Live from Lyngby

I really want to let you all know about my little excursion yesterday.  I have gotten caught up for the past hour or so returning e-mails and changing my layout and color scheme...like it???  Thought you might not have noticed.  Anyway, I'm heading out in about fifteen minutes so let's see how fast I can do this and I apoligize in advance for any grammatical and or spelling errors that may occur.

Yesterday I decided I had wasted enough afternoons just sitting around, not doing much of anything so I took the oppurtunity to travel to Copenhagen and just walk around and visit some museums.  After paying next months rent I took the 150s bus down to Norreport station.  While waiting for the bus a man was talking very loudly on his cell phone.  After he got off he commented to me in Danish.  I told him I only spoke English and was from America and he clarified his remark.  He mentioned that he was speaking so loudly because his grandmother was on the phone.  I told him I could understand because my mother always makes the same comments about my grandfather.  Anyway, while we waited he asked me if I was enjoying myself and what I had seen so far.  I told him I hadn't seen much but that I was planning all sorts of trips and for Easter I was heading to Spain.  He suggested that I visit Mon in Denmark, which is south of Copenhagen, a small island just north of Germany.  He said he thought that it was the most beautiful part of Denmark.  After consulting my travel books, it turns out H.C. Andersen felt the same way.  He also mentioned that Portugal is a very nice place to visit if I have the chance because it is gorgeous and not quite as touristy as a lot of Europe can be.  I may take him up on both these suggestions.  We inevitably began to discuss American politics, with the election and all coming up.  He made one comment though that I found most interesting.  Actually two.  First, he said that he has as much interest in the outcome of the American elections as he does in the outcome of his own.  The second comment was that he has a lot of bad sentiment towards America with the war in Iraq and the impression we give off as a sort of bully, however he was the first person I've come across to also note how grateful he was for us because when things go wrong we are often the ones to respond.  He noted the mess in Yugoslavia in the mid-to-late 90's and said, often people forget about the times like these.  I was very impressed by his take on America.

Anyway,  I eventually would make it to Norreport and since it was raining I decided to take the train to Copenhagen Station and from there walk to the Nationalmuseet.  The museum was full of culture.  It was really interesting because there were exhibits of mummies and ancient Greeks and Romans.  Also there were exhibits on Danish culture from before the middle ages up until modern times.  I found that they really liked to display dead bodies.  There were mummies, the actual bodies laying exposed for the patrons to see.  There were bones of animals.  There was the well preserved remains of a mass burial site found beneath a church in Roskilde.  There was also a head with a stake stuck through it.  The sign mentioned this was done in addition to drawing and quartering a person for a truly heinous offense.  Do check out the pictures because some this stuff was really amazing, but like I said, I'm in kind of a rush and am not going to post any, at least not at this time.

After the museum, the sun had begun to shine so I just started walking towards the waterfront.  I had no map so I just began to walk in the general direction.  I ended up finding a canal that was very nice and did make my way to the waterfront.  I crossed over the bridge and walked towards Christiania.  I don't know that I made it quite to the heart of Christiania because I didn't notice all the hippies that they suggest live there.  It is apparently a place for people with alternative lifestyles (alternative in the hippie/pot-smoking sense).  A little while later I turned around and stumbled upon the Danish Architecture Center (DAC). 

I decided to check it out since my guidebook told me they had free exhibits.  Well, they don't, or at least they didn't.  They were hosting Europan 9 which is a contest for aspiring European architects to showcase there talents.  I payed the 25 kroner (5 dollars and rising, the exchange rate is really faltering) and went in.  I had never been to an architecture competition before and decided it would be interesting.  I have decided that a lot of architects really just try too hard.  The designs appear to be really over the top most of the time but I guess that's why a lot of people categorize this as artistic expression.  My feeling was confirmed when no one was awarded a prize in one of the categories.  This was because none of the judges felt that the architects addressed the issues that had been given in the contest outline.  After this I decided it was a good idea to head home since I still had to go grocery shopping.  

I made my way back to Norreport, again without a map.  I cheated when I stumbled upon the Nyhavn Metro and took that back to Norreport.  Once at Norreport I bought my first Danish from Super Brusgen's.  I can say it was quite good, although I imagine they can be quite better when you get them fresh from a bakery.  I know of a bakery about a kilometer down the street and I think I will go there one day to see just how good they can be.

Well, it has been a month and one day now.  I am having so much fun.  I can't wait to see everyone over Easter break and I can't wait for the rest of my family to come visit in May.

Take Care.

JML