(Finally) Exploring Denmark

I've been living in Denmark for over two months now, and I am ashamed to admit that, before this week, I have seen little outside my everday commute between Helsingor and Copenhagen. Study tours were really helping me compensate for my personal laziness when it came to travel. This past week was the second travel break, and my girlfriend, TT, came all the way from the US to spend it with me. We hadn't seen each other in almost four months so yeah...we spoiled ourselves. We're shamelessly sentimental that way.

I wanted to give TT the complete Denmark experience so we went a lot of places that I had always planned on going to...but never got around to. In other words...we got lost a lot. Here are a few pictures from our adventures:

1.) Kronborg Castle -- I've been living down the street from this place and I still had yet to see it. We bought the full ticket (Casemates, Ballroom, Chapel, Telegraph Tower = 75 DKK per person) because I was DETERMINED to climb the tower. I apparently have a thing for towers and stairs...as you shall see presently.

Known for being the setting of Hamlet, Kronborg castle is
located right on the beach.

 The Casemates were kind of like a dungeon under the castle. TT loves scary movies and gory goodness so she was having the time of her life wandering into dark tunnels and abyss-like enclaves off the beaten path. I was afraid for my life. There were some terrifying fake people down there, but this awesome fella down below made every moment of horror worth it.

Holger Dansk -- legend has it that when Denmark is
 in a time of need,the Holger Dansk will wake
 up and come to the nation's rescue!

Trips up the tower occur every hour. It is about 200 steps up this bad boy, and I am not ashamed to say that I demanded a few breaks on the way up. But hey, I was recovering/in the midst of a bad bout of food poisoning, so I think I did pretty fantastically.

Gorgeous and definitely worth the climb!

Sampling the gift shop wares. The things I
do for TT's amusement...

2.) My roommate suggested that we go check out the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art close to Humlebaek Station. (Student Admission = 95 DKK) The museum was featuring Pop Art Design while we were there. Both of us are not very much into modern art (Our favorite thing is to go around, point at things, and say "I can do that.") but it was still a chill afternoon wandering from exhibit to exhibit and enjoying the sea-side garden sculptures.

Definitely our favorite exhibit. Only two people could go into this
 room at once. The walls were completely made up of mirrors
and we stood on a platform surrounded by water. 

The weather was permitting enough for us to sit outside and
 enjoy the sculptures and the scenery. We felt really old just sitting on the
lawn as young children clambered up and down the hills.

One of our favorite things to do as "big kids" is to
crash the children's corners. Yeah, we're horrible people
 but just because we arein our second decade, we
 have not lost our burning desire to play with Legos!!

3.) I'm all about the Two'fers, so I insisted on taking TT to Sweden for a day trip just so she could say she went to Denmark AND Sweden. Like I mentioned before, for only 55 DKK round trip, why the hell not?

Can you name all the country's flags?

Festive Easter celebrations in front of the
 steps up to Karnan.

Special chick cakes for Easter!

We stopped by Fahlman's Konditori, the oldest cafe in Helsingborg.

I promised TT ALL the pastries. This cinnamon roll was SO good.

Almond crusted pistachio goodness. Also, TT swears there
 was a mandarin orange slice in the center.

Some really cool sculpture we happened upon while lost.

After Karnan tower, we decided to venture out to the Fredriksdal Open Air Museum. It's only about 1.5 km from Helsingborg, definitely walking distance. TT is a huge fan of touching animals...especially when it's prohibited. Here are a few photos as proof that I am dating the Animal Whisperer. 

I stood by and watched them cluck at each other for five minutes.
This duck/goose/thing started following TT around
inside the cage. Terrifying.

This is TT reaching OVER an electrified fence (behind the wood)
 in an attempt to touch the pig. Long story short: she succeeded.

After a long day of walking and eating, TT and I found a few reclining chairs by the dock and decided to enjoy the sunset.

4.) The Blue Planet Aquarium just opened last week and TT is a huge fan of aquariums. She decided to take me so we could do a re-visit of our first date to the Baltimore Aquarium.  

PIRANHAS. FROM THE AMAZON.

Just keep swimmin'.

Did you know male seahorses carry the babies to term? 

Life-size shark display...

...a little bit more impressive than the baby hammerhead sharks
in the tank.

Also, the rainforest exhibit was toasty warm and indoors.
Made me dream of better climates and hope for Spring.

TT communing with the animals. Notice how many other adults are
taking part in this exhibit.

After the aquarium, TT and I went to this buffet in Copenhagen that I've been dying to try. It's called Riz Raz and it's located really close to DIS. TT is a vegetarian, and even though I am a devout meat-eater, this vegetarian buffet was OK by me. :)

My mountain of falafel.

If you're a vegetarian, traditional Danish food (meat and potatoes) might not be the perfect fit for you. In preparation for TT's visit, I had to do a lot of research. Some good places if you are vegetably inclined.

1.) Vegetariet -- In Helsingborg, Sweden, this restaurant serves both vegan and vegetarian food buffet-style. You pay by weight. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the vast array of salads + cooked foods they had available. Mmmm. Good. I ate fake meat...and I liked it. (Don't tell my family, I may be disowned.)

2.) Morgenstedet -- There are a lot of vegetarian restaurants in Christiania but TT and I decided to hit up Morgenstedet because it seemed more affordable than the rest. I was afraid to pull out my camera here due to the strict No Camera policy in Christiania, but the cauliflower pea soup and peanut curry  were AMAZING. The two of us were stuffed for 150 DKK.

3.) Pastries -- when all else fails, feed the vegetarian pastries. On Wednesdays, giant cinnamon rolls are sold at St. Peter's Bakery for 15 DKK. I got another puff pastry that was smothered in chocolate and had traces of sweet cream inside. Mm. Two pastries were 26 DKK with my DIS student discount!

One more massive adventure to blog about after this. I'll keep you posted!