Last week I spent a whole week in Copenhagen. It was one of the best trips I've ever had.
I was set to be there to do almost nothing but ended up finding lots of exciting things. Here let me highlight two things that unexpectedly got me significantly moved and taken.
The nordic seawater that runs through the city
The tranquility of the canal in front of where I stayed was beyond words. And the fact that all the boats going by were electronic and near soundless (from high and above) further intensified the sense of stillness and calmness of the water.
I immediately had an urge to touch the water. And that urge became a wish to swim as soon as I spotted a few (naked) blonds swimming near the bank of the canal in the early mornings. I even secretly felt I might be better off following the suit to be naked to get the best emersion experience of the nordic water.
My idea got a lot of resistance from the friends who accompanied me on this trip. The water should be too cold. They said.
“Let me try.” One night on our way back, I even climbed down the stairs to the canal to test it with my hands.
“It is tolerable!” I yelled back to my friends waiting for me in the dark.
My plan kept being delayed until I declared loudly that I would do it in the early morning of the last day before we headed back to the airport.
Eventually, I made it. I did it (with my one-piece gym swimming suit) from Ribersborg Kallbadhus, an open-air bath house built in 1898 that sat on the top of the open sea on the other side of Malmo in Sweden.
I loved every bit of it!
The two girlfriends accompanying me to the crime scene got too worried to see me in the cold water of 15C. They feared my warm body would go into some seizure caused by the cold water so I would sink and disappear in front of their eyes. They suddenly treated me as one of their naughty kids and demanding me get out of the water as soon as possible.
My only regret was that I did not swim to the resting floating panel set further into the sea, just ten meters away.
The unique stones that decorates a church's exterior
On our way to pay a visit to the little mermaid statue, I spotted some very distinctive patterns on the exterior walls of this tiny, very British-looking church.
The closeup look revealed that these particular patterns were made from unique-looking, almost jewelry-like stones.
I’ve seen enough churches to know how unusual and Special this church was, mainly because of these stones.
I was so impressed by the rich variations of the textures, the colors, and the translucency of the substances of these stones.
Since Denmark is a country with less than 130 meters of elevation above sea, it should not be easy to find these stones.
Then, one day, while visiting the "Pick your own flower" farm that was at least 50 km away from this church, I suddenly spotted s few such pebbles in the dark berry field.
They were shining like big jewelries.
I could not help but pick up one and bring it all the way home.
The Wikipedia about this lovely church tells me these stones are from the local island called Stevn flint.
