Copenhagen Again
On my second day in Copenhagen I woke up at 8am (grrr… only 6 hours of sleep) and went to meet the good people of NORDUnet as well as the other representatives from the five Nordic countries to help plan this year’s conference. After the meeting ended that day, I headed back to my hotel for 20 minutes of horizontal time, before heading back out again to meet the planning committee at a fancy restaurant where we had a great dinner. On my way to the dinner I happened to walk through a portion of Kastellet, which was very pretty. Here are all the pictures, a selection of which is below.
At the Central Train Station at 09:30. I really liked the achways, but had a hard time getting a good picture of them.
Some of the trains had been 'decorated' - I thought the dragon was pretty cool. 🙂
The NORDUnet office is located within walking distance to the airport (building on the right). It was kind of weird to be returning to the airport via the train, but then not go on a plane but outside for a walk!
The houses next to the airport looked new-ish, but not fancy. The area was friendly enough though, and apparently the airplanes very rarely have to fly over this area, because they arrive and depart towards the ocean.
Many hours later I returned to the Central Train Station.
This photo doesn't do justice to the main hall of the station, it is most impressive.
Walking towards my hotel... all the buildings were very 'stately'.
Random Chinese restaurant lion.
Pretty stair-handle! The Danes make these crazy bikes where the front can be used to transport anything from children to shopping to small furniture.
They're not very big on bike-helmets though. Somebody theorized it was because there aren't any hills, so they never go very fast, but still!!
This lovely lady stared me in the face any time I exited my hotel. Apparently the hotel is on the border of the nice and naughty parts of town...
After resting in my bed for 20 minutes, I headed out again, and this time took the train to Osterport. The Danes seem mindful of giving people good views, with glass enclosures for the bridge out of the train station.
I walked past that big tower a little later...
Yup, there it is, with bikers biking on the fancy exclusive bike-paths in the foreground.
Time to enter the Kastellet.
This is the backside of the same tower as before.
I think this is probably my favorite picture from the day, with the blue sky, windmill, trees, and couple pushing a stroller.
Note the twists on the bark of the tree!
A side-leaning tree tunnel.
It was a very still day.
The trees looked like they were about a month ahead of their Icelandic counterparts, blooming-wise.
A very typical Danish house.
Leaving the Kastellet. I'll have to go back later to look at the rest of it.
At the restaurant I couldn't help taking a photo of the main course. It was strange, but quite good!
The dessert was also very good, but very lemony. We gobbled it up in no time! 🙂
Here is the menu. 🙂
After the dinner it was straight back to the train station and then to the hotel for me, where I again stayed up until 2 am, which wasn’t smart because I had to get up at 7 am the next morning.
I did manage to crawl out of bed feeling reasonably coherent (which was a marvel since all four courses came with wine the evening before) and I managed to check out of the hotel in time to resume the meeting at the agreed time. The meeting wound down around 2 pm, at which point I headed back into town and stumbled onto the Strøget where I took a nice stroll towards the Central Train Station.
Huh, I don't think I've ever seen the Lego Architecture line in a store before! Lego stores are fun! (http://architecture.lego.com/)
By the Central Train Station I decided to try out the Andersen Bakery, and got this fantastic sandwich. The menu at this place didn't look anything like what I saw in California, so maybe they just borrowed the name?!
Since it has started raining a bit, I took the train to the airport, and hung out there until it was time to depart. All in all it was a fun trip, and I’m glad I can finally say that I’ve been to Copenhagen! I might even go back! 🙂