers for the 25 DKK deposit, Elyse and I were off to bike the city: one of my absolute must-dos while in Denmark.
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| My ride! |
Now that I have ridden a bike here, I would adamantly recommend it to anyone coming to Copenhagen. Biking the city was everything I could have wanted it to be: an exhilarating, fun, and slightly terrifying adventure. Because the weather that day hadn't already changed from slightly cool and perfect to hot and sunny, the rain had to start pouring during our ride. Being pelted with water while biking next to traffic essentially was quite exciting, but I wasn't too bothered by the rain. Just in general, biking was exciting, especially starting, stopping, and turning. I hadn't ridden a bike very much outside of bike paths in my lifespan, so this was hands-down the most hardcore biking experience I have ever had. I would do it again absolutely.
An hour later, we clicked our bikes back in a rack outside of Central Station. Satisfied with my $5 bike ride, truly a cultural experience, we took a bus back to our hotel to freshen up before heading out for the rest of the evening. Our first stop was Amalienborg Palace, where I wanted to get a picture with a guard.
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| My best attempt at a picture with a guard at Amalienborg Palace. |
For Elyse, we went to the fountain near St. Alban's Church for pictures, then we headed off in search of open-faced sandwiches at my request. My kitchen mate, Sara, had suggested a good place to go to, so that's where we went. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we walked back to Nyhavn and the Happy Wall for some final snapshots before going to Christianshavn.
There, Kulturhavn was taking place, Denmark's largest harbor festival. The event with live music and dancing was held at Papiroen: Copenhagen Street Food. There, I ordered a classic Danish hotdog as I'd been wanting to try one.
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| My family and friends would be proud to know that I ordered the Klassisk Dansk hotdog and ate it with all toppings. |
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| People were dancing outside of Copenhagen Street Food as part of Kulturhavn. |
After walking around Christianshavn more and seeing "the other side of the water" (being across from the side we normally were at), we took a metro boat across the water. We walked around a bit and back to our hotel from there.
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| Opera House |
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| View of the canal looking across from the Opera House |
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| "You better get to getting on your goodbye shoes." These sandals broke during my last day in Copenhagen, so I did throw them out, but it was good timing being able to wear them for so long. |
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| The Happy Wall |
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| One last waffle cone in Copenhagen, a sweet way to cap off the night. |
Walking in, I checked to make sure my bag wasn't unattended. Peeking around the corner and seeing a worker, I continued upstairs until I was stopped. Turns out, the desk was closing at 10, and the receptionist was ON THE PHONE with my mother, not knowing if someone had left the suitcase behind. After six weeks of not calling each other or talking in person, just hearing her voice was a strange feeling. Nevertheless, upon assuring both of them that everything was fine, I dropped the rest of my stuff off before going back down for my suitcase. So much for not hauling my 50-pound (most likely, overweight), stuffed luggage up three more floors of stairs.
In the end, it was convenient though as I rearranged and packed my belongings. Finalizing packing this morning, all of my belongings were distributed across my backpack, purse, tote bag, and suitcase (without unzipping the extra two inches of room). Everything is stuffed to the brim, but oh well.
After breakfast and quick errands (recycling a few cans and buying a wienerbrod pastry), I was on my way to the metro. While sweating it out lugging my stuff across the bridge, an ISUP friend (who lives in Copenhagen) passed by on his bike, saying "Goodbye, Andrea!" Even in a city of over a million people, it's possible to run into people you know, and it was a sweet surprise seeing Justin on the way out! Then, when I finally made it down to the metro, Luke was waiting for the airport as well, so we headed there together. What a small world!
Once I checked myself in, dropped off my bag, went through security, had my passport exit-stamped, and got to my terminal and gate, I didn't have too much of a wait before boarding. With that, my time in Copenhagen was over.
Hej hej, Danmark. Goodbye, Denmark. Thanks for an unforgettable summer; I will miss you.
