Danishes, The Little Mermaid, and MORE Danishes

In the city of fairytales thanks to Hans Christian Andersen, we certainly enjoyed every moment. Early in the morning of our first day there, we were joined by another traveller all the way from Canada. Diana Gysbers burst through our hostel room door, flushed and out of breath after making the hike (it wasn't that long, she just was a little lost) from the train station to DanHostel where we were staying.
Now that she was here, another part of our adventure could begin.
For four days, our morning ritual was to meet up with my parents, and grab the most delicious, mouth-watering pastry I have ever tasted, and a coffee. The Danes do Danishes RIGHT. Emily is going to definitely struggle over the next six months because of the temptation to eat every danish in sight.

Our mission this week was to not only see the city of Copenhagen, but to move Em in, and get her organized. Luckily, the language barrier was not a big issue (Danish is one complicated and confusing language!) because every Dane we came in contact with spoke perfect English. (They all have to take English throughout school, it's mandatory.) We had a great time wandering around this beautiful city, exploring around the shopping areas, finding some great buys (Skip found what we now call hooker boots, but they're great haha) and we all gradually helped Emily adjust to her new home. (She was taking language classes every morning, so in the afternoons and evenings she attempted to be our translator, haha)
We met with a Swedish man, Pere, (?) who is one of Dad's business friends, and we went out and had a great lunch with him, finding out the true feelings of the Swedes towards the Danes, and also learning some new words for our Danish vocabulary.
Sadly, we had to say our goodbyes to Mum and Dad on the Saturday, it was time for them to return home. There were definitely tears...they were leaving behind Em and I, so it was a very difficult morning. I know though that I will be seeing them soon, hopefully over on this side for some adventures around Europe, but we will see. Love you guys and thank you so much again for everything!
On our final day, we were joined by two Kiwi's who had been traveling each on their own, and wanted to come see the sights with us. We planned to make the walk to the Danish palace, then the infamous Little Mermaid, and then finally to this boarder town of Christiana. It was a beautiful day, which made pictures that much nicer! We made it to the palace just in time to see the changing of the guard which was neat to see in Denmark, instead of the usual English changing of the guard in front of Buckingham. Everyone was so friendly, with the police even coming up to us and making sure we were enjoying ourselves.
Then we moved on to the statue. Skip was beside herself with glee as we walked closer and closer to the harbor that was home to the famous fairytale character. We took a bunch of photos of the group with her, then some with just Skip and her haha, they had to have a moment. (This is Skip's favorite Disney movie of all time.)

There she is!!!

We then ventured in to Freetown Christiana, after taking a water taxi across the channel to this different and mysterious part of Copenhagen. This area was an old military base during WWII, but at the end of the war was abandoned, and civilians in surrounding neighborhoods began moving in to the abandoned buildings. The settlement began using their own laws and governing, independent from the Danish government. It began to be seen as a commune, in 1971 was created as a "free" space for hippies and rebels alike. There is no tourist accomodation here, and it is very hard to find housing for outsiders. It was really eerie being in there, with rundown buildings and graffiti everywhere, but luckily we were with the two guys. I would definitely recommend going here if you are ever in Copenhagen, just because there is no place like it in the world. For sure an experience!

It was then time for myself, Diana, and Skip to board our bus to Brussels. Emily was less than pleased to see us go. I was a little surprised to see how upset I was to let her go. This was her first time on her own in a foreign country, and I did not want to leave her just yet. However my friends and her both said that it was time to, so we said some very tearful goodbyes, and sent her on her way. I know she is going to have the time of her life here- it's time for her own adventures to begin.

Our overnight bus ride to Brussels (14 hours to be exact) was not as bad as we thought it would be, thank god. At 6am, we rolled into the bus station, grabbing our packs and heading to the train that would bring us to the historic and medieval city of Brugge, where we were staying, our next adventure beginning.