Surprise!!

Alright so I'm going to continue where I left off with my last post! The next morning after we went out, we slept in, Victoria made me breakfast and then we went to the center of Copenhagen for the day to do some shopping, sightseeing and get some lunch :)

I love their Royal Copenhagen porcelain!

Tiger is the coolest Danish store ever! You can find everything here at really good prices

Yummy Danish pastries at the best bakery Lagkagehuset

Danish brown bread filled with nuts & grains, so good & healthy!

Nyhavn, the iconic, colorful, waterfront area, a must-visit!

Sunday morning, Susanne woke us up at 8am to go running. We went through the park and along the Baltic Sea. The view was so beautiful and there was actually a really small campsite hidden next to the sea! So if you ever want to take a camping trip to Copenhagen, check out Hellerup! We also saw some people swimming in the sea!! I couldn't believe it... it was September in Denmark (not exactly ideal beach weather) but Victoria and Susanne told me it's normal for Danish people to take a little freezing cold dip in the morning to wake up and get their blood pumping. Well here's a couple pictures from the park and beach path! :)

Charlottenlund Palace, a former royal summer residence 

Love this cute little cottage in the park

When we got home, the Ravn-Rahbek family was preparing a huge Danish brunch. Victoria and I were cooking in the kitchen when Susanne, Victoria's mom, asked us to come outside and help her carry something. Victoria's hands were covered in flour because she was making crust for a pie so told her mom she was too busy to help. But Susanne wouldn't have it, she just kept begging us to come outside and help her! The two actually started arguing but we finally went outside only to find a huge surprise waiting... Victoria's Italian host brother, Federico, from Turin and his girlfriend, Alexandria, sitting there!! I was so confused... I had no idea they were visiting and neither did Victoria; it was a surprise visit for her birthday, which was 2 days later! Susanne, explained that she woke us up early that morning so we'd be ready when they arrived and she made us clean the house the night before in preparation for the guests. A very successful surprise, I'd say! :)

After a delicious brunch full of Danish pastries and bread with this strong but good Danish cheese called Danbo, bacon and eggs, Skyr (Danish yogurt, so yummy and filled with tons of protein!), fresh fruit, tea and coffee, Federico, Alexandria, Victoria and I headed into the city!

From left to right: me, Benedicte (Victoria's older sister), Susanne (Victoria's mom), Olfort (Victoria's dad), Christoffer (Victoria's older brother), Alexandria and Federico

I wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning! ;)

Federico studied design in college and is really interested in architecture so we went to see a new bridge that was just built a couple weeks ago across a canal. 

We climbed the 400 steps to to the top of the Church of our Savior and saw an amazing view of Copenhagen 90 meters above street level. I’d definitely recommend visiting this church, entrance was only 5 euros with a student card! 

Selfie at the very top of the spiral!

Next we walked through Christiania, which is a small community, founded in 1971, within the city that’s independent from Denmark. There are around 850 residents and they don’t have to pay taxes to the state. It’s like a mini-Amsterdam because although the sale of cannabis is still illegal there, it’s been tolerated by the authorities in the past and continues to thrive.

As soon as I walked through the arch, I knew Christiania was very unique. There were colorful paintings all over the wall, people relaxing smoking weed, stands selling tie-dye shirts and pipes. Basically, hippie central. There’s a “Green-Light District” filled with stands selling hash, weed, pre-rolled joints and space cake. I wish I could’ve taken pictures to show you but there’s signs prohibiting cameras because the residents want to keep their activities (smoking/selling dope) private from the authorities. The drug sellers conceal themselves behind black sheets that hang from their drug stands and also wear bandanas and hats so only their eyes are visible just in case some Copenhagen police decide to raid the place (which they do occasionally). 

A lot of Danish people really resent Christiania. Victoria’s mom, Susanne, described Christiania as “the place where all the bums hangout smoking hash and do nothing productive for society”. Victoria said that it’s not fair that Christiania residents don’t have to pay taxes since a lot of them are actually extremely wealthy from selling drugs. However, there’s also people who believe that Christiania benefits Copenhagen because it concentrates all the drug trade in one small neighborhood. It’s a pretty controversial subject. 

Christiania has actually done some productive things as well! They invented the Christiania bike, which has a small basket attachment in the front for children to sit in or to put groceries and won the classic Danish design award in 2010/11. There’s also a famous Danish singer Lukas Graham who grew up in Christiania (he sings songs in English and they’re really good! Check out “Drunk In The Morning”). There are some very high-rated restaurants in Christiania as well. It's without a doubt a one-of-a-kind place that deserves a visit!

Outside the entrance to Christiania

I snuck a picture of this sign!

We went to Copenhagen Street Food where there were little food stalls with a lot of different types of food from around the world. We got shared fish and chips and a meat platter, it was good but not amazing and a little expensive. There's another food market that's very similar called Torvehallerne that I think is much better! We wandered around the canals and streets a bit more before returning home.

Danes ride bikes everywhere!

Well that's all for now... look forward to my next posts soon, which will be about Danish birthday celebrations and a mini-vacation to the Swedish city of Malmo! Also if you're looking for some creative/style inspiration check out my friend's fashion, art and photography blog Tori State of Mind! One last thing, if you want live updates of my adventures add me on snapchat @jdawgxx :)