Return from Denmark!

Postings have been light due to several reasons, but most likely it just boils down to laziness. I have returned, however. First let me get you up to speed on Denmark. I am obviously back in the U.S. We came back on the Sept 26. I’ll give you the whole update. The most notable thing from the end of our time in Denmark was our trip to Copenhagen on the second to last weekend (the last weekend being the weekend we left, obviously). We did several things while we were there. We stayed one whole night which included a walk to the mermaid statue, a statue erected in reference to Hans Christian Anderson’s famous story. Below is a photo (it was taken at night, this is the best I could do).

Here is a photo of one of the canal streets near our hotel.

Here we are walking to get something to eat. We ate at the equivalent of a fast food place in the shopping district. One particular member of our group liked it so much we were forced to walk back and eat there once more.

Here is a picture from inside the place. You can usually assess the quality of an eatery by the menu, you be the judge in this photo.

We got a tour of the parliamentary building, but no cameras inside so you only get a picture of the outside.

We also visited a place called Christiania. Christiania was founded in 1971, when many people from different backgrounds began to take over an area of recently abandoned military barracks together as a protest against the Danish government.
The people in Christiania have developed their own set of rules, completely independent of the Danish government. The rules forbid stealing, guns, bulletproof vests and hard drugs. Famous for Pusher Street, where weed is sold openly from permanent stands, it does have rules forbidding hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. The residents negotiated an arrangement with the Danish defence ministry (which still owns the land) in 1995. Since 1994, residents have paid taxes and fees for water, electricity, trash disposal etc. The future of the area remains in doubt as Danish authorities continue to push for its removal. On Pusher Street, cameras are not allowed, and locals will wave their hands and shout "No photo!" if they see someone trying to take a picture.

I was amazed at the number of satellite dishes in this place. You would think "hippies" might shun the modern marvel of dish network, but apparently not. We got a tour from a resident for the equivalent of $6 U.S. Here are some of the pictures from the town.




Someone in Copenhagen has a sense of humor, they placed a strawberry on top of an animal poop, so of course it will be commemorated on this website. Some German tourists joked that it was the morning’s Danish. I’ll stick with the jelly donuts.

A photo from the 3 hour train ride home from Copenhagen. This is looking out of the window of the train on Sunday evening, Aug 19.

I do have one funny story from my last days in denmark. I was trying to buy OJ at the store in Denmark, but yogurt, it turns out, also comes in a big juice-type jug with oranges pictured on the front so I ended up getting yogurt. It's not too bad to taste, but if you're expecting OJ and you get plain yogurt then it can be a little freaky.

Everything went well with the trip home UNTIL we landed in the U.S. Typical. :)
The line through customs was long, and we almost missed our flight. We boarded the plane and the door shut behind us. We got stuck on the runway for 3 hours and then we taxied back to the terminal and offloaded. The weather was keeping us from taking off. We ate Wendy's for dinner and then hung out for a while. We finally boarded the plane and waited around a bit longer, then we took off. We got home Sunday morning instead of dinner time Saturday. I slept all day Sunday. I was so tired. The trip ended up taking about 1.5 days. My luggage made it ok though. That's good.