Kulturenatten, the Legoland trip that never was, and pictures of birds :)

For only one night each year, all of Copenhagen's cultural establishments (museums, galleries, government buildings, you know) open their doors after hours and offer to residents and tourists alike a NEW side of Copenhagen! "Kulturnatten" includes guided tours, guest lecturers, street activities and performances, art walks, and, honestly, pretty much anything you can think of (we stumbled upon a tent in which you could fish for CRABS!), and all of it is accessible with the purchase of just one all-inclusive ticket! I had been told a few times that because the city gets so crowded so quickly, it's best to think ahead and pick three or four events to attend to avoid wasting the night waiting in lines or getting lost in giant mobs. So, we sat down and highlighted a few, put on our kulturnatten buttons and went on our way!

What better place to start a night of being cultured than a BEER BREWERY? The Carlsberg Brewery was doing all kinds of cool stuff! There was a tour, a horse-drawn carriage ride, an art gallery, food, and, of course, beer :)

 

Next, we went down the street to the Copenhagen Zoo to see them feed the CARNIVORES :) Well, we didn't actually get to see any feeding, but we saw some lovely animals :) I felt a little bad about the fact that they were being kept up later than usual with big bright lights, but most of them were indoors and didn't seem uncomfortable.

The giraffe on the right DID NOT BREAK EYE CONTACT the entire time we were in there.

Cool Danish animal signs :)

After some zoo fun, we went to Christiansborg to see the Parliament building and the city's ruins beneath it! We learned ALL about Copenhagen's history (fun fact (the only one I remember): Copenhagen, originally named "Havn" (Harbour), was founded in the year 1000). There were cute little jack-o-lanterns places throughout the corridors, but other than that, it was completely dark!

An original rat of Havn, living down here since 1000.

After this, we ate, drank, looked at art, listened to music, fried pancakes over an open fire (they have pans specifically made FOR this), watched a demonstration police rescue (took a few seconds to figure out this was fake!), wandered, and just tried to take it all in. I'd say we did fairly well as far as working efficiently to get in some solid cultural activities :)

Thoughts on Kulturenatten: It was CRAZY packed, even more so than usual on a Friday night, but that was part of the charm; everyone from all surrounding areas (someone told me that people come from all over Denmark to attend this!) comes together and enjoys each others company along with everything Copenhagen has to offer. It's also a great way for museums, artists, musicians, etc. to promote themselves. I don't think we passed anything that didn't have at least something of a crowd! However, this also made things a little stressful. There was a lot of pressure to see what we wanted to see because who knows when we'll attend another Kulturenatten! Also, because there was SO much offered, there was no possible way to see everything in one night. I would love it if this event was once every month (like Sacramento's Second Saturday) or if each district of Copenhagen had its own night so we could see more!

Sunday was a planned excursion to Legoland. However, an unfortunate series of events involving me, my bike, and the concrete led me to the emergency room for stitches instead :( BUT, on the bright side, I got to experience a DANISH emergency room! There was basically no one else there, the doctor was very nice, and I got to keep some cool pamphlets on concussion and stitches written in Danish AND accompanied by pictures :)

Mild concussion + stitches = no Monday classes for ME! Instead, I went to the Frederiksberg park and took some pictures of birds:

They even have their own stepladder!!

Beautiful October scenery :)

Last night after our film studies movie-watching session, I went home with India to have dinner with her and her host family. It was WONDERFUL! Living in an apartment has its perks, but I love coming home to a cozy family environment once in a while. We had vegetable soup and homemade bread, and afterwards we made chocolate chip cookies with her host brother (he is HILARIOUS, speaks perfect English and is very very talkative! We spent a great deal of time talking about Pokemon after dinner). Perfect evening! I'm coming back ASAP :)

Hej Hej!

PS - Sorry about the lack of bike accident photos. If you like, ask me about it and I'll give you a vivid description :)

PPS - I'm writing this on a DANISH keyboard. Å å Ø ø Æ æ!!