Copenhagen

So, last weekend I went with eight other exchange students to visit Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. We stayed in a hostel called "Sleep-in-Heaven" (Allison, you're taking notes, right? haha) which was walking distance from all of the main attractions in the city and the central train station. Actually, we went everywhere by foot, and were all exhausted by Sunday night.

Our first stop in Copenhagen was the Statens Museum for Kunst, home to the royal art collection. Inside were exhibitions of modern art, Danish art dating back to the 18th century, and international art dating as far back as the 14th century. My favorite pieces were probably the older paintings with religious or historical motifs. I have shown below a 550-year-old painting entitled "The Good Thief," showing the crucifixion of St. Dismas, who was executed alongside Jesus.

Next, we visited Rosenborg Castle, which was clearly visible from the museum. It was built in 1606 as a Summer Palace, that's right, a "vacation spot," so to speak, for King Christian IV. This structure was like something out of a fairy tale. It was surrounded by a moat with what appeared to be a drawbridge, and surrounding all of that was a large park. There were armed guards at the main entrance dressed in traditional uniforms.

Of course, you can't visit Copenhagen without seeing the Little Mermaid, which was sculpted and placed in the harbor in 1913. It was inspired by the play "The Little Mermaid" and symbolizes a fairy tale by Danish poet Christian Andersen. In a nutshell, the plot mirrors that of Disney's "The Little Mermaid," except that in the Disney version there is a happy ending.

We also visited the royal palace and the Church of Frederik before the first day was up. The Church of Frederik's dome was inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the inside was magnificient. One of my favorite things about Scandanavia is definitely the presence of old churches.

The second day in Copenhagen was all about the government buildings.... and Christiania. We visited the Danish Parliament and saw what was probably my favorite building in the city, the Danish Stock Exchange. The stock exchange was originally built as a marketplace in the 1620's and is the oldest stock exchange in all of Europe. Most interesting was the spire, which is formed by the interweaving tails of four dragons.

Now for the little segment on Christiania. This is a section of Copenhagen that was once declared a lawless free state by its founders. Thus, it became a safe-haven for, and symbol of, the free use of drugs and sexual expression. Of course, the area was eventually annexed by the Danish government and the use and sale of drugs has been banned. Christiania, though, is still a national symbol of sexual freedom and, of course, illegal drugs. Imagine Woodstock, except people actually live there. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, unfortunately.

And now for my favorite stop of the trip, the observatory, where we took 360-degree panoramic pictures of the city.

Air Force Museum!!!

On Saturday I paid my first visit to the Swedish Air Force museum, which is actually right on the outskirts of town and only about a 10-minute bike ride from my building. The place wasn't enormous but it was by far the most interesting thing I've seen since coming here (that's going to change very, very soon). Aviation has played a large role in the history of Linköping. Though the city itself has been here for a while, it underwent a cultural and economic transformation when, one day, Saab Aerospace decided that it would be a good place for a plant. Saab actually manufactured a lot of the jets in the museum, though the first fighters and trainers of the Swedish Air Force were actually purchased from the UK and France. Just to show you how quickly the Europeans caught onto aviation, the Wright Brothers first set flight in 1903. Sweden bought its first trainer from I believe it was the UK, might have been France, in 1907. The US government first denounced the idea of air defense as folly. My camera battery ran out ten minutes into our visit, so I will be going back soon to take more pictures.

This plane was on display right outside of the entrance and I believe it is the Saab 32 Larsen, though I could be wrong as I may have forgotten exactly what the sign next to it said. The blue emblem with the three gold crowns is the emblem of the Swedish Air force.

Most of the planes you see in the picture are not models, they are former in-service aircraft. Some of the more recent ones even had the artillery still attached (but I'm sure not loaded). There were some that we could walk inside of and many of the engines were reverse-engineered and on display. It was interesting to see the progression from in-line cylinders to rotary-style to current jet engines. Actually, the planes inside were arranged chronologically and the side railing was measured out to be as long as the Wright Brothers' first flight.

In other news, the Exchange Student Network put on a Welcome Dinner for all exchange students on Saturday night and served up what was probably the best meal I'll have on Swedish soil. Then Sunday night I visited my peer student and got my first taste of Swedish delivery pizza, in stark contrast to Allison's dining at a 17th-century pub. This weekend I will finally get my first chance to do some actual travelling as I am booked to spend the weekend with seven other students in Copenhagen. It's going to be a blast.