Official business in Copenhagen

It seems my new lab will involve the occasional business trip, to which you could say I'm not entirely opposed. ;) This past week, I enjoyed my first professional travels as a post-doc: a trip to Copenhagen for my Danish animal experimentation certification course at the university. While it involved a lot of studying and even a proper classroom-based written exam (something I thought I'd put behind me years ago), the time in the capital wasn't entirely tedious.

Art spotted on Copenhagen U campus. Top right is a real special piece. Taxpayer money at work.

By chance, the trip coincided with the separate travels of two of my friends, Amy and Ally, who made the weekend a lot more fun.

Group shot at Nyhavn! We all managed to cross paths over the weekend in Copenhagen.

We checked off a few of the requisite tourist stops, from the underwhelming Little Mermaid of Langelinje Pier to the military-occupied Citadel to the Botanical Gardens where we found a wandering barefoot flutist to the hippy commune Christianshavn to the Assistens Cemetery-- as surprisingly cheery and family-friendly picnickers' paradise.

Hitting up the tourist sites across Copenhagen under perfect blue skies. Is this really Denmark??

Copenhagen's charm doesn't come so much from its must-see tourist attraction as from the spirit of the city, which you'll find in the impromptu concerts in the park, in the random weekend attractions like Cardboard City, where everything down to the participants clothes and the water in which they swam was of the aforementioned material. You'll see Copenhagen best by admiring the zany outfits you may spot on public transport as well as the total lack of reaction they garner from the locals. Go to a bar and enjoy a craft brew. Sample the Mexican food from the street trucks, the new Vietnamese restaurant, the small Italian take-out joints, and the charmingly decorated cafés. (Who knew a Nordic city could be so diverse?)

What makes Copenhagen so great may just be its perfect blend of Danish hyggelig*, cosmopolitan energy, and international flare. Or not. Luckily, this was just our first real chance to get to know the city. And it certainly won't be our last, now that we've planted ourselves in Denmark for the next few years.

Craft beer bars with accompanying Mexican food trucks, full grown (apparently sober) men walking the streets in hot dog, hamburger, and flamingo hats, hyggelig cafés, and wise-crack chalkboards outside stores. All in a typical Copenhagen afternoon.

*Hyggelig is an atmosphere or mood which the Danes strive to achieve, and in which they take great pride. The Urban Dictionary translates the concept as "cozy, homy, delightfully intimate, a genial moment or thing, often at home with candle lights and warm blankets."

Or maybe it's the fact that a random Elvis impersonator just might show up at the train station at a moment's notice that gives Copenhagen its certain charm.