The second day of the Copenhagen expedition for the Thai student, Tuesday, included a lot of walking. Luckily the weather was much better than Monday.

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1 The second day of the Copenhagen expedition for the Thai student, Tuesday, included a lot of walking. Luckily the weather was much better than Monday. We started out by taking public transportation to Kongens Nytorv (The King s New Square), which in spite of its name is actually more than 340 years old. From there we walked to Holmens Kirke, a church built on commission by the famous Danish King Christian IV (the fourth). The C4 over the door to the church shows that the old king was the man behind the church It is traditionally the church for the navy, so inside the church there are tombs containing and memorial plaques for famous Danish naval war heroes, among others Admiral Tordenskiold (In English Thunder shield ), who became legendary, when he tricked a Swedish commanding officer at a fortress into thinking that the Danish army advancing towards the fortress was much bigger than it actually was (the Thai students will probably be able to give you the funny details).

2 The tomb of Tordenskiold Some pictures from the inside of the church (taken by the Thai student and expert photographer Phum)

3 The so-called pulpit, where the priest/pastor holds his sermon

4 Danish churches often have a model a ship hanging from the ceiling. Nobody knows why, but it is a tradition many sea-faring nations. It may be because it was a way of blessing the original boat which the ship s model was based on.

5 Pictures of the (baptismal) font, used to baptize/christen/name Christians, usually in Danish churches, when a child is approximately 6 months old. From the Holmens Kirke you have a view to The castle Christiansborg, which houses the Danish Parliament building and the Prime Minister s office. From the quay between Holmens Kirke and the parliament building we took a boat around Copenhagen Harbour to see the Danish capital from the water. Because Denmark is a sea-faring nation, a lot of buildings in Copenhagen look just as good or even better from the water than from land.

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7 The trip started out with perfect weather

8 During the boat trip it started to rain, followed by a beautiful rainbow. But luckily the boat had a transparent roof.

9 On the way around the harbour, our boat passed the famous little Mermaid statue. Immediately after the boat trip we walked to Rundetårn (the Round Tower ), built on commission from King Christian IV. The Rundetårn is almost 42 meters tall and at 35 meters height there is a platform, from which you have a great view of Copenhagen. At the top there is an astronomical observatory. King Christian IV ordered a spiral ramp to be built around the core of the tower, so that, instead of walking up the stairs, he could ride on horseback or in a carriage almost to the top of the tower.

10 You do, however have to walk up a flight of stairs to reach the platform The Rundetårn is almost 42 meters tall and at 35 meters height there is a platform, from which you have a great view of Copenhagen.

11 At the top of Rundtårn there is an astronomical observatory, which was the primary purpose of the tower, but we didn t go there. After walking so much we were hungry and bought some china boxes for lunch, which was followed by a short shopping spree. Then we walked to the City Hall, which has a beautiful architecture inside and out.

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13 The City Hall is just next to the Tivoli Gardens, which are closed at the moment

14 The entire Thai group and their three teachers by the statue of Hans Christian Andersen, just next to the City Hall. Then we walked from City Hall to the Royal Palace, Amalienborg, where the Queen, her husband, the Prince Consort, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, along with their 4 children, live.

15 From there we took the long walk to the Little Mermaid statue.

16 Near the Little Mermaid we needed a sugar boost and bought some Italian ice-cream cones

17 After finishing the ice-cream cones we walked to the nearest bus stop and took a bus back to Sleep-in Heaven. There we were picked up by the AFS Denmark to eat dinner and take part in a meeting with the AFS about Denmark, Danish customs and traditions and staying with a Danish family. Third day: Wednesday morning had to get up and eat breakfast really really early, because we had to be at the Danish Parliament, Folketinget, in Christiansborg Castle at 8.45 AM

18 We met one of the members of the Danish parliament, Mr. Frank Aaen. We talked with him and saw the place, where he works.

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20 After visiting the Parliament, we went to the Thorvaldsens Museum, where we saw a lot of sculptures. After the Thorvaldsen s Museum with sculptures, we visited Our Lady s Church, the Cathedral of Copenhagen, where some of Thorvaldsen s sculptures have been placed. Then we had lunch at Rizraz, a vegetarian, Mediterranean buffet with very delicious pizza and other great food.

21 After lunch, we went to another museum, SMK (National Museum of Art). There were a lot of nice pictures and sculptures and some strange pictures.

22 We walked around in the Museum for about 2 hours, until our legs started to hurt. By then we were also very hungry, so we bought a Danish speciality fast food, a hot dog, a sausage with a bread roll and spices, at the main railway station. Then we went to Fisketorvet, a big shopping mall, where we arrived at 4.30 PM. We stayed there for about 4 hours, buying things or looking at nice things.

23 After Fisketorvet, we divided into 2 groups. One group went to a rock concert; the other group went to the cinema to see Johnny English Reborn with Rowan Atkinson ( Mr. Bean ). 4 th day. Thursday we got up late, because we had breakfast at 9 AM. After breakfast we went to Our Saviour s Church, where we arrived at 10 o clock. It was a beautiful church. Suddenly a German choir started to sing some religious song. That was very beautiful. In connection with the church, there is a tall tower, where there are many steps up to the top.

24 But from the top, we could see the whole city. After the church we walked through Christiania, a so-called free town, which was very scary and very dirty. On the way out of Christinia, we saw some nice and interesting houses, which old and rich hippies had built.

25 Then we had an Italian pizza sandwich at a place, just opposite to a Thai restaurant. The sandwich was very tasty and very big, so we were very full. After lunch we went to the shopping street Strøget, where Ploy bought a very nice bag for her sister in Louis Vuitton.

26 Then we got 150 kr. each from Kunkru Theresa to buy souvenirs. Some of us spent our own money too. Some of us saw a pick pocket trying to steal from Bow, but the picket pocket didn t succeed, because we were good at looking after each other. After shopping, the teachers surprised us by taking us to Thai Esan, a great Thai restaurant. We ate Tom-Yum-Kung, Padkraphao and Shrimp Padpak and just for a change, we were allowed to eat with a spoon and knife like at home. The food was delicious but not very spicy, because the Danes can t eat very spicy food.

27 After dinner, we were really happy and very full. We then went to The Royal Danish Theatre, where we watched the Royal Danish Ballet perform three shows. It was the first time we ever saw a ballet. Kunkru Therese and Kunkru Jacob told us, where the Danish Queen and her family sit, when they come to see a show. Kunkru Therese also told us that the Queen often comes to watch ballet. And just when we had heard about that, The Danish Queen Margrethe I and her younger sister Benedikte came to sit down and watch the show! That was an amazing surprise. We were very lucky and happy. The show was full of beautiful movements and the dancers were very good. After the show, we went home to the hostel we were very sleepy and some of us actually fell asleep during the show a few times. 5 th day Friday we took the train back to Aalborg and were picked up by the school bus to drive to Ranum Efterskole. It has been a good trip with new, and sometimes scary, experiences, but also very funny. We walked a LOT all week, but we also saw a lot of important and interesting things.