Day 2 — First Rain

| Tuesday | 24.05.22 | Copenhagen, Denmark |

Today I learned that my rain jacket is in fact not waterproof... needless to say, I spent the first few hours of my day soaking wet! As Michelle said, though, you can't appreciate the good travel days without some suffering. Despite my dampness, I had a great day walking and biking through the maze of Copenhagen...

We began the day with Thomas Dickson leading us on an in-depth walking tour focusing primarily on Scandinavian architecture, furniture, and industrial design. I loved not only exploring the streets, but getting to further understand the intention behind Scandinavian design. My dad and I have always bonded over furniture like the pieces we saw today, so getting to see the design process and execution in real life was very nostalgic.

After lunch, we embarked on a bike tour mainly surrounding the harbor (which has impressed me with its cleanliness). Given that this city is significantly older than where I am from, I was in awe of the buildings that have witnessed so much history. Our tour guide, an expert in architecture, discussed the controversy and juxtaposition of the old and new buildings. Simply by virtue of my relatively young country, I never considered buildings holding so much intention and variety of purpose (i.e. smaller windows looking towards the water, inner semi-private courtyards rather than front/back yards, inviting vs. stark architecture, presence of color, etc.). I also love the respect and care the Danish pay to their buildings and physical spaces; they honor the history of these buildings and actively seek solutions for better integrating new and old. Thus far, the study of Danish architectural design has been my favorite subject. As usual, I look forward to learning and absorbing even more!

Tak,

Beia