Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink.

So if you don't know to what I am referring, please educate yourself: http://youtu.be/cwdbLu_x0gY?t=2m3s The gist is that some (not every, but any [oh maybe that was a Vashta Nerada reference]) statues are actually aliens from the dawn of the universe who freeze into stone when observed to avoid being killed. So if you blink or turn around or anything they become able to attack you-- which they do by sending you back in time and feeding off your potential future energy. As you do.

Oh! For the technologically inclined, I've been formatting based on viewing this on a computer (well, my computer), so I hope it looks fine on tablet/mobile. On mobile I know the design looks very different, but you get the gist of things.

Just a casual lamp post by the harbour...

Boom! Dragon on top!

So I've mentioned in a previous post about the many funky sculptures and statutes that just hang out around town. There were so many I went past on my trip this week they deserve their own post. I don't know who most of them are meant to be-- some had helpful signs, and with the help of Google translate (which, by the way, now I can speak some [er, very little] Danish, is actually pretty awful... should have known that) I've figured out a few. But they are pretty cool to look at.

Like these for example. I mean, I could just have built a lamp post, nothing particularly special... or I could put a dragon on top! Wooooo!

I'm not exactly sure what the above are. The left is obviously a memorial, the middle an angel on a pedestal and the right the bust of somebody.



On the left here is King Frederik IX, and on the right is a memorial to fallen soldiers. I quite liked the detail in the pedestal of the angel in the middle. I think it is people repairing a ship, but it kind of looks like kids playing cricket.



So this guy just chilling on the left is near my sunset bridge. He did have a name. I've forgotten it. He has a friend guarding the other side. If you can call lying there 'guarding'. In the middle we have (presumably a copy of) Michaelangelo's David. Don't know how or why he got there. And on the right we have two more chilling guardians on a gate. Wouldn't be a bad gig, except for being stuck out exposed in the wind and cold year round.

Now this guy I like. He reminds me of Frankenstein's Monster, looking out over the sea and contemplating existence. He's located on a dock on the harbour (oh, I've just decided to call it a harbour, it is easier). But it just seems like such a random place to put a tangled mess of wires forming a man. I love it. And they even have statues up on roof tops, either keeping watch over the town or stalking people. Whichever you'd prefer to believe, I guess.

Now this is possibly my favourite statue I've found. OH MY IT'S NOT A STATUE IT IS A FOUNTAIN. See the things you learn when you research about them afterwards?

Okay so it is called Gefionspringvandet or Gefion Fountain in English, and according to Google maps it has water flowing all through what I now can say are basins, not just random rock deposits, presumably in summer. Thinking about it, it does make sense. But anyway, doubt you can see but there are snakes and things along the side.

So, definitely one of the cooler things I've seen around town. So according to Wikipedia, it is the Norse goddess Gefjun, and depicts the creation of the island of Zealand (on which Copenhagen exists). Oh and this is just fantastic: "The fountain was donated to the city of Copenhagen by the Carlsberg Foundation on the occasion of the brewery’s 50-year anniversary." The church in the background is St Alban's Anglican.

Hmmm what else has been happening... oh I did end up buying a bike this weekend, and managed to ride to and from class on Thursday successfully. Well I didn't fall off or hit anything, except the curb once or twice. There are designated bike lanes on most roads, which are higher than the road but slightly lower than the footpath. So I'll probably be riding around a bit more now-- the city is so flat and everything is relatively close together, which is fantastic. I'll post a picture when I remember to take one.

Have a good weekend... and don't blink! Good luck. :)