We pretended to learn stuff like "My name is...", "I am from the USA", "I live in..." etc., and then we went to a grocery store (which by the way is completely different from American grocery stores) and had to find the Danish words for certain English words (apple, chicken, lettuce, etc.) and then they gave us a list of Danish words and we had to find what they were (MUCH harder than it sounds; although the Danish has 29 letters, they only use about 6 of them and every single word is at least 13 letters long!). But, finally that was over, then we had a lunch break and then our Scavenger Hunt!
The Scavenger Hunt was a blast, this is where we went:
Amalienborg Royal Palace - gorgeous place, not actually a castle because the old castle kept burning down so finally they moved to their new place which is a square surrounded by really beautiful buildings. The queen was even home which was very exciting too (we knew this b/c the Danish flag was raised on the building she actually lives in. Oh, and for all those Anglophiles out there, the Danish also have palace guards in funny hats!
The Parliament building (official name is Christianborg Slotsplads or Christiansborg Castle Square) - where all government-type things happen. In addition, when one monarch dies, the Prime Minister names the new ruler by going out onto the balcony of the Parliament building and saying that the older ruler kicked the bucket and ta da, here is the new ruler! This last happened when King Frederick IX died in 1972 and Queen Margrethe II took over. However, Margrethe could only become Queen after the Danish govt. changed their constitution to say that in the absence of a male heir, a female could take over the position as ruler! The old castle used to be near/where the Parliament is today, but like I said, the Danes get along with fire about as well as Kenyon does! Actually, there is one section of the Parliament building that survived the fire, and you can see that the column nearest to the rest of the building is darker than the other columns because it was blackened with smoke!
Grabrodre Torv - the most charming square in Copenhagen (which is impressive considering there are about 2334593573498325698532540 squares in the city!)
Magsin - the largest department store in Copenhagen. Though we were told by our savvy Danish friends not to shop there because everything is waaaayyyyyy overpriced.
The Royal Library - Also called the Black Diamond because it is modern and funny looking so it stands out in Copenhagen. I think they finished it in like 1991 or something and it is SUPER nice with lots of great views of the city. It also has one of those people-movers that you see in the airports but it goes up/down to the next level. It was actually quite challenging to walk on, I wouldn't really recommend it... This is the main library for Kobenhavn University.
Vor Frue Kirke - Copenhagen's National Cathedral. Because Copenhagen is a Protestant nation and thus does not buy into all of the fancy-schmancy decorations that the Catholics like so much, it seemed kind of bare, but it was really nice anyway! This church is maybe 2 minutes from DIS which is cool because it is still an operating church where all of the royals get married.
I took tons of pictures on the Scavenger hunt but I'll post them this weekend (after I go to Frederiksborg Castle and take more pics). I don't know how it is loading pics onto this site but if it is a pain I'll put them on like photobucket or something and post the link.
Food Log:
Breakfast: musseli and yogi (yogurt)
Lunch: peanut butter sandwich on white bread (both purchases made in my American honor, although even the white bread here tastes a lot more healthy...)
Dinner: Pasta with some kind of sauce with shrimp, coconut milk, lemon grass, and other stuff
It sounds like you had an exhausting but fun day! Was it cold while you were doing all the running around? What is the grocery store like? Does the peanut butter taste the same or is it more "oily"....ya know, like "natural" peanut butter you get in health food stores. What is the Danish word for apple? What is your favorite Danish word you learned today. Sorry for all the questions. The city really sounds like it is beautiful. Is it going to be easy to get around?
ReplyDeleteNot much going on around here. We dropped Maggie off at the airport this afternoon then went to the grocery store....you kids ate all of our food!!! Chicken patty sandwiches for dinner tonight. We just ate a bunch of clam dip and chips so we are not ready for dinner yet.
Love you! Have fun!
nice kenyon shout out!! i love that all foreigners have us pegged as peanutbutter sandwich eaters! but it's nice that they are making a good attempt to make you feel welcome and comfortable. i can't wait to see pictures, it sounds like the city is really beautiful.
ReplyDelete1. It is actually really cold here (like Chicago/Ithaca cold). In fact, it is the coldest, wettest winter Denmark has had in 30 years, lucky us!
ReplyDelete2. The grocery store is small, and kind of hidden behind a bakery which smelled AMAZING.
3. Peanut Butter is the same, we have Jiff
4. apple = aebler* note the a and the e should be connected, but I don't have that key on my computer.
5. I like potato (bagekartofler) or cheese (ost). Beef is also funny (bof - but the o should have a line through it)
6. Ya, it is easy to get around, once you know everything by sight (b/c street signs are ridiculous) it is fine, and plus it is a small city.
in german, potato is kartofel! thanks wertheims!! have you had abel skeevers yet? i don't think thats how you spell it, but they are like danish donuts. my friend anna's grandma is danish, and anna made us all able skeevers once and there were delicious!!! go find some or have your host mom make them.
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