I can't even begin to tell you how difficult it was to go back to class on Monday after having exciting adventures in the Czech Republic and Scotland for two weeks, especially since I caught a cold (surprise, surprise) and felt crappy. However, I have had a lot of excitement this week to make up for the dullness of going back to class.
Friday was Queen Margrethe II of Denmark's 70th birthday, and so there were lots of people in town to celebrate; it was difficult finding a seat on the train in the morning, which is normally pretty empty at that time. I had Danish class in the morning, but we basically just quickly went over our homework and practiced a few phrases before Suzanne handed out paper Danish flags to everyone and we headed to Amalienborg Palace for the festivities. It took much longer than normal to get there due to the crazy crowds, and when we did we found one entrance blocked off. Suzanne was upset,thinking we were too late to get in, but we headed around to another entrance. It was right next to the building with the balcony where the Queen was due to come out and wave; we couldn't fight our way through the crowds to be able to even see the platform. Suzanne came up with a new game plan: she told us to go back out, go to the left, and run to the next entrance. Now, when you tell a group of American students to run when there is still an hour to go for an event, they usually think it means "walk quickly", but when we reached the street we turned around to see Suzanna sprinting down the street. And I do mean down the STREET. Taken aback, we started running after her, dodging cars and police motorcycles. At one point, Suzanna pointed out the license plate of a small black car I had barely dodged...a crown and a 2...and calmly stated that "That will be the Crown Prince's car." WHAT?! As if running down the middle of a street dodging moving vehicles wasn't adventurous enough, I nearly ran into the Crown Prince's car! We finally got the the next entrance and were able to get into the square with excellent views of the balcony. However, the crowd kept moving, especially when the band came in and marched around, so we ended up closer to the balcony than I thought possible. The excitement and frivolity in the square was infectious, and I couldn't believe that I was here in Copenhagen on such a momentous occasion.
When a man finally came out to open the doors, the cheers were deafening and the Royal Family emerged to a rather joyous crowd.
Left to right: HRH Crown Princess Mary with HRH Princess Isabella, HRH Crown Prince Frederik with HRH Prince Christian, Her Majesty The Queen Margrethe II, HRH Prince Consort Henrik, HRH Prince Joachim, HRH Princess Marie with HH Prince Henrik, HH Prince Felix and HH Prince Nikolai. EXCITING!!
After the Queen waved for a little while, the crowd started singing the Danish birthday song, but as I don't know it, I was content to wave my flag around and shout "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" when prompted. After about five minutes, the family went back inside, and the crowd started singing some song of which I only understood the words "dronning" (queen) and "hjem" (home). Luckily, a very nice Danish man next to us asked us if we understood, then enthusiastically explained that they were singing that if the queen didn't come out again they wouldn't go home. I have a feeling this is some sort of tradition, but based on the two words I knew I couldn't find the song online. Anyway, the whole Royal Family came back out and waved some more. The crowd sang a birthday song reprise and waved around their flags some more. This might have lasted about ten minutes total, but it was completely amazing. I don't think I will ever forget it: the sound of hundreds of paper Danish flags cracking as they were waved in ardent pride, the happy atmosphere as thousands of Danes sang the birthday song in unison, Danes of all ages packed into the square and the joy of parents as they showed their children their Queen, the sea of red and white, the sun shining brilliantly, and the music of the band echoing around the palace walls. Truly amazing.
After the Queen went away for good, the crowd started moving. The three or four girls with me all looked at each other and asked "Where are we supposed to go?" Well, there didn't seem to be a general consensus, so I pointed toward an exit and said "That way!" It turned out to be the best decision we could have made. When we got near the exit, the mounted police came and started parting the crowd; we knew something was happening, so we stopped. We were right next to a Danish national TV cameraman and reporter! A carriage with horses went by into the palace, and dozens more horse guards came prancing into the square.
Danish mounted police....they were so nice!
Horse Guards
They parked themselves right in front of us
After a few minutes of patient waiting, having my toes stomped numerous times, and having an anxiety attack over my batteries dying ever two seconds, the queen finally emerged in the carriage! Now, apparently this whole birthday shebang was pretty unusual. The Queen normally only comes out and waves, and that is it. My Danish teacher said this is the first time she can remember her going out in the carriage. Now, are you ready folks? This is the most exciting picture of the whole semester!!!
Bummer that the Prince Consort stuck his arm in the Queen's face, but still! You can see that I was 10-20 feet away from the Queen! I know that most Danes will never get that close to the Queen in their lives, and it makes me feel incredible. I was on such a high after that incredible encounter that I had a really difficult time focusing in class when I got back to DIS. The weather was great and the day was too perfect to end there, so after class Katie and I went to La Glace, a famous cake bakery in town. It is so well known (and price-y) that it is actually listed on maps of Copenhagen. The piece of cake that I got cost a pretty penny (47 kroner, nearly $10), but it was well worth it.
my cake piece
La Glace was celebrating the Queen's birthday, too!
Eating that cake by the (now running) fountain with the special, festive "golden apples" was the perfect end to a perfect day!
Well, I have more to post about this week, particularly my Nordic Mythology class field trip today, but it will have to wait for later because I have already worked on this post for an hour! Enjoy and godt aften!
