Legos and Camels and Commies, oh my!

Before coming to Copenhagen, I read in my guidebook that the Lego brick was a Danish invention.  I vowed to visit the original Legoland while abroad and so, back in February, when DIS opened sign-ups for a day trip to Legoland I signed-up immediately. I had almost forgotten about the event when it finally came around April 30th. And although numerous papers were staring me down with due dates the following week, nothing was going to stop me from an amusement park entirely dedicated to this uniquely Danish toy, a visit to which my guidebook called “a rite of passage” for many Danes.

When they say that everything is made out of Legos at  Legoland, they are not kidding.  Stepping off the bus after the four-hour ride to Billund, Denmark, we were created by a giant archway made of lego bricks.  Legoland is quite large and we were overwhelmed with options, unsure what to do first. We ended up choosing Miniature land because the lego replicas of famous cities, castles and monuments were too adorable to ignore. They were lego creations of Amsterdam and of Scotland, of Kronborg and Amalienborg and Rosenborg castles in Denmark, of Mount Rushmore and the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty.  The landscapes were intricately detailed.  One of my personal favorites was a replica of Nyhavn in Copenhagen, since Nyhavn is one of my favorite places in the city and the replica captured every ounce of joy and beauty that is Nyhavn in the sunshine.

Miniature Lego Nyhavn

Emma and I with the (lego) Statue of Liberty

 There is also a safari ride that brings you through a forest filled with lego animals while riding in a tiny (meant for a child-sized) zebra striped lego car.  We were surprised at how fast the car drove us (it was one of those rides where you’re meant to feel like you personally are controlling the speed and direction of the car but really it is on a set track), and we struggled to snap photos of the lego giraffes, lions, flamingos, monkeys, elephant and rhinocori whizzing by.   

Monkeys on the Lego Safari

Many of the other rides in legoland were also enhanced with large lego sculptures. The rides themselves weren’t particularly scary, since this amusement park is aimed at young children, but the impressive, imposing lego sculptures that loomed over you made the rides plenty thrilling.  One of our favorites was a pirate ride where you sat on a raft for 8 and floated in and out of caves that had intricate scenes of lego pirates conversing or a pirate dangling from a bridge into the mouth of a crocodile. The scenes moved and lit up and were ENTIRELY made out of lego. 

Pirate ride at Lego

 There of course was a Lego store where you could buy every lego part in every possible color, as well as a variety of lego merchandise.  Legoland was distinctly Danish and wonderful in every way. I noticed that instead of like at six flags, where there are lines and rules and strict supervision of young children, at Legoland children were relaxedly left unsupervised and there was no aire of regulation.

The DIS-chartered bus dropped at back at Frue Plads (a city square in Copenhagen) and we were headed home to the train when a sight caught our eye. Right there, in the streets of downtown Copenhagen, were two CAMELS! We stood there, bewildered, not knowing what to make of these creatures. We had been rushing to catch the train but this warranted slowing down and catching the next train. After petting the camels and taking plenty of pictures, we asked the owner of the nightclub that the camels were outside of what the animals were doing there. He told us that a hair salon or hair product company, I forget which, had rented out the nightclub for a promotional event and the camels were part of the promotion. And indeed there was a poster outside for their hair care products involving a camel. You never know what you will find in the streets of Copenhagen.

Camels in the streets in Copenhagen

The following day, Sunday May 1^st, was Labor Day in Denmark.  On this day people gather in Fælledparken (a large part in the Osterbro neighborhood of Copenhagen) and there are demonstrations by anarchist and communist groups, speeches by politicians and performances by musical groups. My friends and I bought a picnic lunch at netto and settled on our picnic blanket to take in the scene. The park was filled with hundreds of people drinking beer, listening to music and enjoying the beautiful weather. We checked out the anarchist and communist tents, many of which were flying Free Palestine and Anti-Capitalist shirts.  We packed it in after a few hours and the weather started to get cold.  Even though the sky threatened rain people were still streaming in in droves with their cartons of Carlsberg.  I really enjoyed taking part in this Danish celebration.