Copenhagen

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, was founded in 1167 and is home to an urban population of just under two million people (Thanks Wikipedia). That's pretty much all I can tell you about the place because I spent most of my five days chilling out with the friends I made while volunteering and not doing the whole culture thing. I was really excited before the trip. You always meet people when you go abroad and, inevitably, many of the conversations end with “oh, the next time I'm in [insert your home city here], we'll definitely meet up!” which never actually materialises. Not surprisingly, as you only really spoke once or twice in a foreign country due to a common language. Living in a country for just under four months is different. I saw these people daily, went on safari, to Zanzibar and Mombasa with them. The two or three months I knew most of these volunteers meant that we spent a lot of time together and we all featured in each other's stories when we got home.

We all have that time spent in Africa in common and it acts as a link, keeping you all together. The best thing is keeping that all going after you leave. With modern communication, smart-phones and Facebook, keeping in touch has never been easier. Everyone is just the touch of a button away but it is all about making the effort. Thankfully, I have been able to keep in touch with quite a few volunteers. Maybe not as many as I would have liked but that is understandable, as it is a similar experience to keeping in touch with school friends when you head to university. Many of the volunteers are heading to university, experiencing the freedom of living away from home and making new friends. The same happened to my friends and me when I went to uni. That experience probably helps to push me to stay in touch with the volunteers. I've lost touch with some friends from school, maybe we were never that close anyway, and I don't want that to happen now. Besides, what better time to visit them than when I am employed and before I start law school.

I flew with Easyjet from Stansted to Copenhagen for just under £100 return plus booking fee. I could have got this cheaper, a lot cheaper, if I hadn't booked it only two weeks in advance but I don't really mind paying the money for trips like this. My flight left at 7 a.m. so I was up at three. The flight there was quick and simple and had, somewhat surprisingly, one of the smoothest landings I've ever experienced. From there I was picked up by one of the other volunteers, with whom I was staying. Copenhagen is very different from London, and even Watford. It is noticeably quieter due to the population. There's more space and it's quite green, especially in the outskirts where I was staying. Everyone cycles everywhere too and most roads have a dedicated cycle lane while there are huge bike racks in the centre of town to leave your bikes. This all makes for a cleaner feel to the city, even if this isn't really the case. It makes for a quieter one too. Especially compared to London or even around Watford.

Most of the first day was spent on the couch, chilling after my early morning wake-up. I had leverpostej on rugbrød, which is basically a smooth liver pate on rye bread, before heading into central Copenhagen for dinner at a very smart little café called Paludan Bogcafe with library décor and with a cosy, relaxed atmosphere. I had stegt flæsk med persillesovs, which was some sort of fried peppered back bacon with new potatoes covered generously in a parsley sauce and beetroot. The portion size was huge, about six pieces of bacon and a large portion of potatoes and beetroot too and even I was unable to finish it. I was told that it was a very Danish dish and it was tasty enough. After dinner we sat and chatted about the good old days in Tanzania, probably annoying every sat around us as we weren't the quietest bunch by a long shot. Noticing this, we headed to another bar/café where we made sure we sat away from everyone else. I think the joy of seeing each other again after a few months meant that we probably seemed drunk, even though the cocktails and beers we had there were the first of the night. I tried a Jacobson Brown Ale and it was tasty, if a little weak. We headed to a few bars, and just chilled and enjoyed each other's company. Oh, and I Gangnam Styled it up on the dance floor too.

Saturday was spent in a small and quaint little amusement park called Tivoli Gardens in the middle of Copenhagen, the second oldest amusement park in the world. It cost about £30 for a day pass allowing one to go on all rides. Compared to Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, Tivoli is really small with a few selections of rides but that's really due to space constraints and it's focus on being a family orientated attraction. It was fairly busy but the queues were not the queues you would find at either of it's British counterparts on a Saturday in the school holidays. We had a great time though, one of my friends being terrified of heights but still going on one of the tower drop rides being a highlight (think Detonator at Thorpe Park). It had been ages since I'd been on a ride of any description so the adrenaline junkie in me has been sated just enough to get me through until November when I'll hopefully be able to show these Danes Thorpe Park and some real rides.

Sunday morning was spent watching a parade through the streets and a street performer over coffee before heading to the canals for a boat tour of the harbours. I got to pass by the Little Mermaid statue which, as everyone will tell you, is tiny and some cool sand castles. That evening we were invited to one of the volunteer's house to have dinner with her parents which was delicious and a nice change from having to find a place to eat before I got to try æbleskiver a sort of Danish doughball, usually eaten at Christmas with jam and icing sugar. Monday was a chilled day of sushi buffet at Aji Sushi in Lyngby before dinner at a trendy burger joint called Cocks and Cows. Funnily enough, as we sat and had coffee we spotted another volunteer who had been in Arusha through the window, even though I had no idea she lived in Copenhagen.

Thus ended my trip to Denmark and, although I didn't get to see all the people I wanted to see, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and exhausting trip. Copenhagen is a great little city and, while it isn't the cheapest, is probably worth a long weekend visit. There's a lot of history and things to see, most of which I will hopefully be able to do if I am able to return in November. Simply spending time with the friends I had become so close to in Tanzania was enough to keep me occupied for five days. I really hope I can return in November but I have just received my schedule for law school which consists of full 9-5 days on Tuesday and Friday. More on that in my next post I think.