Weekend #2 Fun

Well, I've been trying to find the time to write this post for hours (actually since yesterday), but the weekend has been packed with awesome-ness. Saturday morning I forwent sleeping-in to visit the Rosenborg Castle with DIS. In truth, had I had the choice to use the money for the excursion for another trip, I probably wouldn't have gone, but I'd paid prior to visiting the castle during our Copenhagen Great Race and DIS refuses to give refunds. Rather than waste the money I decided that I would have plenty of saturdays to sleep in and got up to face the cold.

Christian the fourth gesturing towards the Rosenborg Castle

The weather was worse than I had expected, mostly because of the wind. I was wearing my thermal leggings, curdoroys, two pairs of thick socks, my thermal undershirt, a sweater, a sweat shirt, and my coat/scarf/gloves, and I was still cold. The journey into the city was quiet since it was a saturday, and I made it to Vestergade (DIS's main street) right on time.

The trip to the ended up being a lot of fun. We got a tour of the castle, which was certainly not at all warm, but did protect us from the wind. We learned all about Christian the 4th, one of Denmark's most well-known Kings. He was actually insane... like really, really weird and "flamboyant" (as our tour guide kept saying). He lived in excess (as many kings do). He built many of the most famous buildings in and around Copenhagen, but by the time he died he had spent all of Denmark's money leaving the country completely broke! But still, he is pretty highly regarded (as King's go).
Here are some photos from the castle:

The top/front of the castle against the completely grey sky 

One of the rooms for entertaining guests

This is probably the worst job on a freezing cold day.
You can't even complain to anyone!

Our tour guide and Christian the 4th
(a striking resemblance don't you think?)

The first ever indoor bathroom in Denmark (you should have seen the toilet!)

The grand ball room  

In order to construct/design the thrown, Christian the fourth read passages of the bible for inspiration. Apparently there is something having to do with nine lions, which he ordered in silver and gold, but didn't have the money to pay for so only three were ever made/delivered. They still "guard" the thrown today.

The royal crowns

The crown jewels... like the hope diamond,
I found them rather disappointing

The Order of the Elephant!
(I suspect my FAL and mom would
get a kick out of this)

By far my favorite thing from the castle was this pendant (to the right). I kid you not, this was the highest honor you could receive in Denmark, and it is called the Order of the Elephant! How awesome?! The reason behind the symbol and its significance is long and complicated, but even without going into it, I think it's cool!

After the tour was over I went with Sarah (from orientation) to St. Peder's bakery, our favorite bakery so far. It took a while to get there, but it was worth it (see delicious cinnamon bun)! Unfortunately I had to make a dash for the train station in order to be home by 2pm. I made the train at Kobenhavn H (main train station) by about 30 seconds, which was good because trains run far less frequently on the weekends.

Once at home I cleaned up a bit and got ready to go with my family to celebrate my host-cousin's birthday. This time i got to meet Helle's side of the family (a lot of fun). We ate delicious homemade buns with various meats and then had even more sweets (it's still the weekend!). After our 2 hour meal, Mira and I played Go Fish, which helped me with my numbers (good because i have a quiz Tuesday).

Back at home I did some work and then planned to write a blog post, but went out in the living room to do so. Lars and I got to chatting (it was around 9:15pm) and ended up staying talking until just after midnight. We talked about everything under the sun and it was such a cool way to spend a freezing cold Saturday night. I learned a lot more about their family and about Denmark in general. We also compared favorite movies and (of course) watched YouTube videos. I fell right to sleep once we said goodnight and enjoyed sleeping in this morning.

I have a special post later this evening (hopefully I will get to it). Let's just say that Kasper and Mira had an awesome time making me an afternoon snack...

Last minute update: Mira just came wanting to hang out so I may have to do the next post later/tomorrow :)