In order to run away from the cold winds of Oslo, we wanted to leave Northern Europe as quickly as possible, so we decided to head to Copenhagen. Because being in a hurry, we did not hitchhike but took a bus from Oslo, passing Sweden to Denmark. Thanks to taking the bus, we had the opportunity to see one of Sweden's most beautiful cities, Malmö and admire Øresund Bridge - a technical masterpiece connecting the two large cities Malmö of Sweden and Copenhagen of Denmark - the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, in the late afternoon.
When talking about Copenhagen, I immediately thought of The Danish girl. And when I saw its colorful houses, the movie appeared in my mind, causing me to turn my eyes to look for that Danish girl in the movie.
I like Copenhagen because of its unique architecture and numerous green areas.
We were quite impressed with Christiania area, a hippy paradise. They have turned the barracks and old military buildings into very creative and artistic accommodation, but also a little creepy.
One thing that made us feel a bit disappointed was the mermaid statue. Even after more than half a day of walking, we still tried to catch a bus to see the statue of the mermaid. After getting off the bus, we also had to walk quite far and squeeze through the crowd to witness a tiny mermaid statue which was not so impressive. But anyway, we made it there like other tourists.
There was an interesting thing we witnessed when we went to Nyhavn for dinner. It was a cold windy day, but we still chose the table outside the restaurant to enjoy the scenery outside. In this weather, every guest was given a blanket to avoid the cold. As we were waiting for the food to arrive, a very strong wind came. We could barely hear a "Damn" cry when the waiter rushed to the canal. Some other people also ran over. Everyone flustered. I was very scared with the thinking of someone fell down the canal. A little later I was recovered and knew that a few bicycles standing right next to the shore were blown into the canal by the wind. That was crazy. And one of those bikes was the one that the waiter borrowed from his uncle to go to work. One man ran away and was back with a very long stick having a hook at the top to pick up the bikes. Three bikes dropped into the canal, but only two were found, and one was probably swept away. Although sorry for its owner, we still felt funny because the waiter's bike was in hello kitty pink.
From Copenhagen, we took a train to Nyborg, crossing the Great Belt Fixed Link bridge, a system of bridges and a tunnel connecting Zealand and Funen via the small island of Sprogø (Copenhagen in Zealand and Nyborg in Funen). This was the largest engineering project in Danish history, including the East Bridge, the suspension bridge between Zealand and Sprogø that has one of the longest spans (5,328 feet [1,624 meters]) in the world and was the third longest hanging bridge in the world.
Nyborg was Denmark's first capital, where the king Christian II was born. In contrast to a dynamic Copenhagen, Nyborg was very peaceful and poetic. Every corner there was beautiful, even the cemetery. We thought it was a park, not a cemetery. Nyborg was a great place for family and couple vacations.
We had heard that hitchhiking in Northern Europe was difficult but still would like to try. And indeed, it took us quite a while to get a lift. But we got luck that afternoon. We didn't know where we were going but the direction we needed to go. A Dutchman not only gave us a lift, but also offered us to stay in his tent in a camping area in Brejning knowing we did not know where we would sleep that night. He lived near that area with his Danish wife and two children. His family often came there for vacation in the summer and he often came there for water skiing. He was also very gracious to lead us around the camping to give detailed instructions. He said we could stay there for as long as we like. What a kind person he was!
This camping was very clean and well equipped. The surrounding scenery was also peaceful and poetic. We also picked a lot of blackberries on the way wandering around there. Some locals living around there also picking up this fruit.
We were lucky enough to be able to hitchhike to Brejning so we decided to try our luck again to continue the journey. And we got a very good luck the second time. We were given a long lift to leave Denmark for Flensburg, Germany. Probably our good deeds were paid out.
If you ask me whether I want to return to Denmark, my answer is definitely yes. Our time in Denmark passed too fast. There are still so many places and things we want to explore in this interesting country.
You can find travel information for Copenhagen and Nyborg here:
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