From August: This post is going to contain our 2 full days in Copenhagen, Denmark, and our 1 full day in Kalmar, Sweden.

Day 1 of Copenhagen, Denmark: The first thing we did was go to a delicious bakery (St. Peter’s) that specialized in cinnamon rolls. Then we went to the Lego store which was really cool because they had so many Lego sets I have never seen: Hans Christian Andersen stories made into Legos, and “Friends” (the TV show) Legos. The interior of the store was really cool because they had Lego statues around, there was a real Lego dragon that was life size that went around the entrance of the store. They also had a big Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) that was bigger then double the size of my head, and the coolest thing they had was a life-size model of C-3PO and R2-D2 (Star Wars) made of Legos.

After the morning we went to the National Danish Museum which consisted of mostly Viking artifacts and exhibits. It was really cool to see ancient rune stones from Viking times. We also saw the body of a girl that was 3,000 years old and the way her body was preserved was because she died by falling in ice and her body was kept cold and preserved from the ice. The museum also had old treasure, boats, swords, and other things from the Viking age. I learned that Vikings tried to reach Rome but were never successful. 

Then we went on a bike tour around Copenhagen and we got to see the Little Mermaid (not from Disney) Statue, the Rosenborg Castle and gardens, and the rest of the historical district. 

After that we sat at the harbor and relaxed. While doing so we decided to try some of Abigail’s candy that she had gotten at the museum gift shop. It was a black licorice tube with this stuff called Salmiakki stuffed inside and, well, let’s just say it was not a very yummy candy. It is a Finnish licorice candy that consists of ammonium chloride and it tastes like if a wet dog and a salty sweaty fish were combined. I encourage you to try this or at least look up a video on YouTube of Americans trying this foul candy and if you try this candy, I also encourage you to record your live reaction.

Then we ate dinner at a traditional Danish restaurant. And after that we went to bed.

Second full day in Copenhagen: First we went back to the Rosenborg castle to see it on the inside. It was a fairly big castle and the coolest part of this castle was a prank chair. This chair was requested by Christian IV, the King of Denmark (This was still during the 1600s), and when you sat in this chair it would lock you in and spray water to make it look like you peed your pants and then when you got up out of the chair it would make a farting noise. The second coolest thing in the castle were the Crown Jewels. The Crown Jewels were really cool because they were made of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds so many cool things. 

Then we took a guided tour through the free commune of Christiania, I am not going to go over the history because it is a lot of history but if you want to know the fascinating story of Christiania you can research it. The commune was super cool because it was a big area of land with little villages and shops and things like that. The next day we took a 4-hr train ride north to Kalmar, Sweden. 

The only full day in Kalmar, Sweden: First we had breakfast at the hostel (which I spelled right, search it up if you don’t know what it is). The breakfast was a traditional Swedish breakfast. 

Then we went to the famous Kalmar castle, and this castle was really cool because you could touch the cannons on the ramparts, so we took some pictures of that and then went in the castle and my favorite part was the dungeon because I have never ever seen a dungeon in my entire life. There was a really cool modern photo exhibit on the second floor and it was all photoshopped pictures by surrealist [Erik Johansson](www.erikjo.com) and I really liked the pictures because they were super creative and cool. 

After the castle we walked to a really sandy and windy beach and walked on the pier. 

Then we ate at a Swedish McDonalds and they had this really cool sauce for your fries made from truffles and it was really yummy so the next time you go to any McDonalds I encourage you to ask or check for truffle sauce. 

Then we walked around the city for a bit and then looked in a cathedral and after that we had some ice cream.

Thank you all for tuning in for today’s edition of the Zimmerman Sabbatical Blog.