This Wednesday, I had two field studies, one for my class on the European Union and one for my Danish Politics and Society Class. In the morning we went to the Danish Foreign Ministry. There we listened to two women who are involved with formulating Denmark’s policy vis a via the European Union. They talked about how Denmark struggles to have influence within the EU because it is a small state and because of Denmark's four opt-outs to the Maastricht Treaty, including their refusal to use the Euro, which keeps them out of the group of Eurozone countries that many believe yields dominant influence in the European Union. We learned the specifics of the work that goes into preparing the Danish prime minister for a meeting of the European Council and the preparations that are being made, and the ambitions Denmark has, for when they will hold the rotating presidency of the European Council in Spring 2012.
After the foreign ministry, I, along with my professor (who is my professor for both the European Union and Danish politics class and who I adore) and a few other classmates who are in both classes, headed off to our second field study. We went to take a tour of Carlsberg Brewery (I’m only guessing this is the ‘society’ part of Danish Politics and Society). Carlsberg is a distinctly Danish beer brand, and everybody drinks it here. Thanks to recent mergers, it is the 4th largest beer brewer in the world. Although I’m not a beer drinker myself, it was interesting to tour the grounds of the old brewery and learn the story of JC Jacobson and Carl Jacobson. We got to see old bottle production lines, delivery trucks and delivery horses that used to transport the beer, and the modern microbrewery that makes special Carlsberg microbrews today. As you might remember from my earlier post about the Glypotek (the sculpture museum that was created by Carl Jacobson), Carl was JC’s son and expected to take over the brewing company. But Carl was not particularly good at or interested in brewing, he was more into art, so eventually his father kicked him out and told him to start his own brewery, and that is exactly what he did. After his father died Carl merged the two breweries to become what is today known as Carlsberg Breweries. JC, the father, was a big investor in science and so 35% of the profits of every Carlsberg goes toward funding the arts and sciences. My professor Jakob likes to joke that if you’re drinking Carlsberg Beer it’s not that you’re getting drunk, you’re just care about arts and science.
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| Where they sued to brew beer at Carlsberg Brewery |
Wednesday evening I went to Helle and Rick’s house for my very own authentic Danish cooking lesson. We had a great time preparing Frikadeller, which is a signature Danish dish. They are Danish meatballs, made with ground pork or pork and veal, mixed with flour, onions, milk, salt and pepper. One then molds this squishy mix into small balls and then sautés them in a pan. They are usually eaten with boiled potatoes and an accompanying brown gravy sauce. Helle patiently showed me how to form and cook the meatballs and how to concoct the delicious gravy that is generously slathered on top. They came out quite scrumptious, if I do say so myself, and we even got the approval of Jonah, Helle’s youngest son, so I think we did a good job.
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| Chef Alana cooks up the frikadeller |
Yesterday, a group of friends and I set out for a Saturday of exploring. I will be traveling many weekends in March and April, so I’ve made of point of picking sites in Copenhagen that I want to see and getting out to see them, a few each weekend. This weekend we saw Rosenborg Slot and Kongens Have, Nyhavn, Amielenborg, the little mermaid, and Vesterbro, one of the neighborhoods of Copenhagen.
Rosenborg Castle was commissioned by King Christian IV and built between 1606 and 1634 as a summer palace for the royal family. Rosenborg housed three generations of the royal family, from 163 to 1710, after which they went to live at Frederickberg Castle and in 1838 Rosenborg was opened to the public as a museum. The castle is very fairy tale-esque from the outside, and it is surrounded by Kongens Have (which means King’s Garden), a beautiful sprawling park with statues, trelleses and plants. We were lucky to get a beautiful sunny day, although even when it is sunny here it is pretty freezing, so I can’t wait to come back and stroll around the park in late April or early May when it is warm.
The inside of the castle contains the royal collections, including the crown jewels. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures inside without paying for a special pass, which we decided not to do, but we thoroughly enjoyed feasting our eyes on an extensive and truly magnificent collection of royal possessions. There were gemstone-encrusted teapots, gold ornate shelves with amber stone drinking glasses, marble dining spoons, and clocks adorned with elaborate gold figurines. Our eyes popped as we took in room after room of beautiful art, furniture and furnishings, concluding with the grand finale of three crowns, one from 1596 used by Christian IV and one from 1671 used by kings from Christian V to Christian VIII. Since we don’t have any royalty in the US to fawn over, I figure I am going to see as much as I can now while in my adopted home of Denmark.
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| The outside of Rosenborg Slot with the surrounding mote |
From Rosenborg we went down to Nyhavn (which means New Harbor), a picturesque line of houses, bars and cafes down by the water. If you google image Copenhagen it is the first thing that pops up. Although it was chilly and the water was frozen, Nyhavn still looked beautiful with its ships and colorful store fronts. Needing to defrost, we hit a small café on a side street by Nyhavn and chowed down on some delicious pasteries and hot chocolate. This is another site that I look forward to re-visiting when it is warm to experience it in all its glory. Appartently when the weather gets nice every restaurant and cafe along the canal has outdoor seating that fills with people. Currently, all the outdoor seating had blankets covering it, but one would have to really tough be able to eat outdoors this time of year, even with a fleece blanket.
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| Me at Nyhavn |
Continueing on our way, we followed the canal past the Operaen, the national opera house of Denmark. I haven’t been inside, but it is stunning work of architecture from the outside.
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| The Opera House |
Our next stop was to see the little mermaid, a classic Copenhagen tourist stop that most locals say takes about 10 minutes to see, comment on how it appears smaller in real life than in the pictures, take the iconic tourist picture with it, and leave. This is exactly what we did. It was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, the son of the beer tycoon, and is based on one of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales.
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| Julia, Becca, Emma and me in front of the Little Mermaid |
Finally, we ended our night in Vesterbro, a neighborhood of Copenagen I hadn’t yet gotten to explore. Our school is in center city, so I’ve seen a lot of that, and small bits of some of the other neighborhoods, like Norrebro. Vesterbro begins right behind central station, where I take the train to every morning, but is in the opposite direction as where we go to school. Vesterbro is known for its working class roots and large share of inexpensive ethnic restaurants. It also has a lively nightlife and is home to Copenhagen’s red light district. I had not gone out to dinner yet since being here since dinners out start around $15 US dollars, but to celebrate the 5 week anniversary of being here we treated outselves to heaping plates of noodles at a delicious thai restaurant. We walked around Vesterbro a bit after that, taking note of the numerous sex shops and finally settling on a casual restaurant/bar to relax in and get a drink. This place had created what was (from my elementary knowledge of Danish culture) a very hyggelig atmosphere (see previous blog post if you don't know what hyggelig is). There was low lighting and red candles on the table that matched the red shag couch and red art deco lamps decorating the room. Almost every restaurant and bar I have been to has candles on the table, leading me to conclude that the Danes are all about their cozy atmosphere. Sometimes teachers will even light candles in the classroom. Whatever the motivation, I’m enjoying every moment of it. I plan to soak in as much hygge (can hygge be soaked it? I’m not sure about that. I’ll ask a Dane) as possible while I am here.
It was a really fun weekend, with great friends, visiting many new sights in Copenhagen. I’ve got about two more weeks before my long study tour and I intend to keep checking out new places in town. I’m now situated enough in this new life enough that I am able to take in and enjoy each new experience. I have a feeling it is going to be hard to say goodbye in May.
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