Day 2: Landing, exploring & breadcrumbs
Navigating abroad by myself for the first time
June 17, 2022
Early in the morning on June 17, my flight landed in London at Heathrow, a little nervous and unsure of what the exact procedure for getting to Copenhagen would entail (I had never navigated an airport outside of the United States).
London Heathrow (LHR) Airport
“Making every journey better. The fastest way” - London Heathrow Airport
After going through security (again), I made my way to the proper terminal - double checking my bags had been checked through to Copenhagen since I was switching airline providers. With not too long to wait between flights after getting through security, I boarded a much smaller plane that would cover the last 595 miles of my journey.
Arriving in Denmark (One of the Happiest Countries on Earth)
With a quick flight from London to Copenhagen (just under 2 hours), I arrived in Denmark a little after noon. After navigating through border control, I got my train ticket with my route to my hotel previously mapped out.
Once navigating to the proper train, I had a quick 25-minute ride to Kongens Nytorv - in the center of Copenhagen’s old town where my hotel was. While throughout the train ride the sights of rolling hills and fields looked similar to things I was used to seeing, as soon as a exited the metro - with my three bags in tow, I quickly realized I was no longer in the United States. Exiting the metro to Kongens Nytorv, I was greeted by 18th-century architecture, cobblestone sidewalks, and bicycles everywhere!
Still trying to get a little oriented, I used Google Maps to navigate my way to my hotel. Completely exhausted and a little overwhelmed realizing I was in a different country solely by myself, I figured it was probably best to partially settle in and take a quick nap before going out to explore a bit. Unlike any of my other trips, I had arrived in Copenhagen virtually sight unseen having not done too much research on it, so I was excited to see what was in store for me.
After a few hours, I decided to explore the old part of town since I was only in my hotel there for one night. The great thing about visiting Scandinavia in the summer? - it doesn’t start to get dark until nearly 10:30 pm!
Wayfinding with "Breadcrumbs"
Initially, heading out from my hotel, I found the main canal just at the end of the street, with the thought of if I stayed along it, only branching out slightly, I’d be able to find my way back since I had limited data on my phone and couldn’t rely on Google Maps the whole time.
I walked around Gammelholm a bit, taking pictures of some cool buildings and towers, which I began using as architectural-type breadcrumbs as a wayfinding method to find my way back to certain areas.
By that point, around 6:30 pm, a few other students from my study abroad group had arrived in Copenhagen and wanted to do an informal, impromptu dinner in the old-meat packing district. While it was only about a 30-minute walk from my hotel, I ended up taking the longer route - admittedly getting a little lost between the way since I was trying not to use Google Maps too much - and ended up stumbling upon the Royal Library’s Gardens behind one of the towers (which I later found out was Christiansborg Palace).
I was amazed at how this seemingly “hidden” garden could be found right in the middle of a city and made sure to note the location so I could return to it later.
Dinnertime & Exploration!
Finally reaching the old meat-packing district, it was interesting to see how the area was being revitalized into a dining and nightlife area. Meeting up with the others, we went to Gaza Grill for dinner, an organic and Arabic restaurant, getting a variety of dishes to try.
After our meal, we decided to explore a bit more, stopping for a quick coffee and walking around the surrounding Frederiksberg area, which is a part of the capital region of Denmark but is an independent municipality. We some interesting solar panels suspended between some buildings, murals, some old phone booths, and a small IKEA planning studio, which I had never seen before.
The most interesting thing we found though was how green the city was, with many streets being completely tree-lined muffling the sounds of the city so you could only hear the birds (a lot of the time we forgot we were even in a city, let alone the capital). We later stumbled upon a dirt path that seemed like it would be a part of a community park but found it more as a natural public walkway leading to The Lakes that sit in the middle of the city. Walking along the lake’s edge, we saw swans gliding across the water and people out enjoying the night even at that point it was after 9 pm.
Once on the other side of Sankt Jørgens Sø, we split up since we were all staying at different hotels that night. Heading back in the general vicinity that I had come from, I passed by Central Station - briefly stopping inside to see what it was like before I continued back past an amusement park (Tivoli Gardens) trying to find a good angle to photograph City Hall from (Rådhuspladsen) admiring all the waterfront dining along the way until I eventually found the main canal that would lead me back to the street my hotel was on (half by wandering and half by looking for familiar towers).
Still amazed at how light it was - even though it was nearly 10 pm by then - I still wanted to make the most of the “daylight”. Having heard about the infamous Little Mermaid sculpture, I found out it wasn’t too far from my hotel - only about a 20-minute walk - and since it was on my list of things to see, I thought I could scope out the area.
On the Hunt for Mermaids
On my walk, I saw trampolines planted within the sidewalk for everyone’s enjoyment - something I had never seen anywhere else - and small bars located in docked boats before finally finding my way to Nyhavn (think of the colorful buildings that you always see when you first look up ‘Copenhagen’ or even ‘Denmark’). Walking across the canal on Nyhavnbroen, I got a closer look at the buildings and was overwhelmed by all the smells of the local restaurants and eateries - specifically a waffle ice cream shop that I noted to return to later.
Continuing along Toldbodgade I walked about a block before I could see where I could cut back closer to Københavns Havn (the Copenhagen Harbour/Canal) to return to the waterfront. By that point, it was around 10 pm and was getting a bit darker - meaning most of my pictures didn’t turn out great - when I stumbled upon a large fountain that was surrounded by a tree-lined waterfront park and led to a wide plaza surrounded by ornate buildings (which I later found out was the winter residences for the royal family - Amalienborg), which “ended” with a large marble domed church. However, since it wasn’t the main reason I had ventured that far, I figured I would be able to return to the area another day and kept walking north toward where my map was showing the Little Mermaid sculpture should be. Eventually, I ran into what seemed like the end of the pedestrian path along the waterfront, with a waterfront eatery and parking lot seemingly blocking any further progress on foot.
Without knowing at the time just how close I was to the Little Mermaid Sculpture (only about a 7-minute walk further), I looked around a bit and figured it might be best to head back since by then I would most likely be returning to my hotel by myself in the dark. Peering through the blue hazy twilight that had overtaken the city, I was able to pick out a church spire in the distance, which I took a picture of so I could return to another day, before retracing my steps back from the way I came and got back to my hotel around 11 pm.
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