Claire-ity: Measuring Distance in Graffiti

I've decided that you can tell how far away you are from the center of Copenhagen by the amount of Graffiti per square inch. This at least applies for all the suburbs you pass when on the B line of the S-train. Sometimes it makes things a bit sketchy. Like where Izabel and I live. We're the third to last stop on the B line and you can tell. There's a lot more Graffiti out here than at the stations closer to the city. We've decided that we definitely don't want to be out by the station anytime after dark. It's not that the area is really unsafe, it's just that some of the people can be really rude or sketchy depending on what time you're by the station and the shopping area around it. Though our actual house is further into the neighborhood and feels much safer. But in any case, I've decide that Graffiti per square inch is definitely a legit form of measurement here. And a lot of it is rather creative and looks really cool. And some of it is just lame.

Yesterday I had another orientation program called THE AMAZING RACE (I like to imagine it being said in a deep announcer voice because it sounds so much more exciting that way). Basically a bunch of students were put into groups and had to run around the city to find different locations.

Location One: Rosenborg Castle

This place is really cool. It's a castle that was built as a summer home for Christian IV. Apparently almost all of the really impressive buildings were built because of Christian IV. It's a gorgeous castle that houses the royal jewels. Apparently it's one of the only countries in Europe where you can see the royal jewels on display (I think London is the other place). At the time it was built in the early 1600's it was located in the country side but the city has expanded so much since that it's pretty much in the middle of the city now. The castle is surrounded by huge grassy grounds. I plan to be studying here a lot while it's still a bit warm. (Speaking of which, Sunday and Monday here were the hottest days here in about 30 years. But now it's cooler and rainy.)

According to the stories, Christian IV used to put his house key in the lion's mouth so that when he came home after a few drinks, he would be able to find his key.

Location Two: The Royal Palace

This palace is different than typical palaces because it's split into four buildings. It forms a circle around a central statue. I guess different royalty live in different buildings. You can tell when someone is home because the flag above the building will be raised. Their used to be one castle further south and in a more protected area of the city but it burned to the ground and the royal family had to move here. Then when the new castle was build, the government made the royal family stay in this palace.

The prince is home!

Me by the statue in the center of the palaces. The dome in the background is a large cathedral.

Location Three: This was part of the warehouse distrect and wasn't that exciting. I don't have any photos.

Location Four: Parliament

This is a beautiful building that houses all three branches of the government. It also used to be the royal palace. It's burned down twice in the past. Both times were because they made the fire's too large in during the winter. I guess they didn't really learn anything from the first fire. Minnesotans know better. But pretty much all the government buildings are around this area.

Izabel and I have explored the city a lot on our own time. It's been a lot of fun. This Saturday (along with applying for our Visas, we plan to bike around the city so that we can explore the outer edges. It's all so beautiful and even if some areas are sketchy, Izabel informed me today that it's the safest city. So it's all good news. These are just some of the things we've seen.

Church of Our Lady/ National Cathedral of Denmark. I was really surprised by the Romanesque style of this church. Somehow I wasn't expecting to see much of this in Denmark. Though if you look around, it's not that uncommon here. Still, I wasn't expecting something so Romanesque. It even has a frieze.

Inside of the church. I love the ceiling. I don't remember what the technique is called but it's supposed to alleviate the pressure on the roof and send it down into the walls so that the ceiling doesn't collapse.