Surprise! I’m in Copenhagen!
This weekend is the World Road Running Championships, and I couldn’t be more excited. On Sunday, I will take on my second Superhalf race. I’ll be running alongside 45,000 other runners from all over the world. How cool is that?!
I have SO much to fill you in on… it’s been a looooooong day (in the best way).
But first, let’s talk about how I got here.
Last night, I took a flight from Detroit to Frankfurt. I was so excited to finally have a connection in Europe because, if I’m being honest, I’m a bit traumatized from my US connections lately. Thankfully, everything was on time… in fact, we arrived a bit earlier than expected! All smooth sailing, right?!
WRONG.
The Frankfurt airport was a disaster. I have never seen anything like it.
As soon as I got off the plane, I quickly made my way towards my gate. Since I was coming from the US, I had to go through border patrol. Usually, this is a fairly quick process. Here, however, there was a line of about 100 people waiting to go down an escalator. An airport staff member was blocking the escalator and shouting “European Union passports?!?!”. Anyone with an EU passport could pass, but everyone else had to wait. Every 10-15 minutes, he would let about 10 non-EU people go through. I waited as patiently as I could, but I couldn’t help but worry. I only had 1.5 hours until boarding!
Finally, I made it to the front. I was just about to step on the escalator when the man put the gate back up.
“That’s okay,” I thought, “I’ll be in the next group”
WRONG.
The man then proceeded to tell everyone that there was a change of plans… anyone going to gates A now had to walk to the OPPOSITE END OF THE TERMINAL and wait there.
A string of curse words escaped my mouth as I Olympic speed walked down the terminal. About 15 minutes later, I found myself at another incredibly long line. I looked behind me.
It could be worse.
As I stood there, anxiously waiting for the line to move even an inch, I watched several people go up to a staff member and say something along the lines of “my flight is leaving soon.. is there anything I can do?!”
She replied, “Everybody is missing their flight. Stay in line”.”
Time passed, and I grew more and more worried that I would not catch my connection to Copenhagen. I started looking up alternative routes. What other flights are there? Could I take a train? I wouldn’t get in until midnight…
30 minutes until my flight boards.
20 minutes.
10.
I finally made it to the border agent.
As soon as he stamped my passport, I took off running down the hallway. I began having flashbacks to when I was 17 years old, flying internationally for the first time, running through the Madrid airport (only to arrive at the gate and realize that I left my passport at security). I missed my flight that time…
PLEASE, NOT AGAIN!!!
At last, I made it to my gate just as boarding had begun. Whew.
“It’s a full flight today!”, the staff announced on the overhead speakers.
I sat down in my seat, waiting to buckle up until the other two people in my row arrived.
Before long, they were closing up the doors.
My buddies (whoever they may be) never made it 🥲.
One short hour later, I arrived at my final destination: Copenhagen.
And so it begun.
I spent the first 30 minutes of my time in Denmark desperately trying to find a functioning outlet, since my phone was at a whopping 9%. I was not about to take the metro with no phone. Yes, I’m probably capable. But on -3,000 hours of sleep?! No way.
I tried 5 different outlets at the airport Burger King and had no luck. I felt crazy for a second, thinking I was the reason my phone wasn’t charging (like I said, lack of sleep). Luckily, I found one in some random corner of the airport that worked. I charged it up to 20% and off I went!
I dropped my bags off at my hostel and then immediately made my way to the race expo. I was itching to get there ever since seeing the CPH Half special edition ASICS shoes on the WRRC Instagram. They are perfect. And spoiler: yes, I have them 😇
Copenhagen World Road Running Championships Expo
The race expo was fun! There were a bunch of booths, ranging from massages to race entries… marathon in Latvia, anybody?!
My favorite booths were the ASICS, SuperHalf, and MonkeyGlasses. I remembered to bring my SuperHalf passport, so I got my second stamp!!! Four to go.
After exiting the expo, I found the banner with all of the runners names on it. It didn’t take me long to find my name! Woohoo!
Brunch at Ø12
By this time, I was very hungry and in desperate need of caffeine. I made my way to a cafe nearby called Ø12 Coffee & Eatery. The host placed me by a window, which was really great for people-watching. I ordered the pancakes with fruit, and WOW were they delicious!!!!
At one point, there was an older man on his bicycle. We made eye contact. He smiled at me, so of course I smiled back. He lit up and ripped his fedora off of his head, raising it high to the sky as he biked away. It made me laugh!
Speaking of bikes… there are a MILLION bikes here. I knew Copenhagen was known for biking, but I had no idea just how common it was. For example, there are hundreds of bikes parked outside of the central station. HUNDREDS. And you cannot go 1 single second without seeing someone on a bike! It’s so fascinating.
Rosenborg Castle
My next stop of the day was Rosenborg Castle. Despite my usual high level of organization, I did not purchase tickets in advance which meant that I had to wait 50 minutes to enter. Oops. The great thing was that I was able to roam around the King’s Garden for that time, which I would have done anyway! It was a lovely stroll, and the views of the castle were stunning.
The tour of the castle itself included three floors of rooms as well as a basement containing the Crown Jewels. I had no expectations for this castle, mostly because I haven’t really had time to prepare for or even think about this trip.
However, this castle turned out to be one of my favorite castles EVER. It definitely made top 3 on my list. The rooms were dark with paintings covering the walls and ceilings. Some of the rooms contained magnificent pieces of furniture, while others had stucco ceilings. The whole place had so much character — it felt alive! One of my favorite rooms was the glass room, which contained probably hundreds if not thousands of glass pieces that were gifted to the king from Venice.
Another interesting room was the mirror room… which was exactly what it sounds like: a room full of mirrors. The walls, ceilings, and floors were all made of mirrored glass, which was apparently a way to show off wealth at that time.
The best part of the castle was getting to see the Crown Jewels. They are truly beautiful. I don’t even have the words to describe it.
Interestingly, the Crown Jewels are still worn today! One of the sets was removed from the display because the queen is currently wearing it.
OH YEAH. And I forgot to add that earlier in the morning, I saw a police motorcade escorting a black car with tinted windows. I wonder who was in there 🤔
Freetown Christiania
Shortly after leaving the castle, I found myself in a very different part of Copenhagen: Freetown Christiana.
Okay, so I guess I didn’t find myself there. I did very intentionally go there, and I did so at 5pm when it was not very busy. It’s recommended to go during the day for a more vibrant atmosphere, but time slipped away from me. And I do have a lot of plans the next few days, so I didn’t want to risk missing it.
Anyway, you’re probably wondering what Freetown Christiania even is. It’s a part of Copenhagen that has been self-governed for quite some time. It’s known for being very hippie, and despite drugs being illegal, they do still exist pretty openly there. However, I was reading up on it and learned that they are now very against hard drugs. In the past, there were certain rules like ‘no taking photos’, ‘no running’, etc. because they didn’t want tourists catching drug deals happening. Now, from what I’ve heard, that is very much not a problem. However, I chose not to take photos (except for one) just in case the people living there prefer it.
Since I went to Christiania in the evening and it was raining, the vibes were extra… interesting. Kind of eerie, in a way. The hustle and bustle of the rest of Copenhagen was non-existent here. The order of the city was replaced with a bit more chaos.
For context, there are a lot of rules in Copenhagen about bike lanes, standing to the right on the escalator, etc. and people REALLY follow the rules.
When I first stepped off the metro, I felt my stomach drop. My instinct was to turn around, get back on the metro, and leave. Instead, I decided to push through and explore what I went there for.
I reminded myself how much Rick Steves loves this place 😂
I kept walking and eventually found the entrance to Christiania. There were colorful murals decorating peoples homes and businesses. There were windy paths through tree-covered areas, and a lot of times there would be one or two people sitting quietly in the distance. I saw maybe one or two other tourists, but it was pretty quiet considering a lot of the shops were closed.
I did manage to go into the art store before it closed and found a couple of postcards. The woman working there asked me about the rain, and I told her it really wasn’t bad at all… just some sprinkles here and there. Nothing at all like Scotland…
“No way! I went to uni in Dundee!”, she said.
I couldn’t believe it. We both studied (me briefly) in Scotland?! And so close to each other, too! How cool is that?! We agreed that Scotland holds a special place in our hearts. After that, though, she told me about how much she loves Copenhagen and thinks it’s the best place to live. I have heard things like “Danes are the happiest people in the world!” And “Copenhagen is the best place to live!”, but to hear it from someone actually living there was awesome.
Nyhavn
From Christiania, I walked to Nyhavn: the colorful canal that you have probably seen in most representations of Copenhagen.
I was there right at sunset, so it couldn’t have been more beautiful. By this point, I was soooo hungry, but I refused to give in and sit down at one of the touristy (and $$$$) restaurants right on the canal. I decided on a place called Bæst for pizza. I was on my way to the metro when I made eye contact with a guy across the street from me. I can’t lie… he was good looking.
All of a sudden, he was crossing the street to come talk to me.
Heeeeeeere we go.
He said, “I noticed you have a very calm energy. Shall we grab a coffee?”
“Uhhh I was actually just on my way to dinner if you want to join!”
And off we went. But Ibrahim insisted on showing me his favorite restaurant in Nørrebro, so we went there instead. I figured the locals know the best places to go!
Oh yeah, he’s Danish by the way.
We go to his favorite restaurant, a middle eastern place that I cannot remember the name of, and sit next to a tank of fish. I order pizza still and he gets a couple of Turkish teas. We talk about US and Danish politics and ways of life. I was eating that up! No better way to learn about a place than by listening to what the locals have to say!
Superkilen Park
After dinner, we went to Superkilen Park. This park features ordinary objects such as benches, swing sets, tables, and pavilions —along with some more artistic sculptures— from all over the world. For example, at first you think a bench is just a bench, but when you approach it, you discover a plaque that says the bench is from Portugal. I never would have found this place on my own, but it was SO COOL!
I had so much fun guessing what country things would be from. I need to learn to listen to my intuition, though, because I would think one thing and then say another. I was SO confident that this octopus sculpture (which I didn’t take a picture of, unfortunately) was from Japan. And then last minute I changed my mind… and IT WAS FROM JAPAN! Ugh!
Walking through this park made me think more deeply about how Denmark shapes their citizens to care deeply about one another. Even something as subtle as including a park full of ordinary objects from other countries is (I think) teaching people to care about other cultures.
I’m sure having some deep thoughts for running on 36 hours with no sleep 😀
Stay tuned to see how the rest of my weekend plays out!
Clara