Carnival

This past weekend was very enjoyable for many reasons: our friend Jim (pictured here with Bobby) from Santa Barbara visited us, we had a long weekend (Monday was a national holiday for Pentecost), and this weekend was the Carnival festival in Copenhagen! As several people have pointed out to us, Carnival should be held in February, right before Lent begins. Copenhagen celebrates in late May for two reasons: Danish Carnival is based on Whitsun, not Lent, and it's just too cold to have an outdoor festival in February!



On Saturday, the three of us headed to the Stroget (the pedestrian walking street in Old Copenhagen), where the Carnival parade was held. We were amazed at how many people were not only at the parade but also in the parade. There were many women dressed up in fun (and provocative) outfits dancing the samba.



















There were even a few men dressed up in fun (and provocative) outfits.












There were also many drum cores, playing drum music from all over the world. There were several brass marching bands, and even a few floats!




On Sunday, the three of us took a picnic to a park near Christiania. We had a nice lunch overlooking this pretty lake. The weather was pleasant (at least it didn't rain) and it was nice to be outdoors for the second day in a row.



After our lunch, we ascended these steps into Christiania. A self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood of Copenhagen, Christiania was founded in 1971. Hash and weed are legally sold, though you can't take the drugs out of Christiania. We don't have any pictures of the little neighborhood because photos aren't allowed... I'll let you guess why. After wandering around a bit, Jim, Bobby, and I stopped in a little cafe where Bobby explained to Jim what compressed sensing is.


We also walked around the neighboring district of Christianshavn. This pretty area has many canals and is right across from the Black Diamond (pictured behind Bobby and me, the Black Diamond houses the Royal Danish Library). Christianshavn is also home to Noma, the world's best restaurant. I wonder which parent of ours we can talk into taking us there?!?

After our walk around Christiania and Christianshavn, we headed to Fælledparken where many different bands were playing. We listened to some DJs, a Columbian band, and a Persian belly dancer.