Copenhagen - Day 1

A comic book store with a red door. There were so many interesting shops with interesting facades. Very cool. 

We arrived in Copenhagen last Friday at about 3 in the afternoon. We found our hotel fairly easily after some confusion about whether to ride the train or the metro. We were tired after our 8 hour flight (despite the ambien induced few hours of sleep we had gotten), but we knew it was best if we could stay awake for a while. We ended up finding a really cool movie theater at which we watched The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. Looking back on it, Cody and I both realized that a dark movie theater was maybe not the best cure for our sleepiness; however, the cuteness of the movie theater was worth the foggy movie experience. 

The movie theater had multiple levels and Christmas decorations with enormous crystal chandeliers. Very fun. 

After the movie, a burst of energy led us on a cold walk through the streets of the city. Most of the stores were closed, but Christmas lights were everywhere and Copenhagen managed to excite us about our few days to come. 

The center of Copenhagen in designated for walking only with tons of lights and decorations, including enormous red hearts. A nice touch. 

Our rainy walk on our first night. 

Flower markets in Copenhagen.

A side street with lots of bikes. 

One of the numerous squares within Copenhagen. 

Our time spent in the city touted as home to the happiest people on earth (I mean this literally; someone did a survey) did in fact include pleasant and kind interactions for the most part. Denmark and Iceland both contained seemingly cool folks. A few things that stood out to me as we walked the streets of Copenhagen were the popularity of bikes in the city. Everyone travels by bike in a city that very obviously caters to this green form of transportation. Logically, streets full of bicycles rather than cars is a unique difference from home. I was also struck by how thin Copenhageners are - a logical by-product of bikes for cars. I think it is worthwhile to see the way people in other parts of the world exist. Copenhagen and Iceland both conveyed a true consideration for our earth and the way we live on it. I couldn't help but feel almost ashamed at the resistance that most Americans (including myself) approach the concept of our impact on the earth. Copenhagen especially has adopted government-led initiatives to be better in respect to the environment and it was a bit contagious. Other than all the nice, happy people and cute bicycles, Copenhagen was full of English speaking Danish folks who seemed to be really accepting of just about anyone and everyone. Another topic us Americans ought to get behind. 

Other first impressions included lots of blonde hair, blue eyes, and tall people. We also determined that the hipster originated in Copenhagen as wide-rimmed glasses, skinny pants, and thrift store clothes were the norm. Fine food and throwback versions of everything were also considered cool. Needless to say, Cody and I felt acutely American and acutely out of the loop, but that's okay.