a Finnish twist: Kööpenhamina!!! err...Copenhagen!

November cherry blossoms North of Copenhagen. Seriously. I guess the fall was so mild that these poor guys thought they could get another crop in...or maybe they thought it was spring already...hmmm

So last week was actually a very eventful week for me. In between writing reports, scheduling exams, getting sick, and travelling to Denmark...I celebrated my birthday! A whole quarter-century...phew! Given the circumstances, I have to say I had a fantastic day and I really appreciate all of my friends around the world. Much to my surprise, April baked me an amazing birthday cake (gingerbread with lemon icing) and the whole cafeteria sang happy birthday to me at lunch. It was mildly mortifying.

15:07 sunlight at the Joensuu Rautatieasema. The days here are already shorter than the very shortest day in Vancouver.

The reason I had to qualify the day with "Given the circumstances..." is because there was just too much going on. I got a nasty nasty head cold, so I was stuffed up and out of it. I had to finish a major report from my field course last summer, so I was tied to a computer during any free time. I didn't plan my travelling to Copenhagen very well, so I ended up spending the evening of my birthday on a train...only to spend the night in a Helsinki Hostel working on my report. Bleh. There was just too much going on to fit much of a celebration in...sometimes these things just happen!!! I really appreciate how everyone went out of their way to wish me their best!

Sorry to disappoint those who were expecting a species ID...I don't know what this tree is, but it had a hole in it, which was very cool. Denmark.

So...now for my trip to Copenhagen, or Kööpenhamina as the Finns call it. Some international cities have a Finnish name, while most do not. I went to Copenhagen to visit my aunt, Mille, for her birthday and to spend some time with family who I have not seen for many years. My trip started with a train ride into the frosty sunset (at 15:17) as I started my journey south to Helsinki. April saw me off at the train station (Rautatieasema..."Iron road station") with a final "Happy Birthday!," and then I was off. I did not manage accomplish anything on my report that trip due to technical difficulties. However, it gave me a significant amount of time to work on my latest knitting project: a gift for my aunt. It had to be completed by Sunday...yet another thing on my list. The rest of the travelling went smoothly for the most part (we almost didn't leave Helsinki because of something wrong with the airplane...but they fixed that quickly...phew). By then end of the day I had made it successfully from Helsinki to Copenhagen and I managed to complete (and submit) my report.

Baroque gardens at the Frederiksborg Castle. Funny-shaped trees due to human intervention....pruning. I think it looks really neat with no leaves on them.

Some people don't like flying. Some people don't like trains. Some people don't like navigating through the streets of an unfamiliar city at night with a poor map. I am totally fine with all of this (I enjoy it!). My weak spot: public transit. Especially city busses. I had to take the bust from the metro to Mille's house, across Copenhagen. The thought of this gave me butterflies for two days before I even got there. In the end, I chickened out and walked for 45 minutes instead of taking a 10 minute bus ride. I tell myself (and most others) that I walked because it was a beautiful day out (true...it was 10 C and sunny) and because I needed the exercise after so many hours of travelling (also true). However, I think it was nerves in the end that made me walk.

Nyhavn, Copenhagen

On Friday, Mille was an excellent tour guide and took me around the countryside North of Copenhagen where we visited a castle, admired gorgeous gardens, and basked on a beach (in a frigid sunset). The next day, Stine arrived from Canada. It was absolutely fantastic to see Canadian family for the first time since moving over here. On Sunday we had the birthday party: a rich Danish Smørrebrød for brunch followed by birthday kringle. Monday, Stine and I headed into downtown Copenhagen to see some of the tourist sites and take a look at some museums. Ok. So they're not actually museums, but stores like Royal Copenhagen or Ilums Bolighus or Georg Jensen have goods that could be purchased by 1% of people who walk in the store, just because of the extravagant prices. Be careful not to knock any of that china off the shelf! Perhaps I could interest you in a €1,600 teacup (with a saucer!!...what a deal!). Don't need a teacup? Well, surely you need a €30,600 ice bell...! I'm not even sure what one would use an ice bell for....

How could you have Copenhagen without bicycles??

Overall, Copenhagen was wonderful place to spend a weekend and get away from school and the cold grey that Joensuu has been recently. I don't know what my Mormor (Danish grandmother) means when she says that Copenhagen is cold and dark...it felt positively tropical compared to Finnish weather! The sun got high in the sky, and some trees even had leaves on them still!

Only the Danes would lose a naked woman like this in the neighbourhood bushes. Copenhagen.

Today I will not write about a fun finnish fact because I have spent most of my week in Denmark. However, I did manage to do some writing in Finnish about my weekend in Denmark. If you don't know Finnish, you're not missing out on anything ;-)....I mean, what I wrote in Finnish has already been said in this post....so here goes:

Viime viikonloppuna, minä matkustin Kööpenhaminaan. Minä kävin perheelläni, jotka asuvat Kööpenhaminassa. Myös minun tätini Stine tuli Vancouverista, joka on kaupunki Kanadassa. Me (Stine ja minä) kävimme Kööpenhaminassa, koska oli minun isotätini syntymäpäivä viime sunnuntaina. Minun isotätin nimi on Mille. Perjantaina, Mille ja minä ajoimme maaseudulle ja kävelimme metsässä ja rannalla. Me myös kävimme kuninkaanlinnassa. Linnan puutarha oli erittäin kaunis ja ihana. Lauantaina, Stine tuli Kanadasta. Sunnuntaina oli Millen syntymäpäiväkutsut. Lounaaksi söimme tanskalaisia voileipiä ja joimme tanskalaisia oluita. Lounaan jälkeen, me palasimme Millen kotiin syömään kakkua ja juomaan kahvia tai teetä. Ne olivat erittäin hyvät syntymäpäiväkutsut. Maanantaina, Stine ja minä menimme Kööpenhaminan keskustaan. Me shoppasimme, mutta en ostanut mitään. Me kävimme myös meidän isotädillä Annalla. Se oli erittäin kiva viikonloppu!