Oh Copenhagen You Didn’t Meet My Expectations

Greetings from Copenhagen Denmark! I am at the tail end of my Scandinavia trip and I am ready to go home.

Oh København

I came with high expectations of Copenhagen. The expectation of the culture, people and food. Thanks to all the stories I have been hearing about it. I had a cousin who declared Copenhagen to be his favourite city in Europe; a friend who went for a study exchange and loved it here and a colleague who studied for her master’s and had the best time of her life. Everyone gave me a list of must-do, see and drink in Denmark.

I was excited. So was Jik who wanted to move there.

Copenhagen ended up being underwhelming

The Little Mermaid statue that wasn’t easy to locate turned out to be disappointing. It was only second to the ultimate European touristy gimmick, the Mannequin Piss statue in Brussels, Belgium.

My happy moments have always been associated with getting drunk. I am unsure whether it tells more about the city or my alcoholic problem. We were once so pissed that we started dancing in the Tivoli food court (Tivoli Garden was closed for the whole week, another f-ing disappointment). Another time, we were so drunk that we started walking around the Meat District trying to find a Thai restaurant that we have been to twice before. Then there was a food tour day where we met an eccentric winemaker and tried akvavit for the first time. Never again.

BFF Tattoo

Another highlight of Denmark for me, other than being drunk every day, in the daytime, was getting a tattoo together with Jik. This time I got a Viking boat tattoo on my right ankle, while she got her dad’s signature on her left hand.

I was truly disappointed that I couldn’t find one English bookstore in Copenhagen. I was also sad that I couldn’t visit the Institute of Happiness or meet Meik Wiking, a hero for me.

Goodbye Copenhagen?

The only time I truly like Copenhagen was when I left the city.

One day, out of boredom, we went to the Grand Central Station which I loved and took the train to Odense. The fun started at the Grand Central Station where I got to satiate my obsession with foreign supermarkets. We also had a great time during the 2 hours train ride. We each bought so much food to be eaten on the train (Ekiben) thinking we are buying for all three of us.

Now, I am sitting in the airport with some time to kill before our flight to Amsterdam later. To be fair Copenhagen airport is pretty good. It has two bookstores where I got a copy of Meik Wilking’s latest book. I also caved in and parted ways with my last Euro to get Hoptimist, the happiness symbol in Danish culture.

Farvel København, Aldrig Mere

Denmark in Europe is what Vietnam in SEA is for me. I don’t feel for these countries as most do. And I guess it’s okay.

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