Copenhagen & Malmö

“It’s better to travel and get lost than never to travel at all.” This is such an amazing statement, and literally applicable to my excursion this past weekend to Copenhagen, Denmark. After the whirlwind trip to Berlin and a few tough days in class, Leisl, Andrew and I decided that we wanted to get out of Germany and head over to Copenhagen. What??? So awesome! We got Tom to come along and we started making plans. PS…this decision was made on Wednesday afternoon during class. Leisl rented a car and I found an apartment to rent. We quickly packed and headed off right after class on Thursday. Well, not RIGHT after…we needed to grab some dinner first!

Leisl was SO excited to get a car! Doesn't she look like one of "The Price is Right" beauties??

Off to Denmark!! Andrew found a ferry that would take us to Copenhagen and cut out some of the travel time. The ferry was huge and fit a TON of cars. We were so excited to be on the road and in our own car with A/C! We haven’t had that feeling in a while, so it was really refreshing! The scenery on the drive was just amazing. Pictures don’t do it justice, but we definitely tried! The roofs were crazy with gardens and plants on top; there were tons of times our back-country road took us by the water; everything was so GREEN! I haven’t seen this many trees in my life combined! Although I have to say my favorite part of the drive was blaring some Led Zeppelin and Van Halen while watching Leisl dance as she drove!

'Murica

Leisl, Tom, Andrew and I waiting for the ferry

Got to watch the sunset over the Baltic Sea

We got a little lost because the website I booked the apartment through didn’t have the full address. Plus, the internet connections are patchy everywhere in Europe. We finally found the address, thanks to Tom’s cell phone, and reached the apartment around 11:30pm. Thankfully the host was super awesome and didn’t pitch a fit. Granted, we let her know ahead of time that we were going to be late, so no worries! The apartment was cute and small, but there were plenty of places to sleep. We crashed hard…after connecting to the Wi-Fi and letting everyone know that we arrived.

I had been in contact with the Copenhagen Temple President, asking him specifics about sessions, family names, clothing, etc. Thank goodness, too! We ended up going first thing Friday morning for the 10am session. I had some names that needed to be done, so I was able to check that off my list! Being in the temple was such an amazing experience. It was my first time wearing headphones, but I made sure I could also listen to the Danish. It was so amazing to hear and experience! So happy I was able to share this with friends! There were 2 women from Oslo that were there and helped me find my way around. They were so sweet!

Copenhagen Temple

After the temple we headed out for a little excursion to find the infamous Nyhavn area. I didn't know anything about this place...other than the pictures of the buildings I occasionally saw on Pinterest with the caption "Denmark." Obviously it wasn't a lot to go on. Before we finally got to where we parked, we endured a brief moment of panic when we were heading down the wrong way on a one-way street...oops! Finally we parked on a little side street. We wandered around a bit and just enjoyed the fact that we were there.

Andrew and Tom admiring the car we parked in front of...boys...

Andrew and I by the canal in Nyhavn 

Side note: I made the mistake of standing on the edge of the canal so I could look down into the water. Andrew thought it was a good idea to come up behind me and grab me, shake me, and then pull me back. Like any respectable 30-year old woman, I screamed. Then, I had to listen to him tell me that he "saved" my life and I now owe him. Whatever.

"Art"

More "art"

Andrew, Leisl, Tom and I

Customary Eis stop

Oh, the characters we saw in Copenhagen!

We stopped at a little touristy restaurant by the water called "The Tinder Box." Our table was in a nice shaded area with a breeze...best seat in the house. We tasted some local delicacies...and found them to be pretty great! I'm not a HUGE fan of Danish food, but it was worth it. When in Rome...

Story of the name "Tinder Box"

Serenaded with Dr. Zhivago and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Among other things...we tried curry pickled herring and homemade horseradish!

The "Happy Wall"

Enjoying our Eis!

Since the trip up here was so last minute, we really didn't have a lot planned for sightseeing. I knew that The Little Mermaid statue was in Copenhagen, so we took off walking towards it. The weather was so beautiful and the town (mostly) was so enchanting. Along the way, we happened upon a small type of town square...but instead of shops and things like that, there were 4 PALACES!

Just one of the palaces...complete with royal guards!

Kastellet...one of the best preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe. 

After wandering around for a while, we headed over to Tivoli Gardens for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately, you have to pay to go on rides...after you pay to get in. The rides ended up costing around $15/ride, so we opted to walk around and just be at peace with everything. It was so pretty and we were able to do some good people-watching!

Feeding the fish

Leisl and I bought refillable Pepsi cups...totally got our money's worth!

We happened to be there for an awesome concert!

Tom and I just loved the creepy painting on the truck...

Apparently Andrew kept putting purple flowers in my hair...and I just love this picture with Leisl in the reflection of my sunglasses...so cool! 

Saturday morning we had decided to travel up to Malmö, Sweden for breakfast. How cool is that? We went under a long tunnel where Andrew and I tried to hold our breath. He held out a little longer than I could, but it was really long. I plugged his nose...just to make sure he wasn't cheating. I still don't know. Oh well. There was a bridge recently built connecting the city to Denmark, which helped build up Malmö. It worked in our favor for this trip! We drove about 30 minutes to Melvin's Cafe for a light breakfast, since there aren't any IHOPs around, apparently. 

Frühstück in Schweden! 

After breakfast, we headed out to find a cool building that had been haunting Tom on the front of one of his textbooks: the Turning Torso. While we were there, we checked out the little community that was around it. The buildings were pretty cool and modern. There was also a little park with a hammock that I took full advantage of. Unfortunately, Andrew felt the need to swing me as high as possible. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't holding my big camera and was afraid that I would break it when I fell out...

Horrible angle, but proof that I was there!

St. Petri (St. Peter's Church)

Loving life!!

Laughed pretty hard when I saw this...I miss real Mexican food!

Afterwards, we headed back to Denmark. Leisl surprised us with an app on her phone that simulated fart noises. We had a few good moments of crying/laughing. She said she added it to her phone because "solitaire is SO overrated!" LOL

We wanted to check out the original Christus statue. It was so cool! Then, we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe for a late lunch/early dinner. 

After a brief break and internet connection at the apartment, we headed out on the town back to Nyhavn. We went and took a canal/river cruise at sunset. It was so beautiful...except when we got mooned by some drunk guys...

So beautiful! 

Sunday morning we found the local branch out here. It was in the cutest building! There were MAYBE 40 people in the ward, with about 4 sets of missionaries and 10 visitors at least. The members were so nice and welcoming to us!

Had a tough time trying to sing in Danish...

After church, we headed over to the Rosenborg Castle (thanks Jen!) for a tour and to hang out in the Gardens. 

After the tour, we found a tree and sat down on the grass for a few hours and just talked. It was so relaxing and beautiful. It's times like this that add a splash of magic to traveling. Copenhagen was so fun and relaxing. We walked a bunch, but seriously enjoyed being able to get into an air-conditioned car!