Last Saturday, some of my classmates and I paid a visit to Odense, the third largest city in Denmark as well as the childhood home of the world-famous Danish fairy tale author H.C.Andersen. Odense is about an hour and a half away from Copenhagen by train, so we went early in the morning. 
I really like the small-town feeling of Odense: serene, clean and away from the hectic scenes in the metropolitan setting. Following other tourists, we found our way to the H.C. Andersen Hus (local name), or the H.C. Andersen Museum. When we arrived, the outdoor parade featuring 35 of Andersen's characters just ended, but we were told that we could come back and catch another one at 1pm. Here are some photos of the fairy tale characters! 
The museum exhibit features many aspects of his life, including the historical era in which he was born (1805-1875), biographical exhibit detailing years of his travel and the relationships he had with the significant people around him, his original hand-drawn sketches and illustrations (very creative and exquisite!), collections of his works in many different languages, as well as reconstructions of his childhood home and his room during his late years in Nyhavn. The Memorial Hall, a dome hall embellished by Danish artist Niels Larsen Stevns' stunning murals and frescoes, is situated in the middle of the museum. There is also a video room that shows a 15-minute informative biographical film of H.C. Andersen in Danish, English, and German.
At the end of the day, we were all glad that we learned much more about H.C. Andersen but were sympathetic towards him upon learning the difficult circumstances during his childhood and the hardship he encountered in adulthood even after he garnered fame and success as an author and poet. He confessed that his work The Ugly Duckling was actually "a reflection of my own life." Despite his life being not so fairytale-esque like his stories, he still maintained a positive outlook on life. When reading this quote from Hans Christian Andersen: The True Story of my Life, I was deeply moved by it. He wrote:
"[Life] is like a voyage to some known point.--I stand at the rudder, I have chosen my path, --but God rules the storm and the sea. He may direct it otherwise; and then, happen what may, it will be the best for me...my life will be the best illustration of all my work."
It was an extraordinary experience to visit the hometown of the world's favorite fairytale author and learn more about him as a person beyond his works. Now as a student traveler studying abroad in his native land Denmark, I definitely echo his sentiments during his years of traveling:
"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live." - H. C. Andersen
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