Weekend at Ingrid's

As surprising as it may sound, I just spent a very cool weekend in Copenhagen. One week ago, when Ingrid called me and said she was going to be home alone for a few days, the last thing I was thinking about was to take an airplane and go somewhere for the weekend. After all, I had to take my driving exam on Friday and Kerstin was about to start her internship at the Canadian Embassy. However, a couple of days and Euros later, I was stepping Danish soil, ready to spend some time with my “old” friend and to explore my first Nordic city ever.

Even though Kerstin couldn’t make it to the trip, everything else went perfect. Not only I passed the exam and found a reasonably cheap ticket, but the usually grey skies looked bright blue as my airplane landed –ahead of schedule!- on Copenhagen. Even Ingrid, who usually has a really hard time getting anywhere on time, was there before expected.

Copenhagen is a relatively small city in comparison to Berlin, which makes it perhaps a little livelier than the German capital. Along its narrow streets it is easy to find hundreds of people walking around, wandering from one shop to the other, living the capitalist dream in an extremely beautiful city, where colourful buildings and a nice view to the ocean accompany you wherever you go.

In spite of the temperature, which stayed around zero during the whole weekend, Ingrid and I walked for hours in the search of culture and history, and of course, of nice backgrounds for our pictures. Coffee places and restaurants complemented the journey, by providing the required calories.

Taking all impressions into account, Denmark is a remarkable country. For example, when it comes to TV, Danish channels are way better than their German counterparts, mainly because they are not ashamed of recognizing that other countries produce better shows than they do, so instead of translating the originals into Danish or even creating lame, localized versions (like the Germans did with “Sex and the city” or “Betty la fea”), the Danish have no problem showing all movies and series in their original language.

The Danish display also a good mixture of the old and the new, which becomes evident by taking a look to their buildings and the way they dress, even though sometimes you might wonder why the Danish government is still forcing its people to use bicycles. Aren't they supposed to be one of the most advanced societies in the world? Could it be that fully automated vehicles -which pick you up at the subway station every 2.5 minutes at the most- compensate for the lack of cars? Well, it could be...

Ok, maybe I am going a little bit to far here -anyways I only spent three days in this country- so I'll probably end up my tribute to the trip here. Anyways I just wanted to say that it was good to see Ingrid again and to take a look to a different way of life. If you want more details or simply wanna see more pictures, please click here.