Monday, April 27, 2009

Copenhagen

It's been a while since I've updated the blog because I've been so busy. The last three weeks I have been traveling. This means that I spend three days in Prague going to class and four days flying, touring and generally being exhausted. I recently got back from London and will be spending the rest of my time in Prague. I'm really looking forward to this because I have been out of the city on weekends for the better part of a month. The weather in Prague is really nice right now and I have a significant list of things I still want to do. The only real snag in the plan is that finals and papers are piling up. It will be somewhat of a balancing act but I look forward to making the most of my remaining time here. But first, Copenhagen.

The usual travel plan consists of leaving Prague on a Thursday evening, some time after my single Thursday class. I have one sort of layover or another and then eventually arrive at my destination sometime that night, go out, etc. Copenhagen was no exception, but this was my first trip alone. Prior to this trip, aside from my flight to Prague, I had always traveled with at least one other person, and technically, this trip wasn't completely alone either because I rode with Sam to Vienna. We decided to meet up at a given time and take a cab to the airport. Sam was at a beer garden and I was in the dorm so I decided to call the cab. When it came time to go outside there were two cabs parked and Sam arrived. We realized that we both called cabs so we picked the nicer looking one and lied to the guy. As we got in the one cab they started to get suspicious and asked us questions. It wasn't good but we managed to get out alive. Later, on the cab ride to airport, my phone rang off the hook with the cab company calling me. I guess I can't call any cabs anymore.

When we got to the airport we we checked in quickly and and got on our plane to Vienna. The flight wasn't long at all and we took the trip on a turboprop plane. The model of plane was called a Dash 7 and I had recently bought the Wilco Album, A.M. with a song titled Dash 8 on it. Apparently, Jeff Tweedy took lots of flights on Dash 7's back in his Uncle Tupelo days and didn't really like the plane. It's a nice song but I didn't have the same sentiment. The flight was fine and when we arrived in Vienna I said goodbye to Sam and took off toward my gate. I said earlier that this was more or less my first time traveling alone in Europe and here it took hold. I love traveling alone. While I enjoy the company of others, traveling, for as long as I can remember has always been a hassle. You have to make sure everyone is on time and that everything is packed and in order. Every person added to the trip adds another variable that can go wrong. Moreover, it gives you time to think and contemplate things. It's a very introspective experience. I need to do more traveling alone, if only en route to meeting with friends.

After the small layover in Vienna I got on the flight to Copenhagen and arrived on time. Josh met me at the airport, I grabbed a road beer, and we hit the town. Josh lives about 20 minutes outside of Copenhagen by train so we decided to head right out and check my bag in the coat check at the bar. We sat in a park for a while and then went to a bar called Ko(o)lerbar, or some such Danish nonsense. They had all you can drink beer in these little mugs. I had Tuborg which is the second most popular/famous? beer in Denmark. I was a little tired from the day so we took the last train back to Josh's neighborhood. The train stops running around midnight. Either way, we had a busy day of sightseeing the next day.

Josh had class the next morning so I slept in and eventually took the train in to meet him in the city. I arrived a little early and did some exploration on my own. People from Denmark are beautiful and the city was very nice. It wasn't nearly as urban as I had imagined but was still quite metropolitan. The avenue I walked down was full of boutiques and designer shops. Meeting up with Josh, we headed to a must-see sight; Christiania. Started by squatters in an old army base, Christiania is basically an anarchist haven. People there live in squalor as a sort of commune. The area maintains its status as independent from that of the city of Copenhagen and there is a thriving marijuana business inside. You can walk from street to street and see vendors selling pieces, lighters, pipes, weed and hash. It was completely ridiculous and a truly interesting experience.

At this point we were hungry ( I hadn't eaten all day) so we went looking for a restaurant. Denmark is a very expensive country and we eventually decided on a fairly nice restaurant that was apparently fairly traditional. Josh told me that herring is a very traditional Danish food so I ordered that. Another Danish food is smorbrod. This is essentially an open sandwich with toppings piled high on one piece of bread. Apparently I ordered the herring smorbrod and got three pieces of bread and herring with dill, curry and horseradish. By this point in my European trip I had eaten very little good fish and the herring was simply incredible. The fish was tender and flavorful and the sauces were all great. It was probably one of the best meals I had abroad.

We then began our tour and headed to the Queen's residence, the house of Parliament and my personal favorite, the Little Mermaid. H. C. Andersen is probably the most beloved person from Denmark and the Little Mermaid statue was the only thing I knew about Copenhagen before going there. Hands down, best single experience I've ever had in my life. The Little Mermaid was a little out of the way so we took a walk back into town and took the train back to Josh's to prepare for the night out. 

Back at Josh's dorm we talked of memories past and cooked up some pasta and asparagus. Josh had a single room decorated in a very Ikea-esque style. There was a spherical paper lamp at the center of the room and in order to work the shower you had to divert the water from the sink with a knob. He lives in a Collegium (sp?) which is subsidized housing for students. Apparently, a lot of people know this and squat there saying that they are students. Even so, it's fairly nice and I can definitely see the appeal of squatting. 

We met up with Josh's friends: Brad, who I had met earlier in the day, Danielle, who I knew from her visit to Prague, and Carly, a very nice girl who goes to Goucher in Towson. We drank a little at Josh's place and then headed into the city. We traveled to a few bars throughout the night and danced, drank and hung out. Josh was hit on by a 17 year old at one point and I tried Fisk, the traditional Danish liquor. To describe Fisk I need to diverge and tell a quick story.

Freshman year of college I took a spur of the moment road trip to Salisbury to visit Jeff Lunnen with Rachael Kessler. When we got there Jeff only had Kool-Aid and cheap vodka. To make the vodka taste better Jeff mixed up some devilish concoction that consisted of vodka, kool-aid, tons of sugar and maybe some other ingredients. One mix, flavored with cherry tasted like robotussin. This we dubbed ghetto robotussin. The other, flavored with blue something, tasted like hynotiq. This we dubbed ghetto hypnotiq. Both were surprisingly delicious.

Now, Fisk is red in color and has an herbal, minty taste to it. In short, it is very similar to alcoholic robotussin; a flavor I have a soft spot for.

We attempted to play foosball but never got around to it, I found myself a cool Carlsberg glass and then we headed back to Josh's neighborhood on the night bus because at this point the train had stopped running. I had been forewarned that the night bus was bumpy, 45 minutes long and a big hassle, but there was no other option and I wanted to get the full Copenhagen experience anyway. I stamped my metro pass twice as instructed and sat down for the ride. Around 30 minutes into the ride and at around 3:30 a.m. some ticket inspectors made a surprise inspection of the bus. Coming on like the gestapo, everyone got quiet and started forking over their passes. I had little reason to worry because my pass was stamped correctly and waited my turn. As Josh and his friends showed their monthly passes I handed the inspector my card but he suddenly told me it wasn't enough.

Over the next 25 minutes I was grilled and asked about my social security number, passport, student identification number and other various things. Apparently, I did not stamp my pass the correct number of times and Josh was unaware of the correct amount for the night bus. Suddenly another inspector showed up and they began questioning me and then talking to each other in Danish. As they filled out a citation I was asked what my name was, if I had any more names, if Christopher John Gessner was my full name and once more if I had any more names. Finally, I think they were unable to get any sort of viable information out of me so they ended up just giving me a warning. With the ordeal over we finally got back to Albertslund and went to bed slightly before sunrise.
 
The next day we woke up late and headed to the Carlsberg brewery. After visiting the Pilsner brewery I was sweet on brewery tours so I wanted to hit up Carlsberg. We found the brewery which was very pretty and elephant themed. But, when we did the tour itself it was quite boring and self guided. Not to say it was awful, but the Pilsner tour was far superior and the best part of the Carlsberg tour was the two free beers at the end. 

After the tour we headed on to Tivoli. Tivoli is a large theme park in the very center of Copenhagen and is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. Accordingly, it is fairly small and antiquated. There are more parks, gardens and amphitheaters than rides but I was fine with this. We went of a few rides including a roller coaster, a spinning pirate ship, a straight drop and this thing that spins you around and busts your balls. The gardens in the park were beautiful as were the fountains. The center of the park is filled with large light fixtures hanging overhead and I regretted not being able to see the park lit up at night; I'm sure it's beautiful.

In addition to the rides we did the H. C. Andersen fun house, a few more roller coasters, the tea cups and my personal favorite, the cars. Exhausted, we headed back to Albertslund for a nap before the night's adventures. Because my flight was at 7:40 in the morning we decided to go out and stay out until the morning whereupon I would go catch my plane.

We decided to go to a ritzy club called Rust which was fine with me because I had 500 Kroner I needed to spend. We drank a little at Josh's and then caught the last train into the city around midnight. We grabbed a beer at 7-11 and headed to a bar around the street because we were told that we couldn't get into Rust until 2 because of some special event. We ended up at a laundromat/bar which was pretty weird. I was bored there so I drank a good bit and got pretty drunk. 

By the time we reached Rust there was a very long line so I sobered up. The only problem was that it was cold, I had a large travel bag with me and we ended up waiting for about an hour. As tensions got high some Frenchman behind us spat gum in Carly's hair. I have no idea why he did this and when I pushed him he suddenly forgot how to speak English and acted like he had done nothing wrong. I hate the French.

We finally into Rust though and it was amazing. The club had several floors and a live DJ spinning. The guy was really good and the dance floor was packed. We got out and danced for a good while, periodically taking breaks to drink Fisk, beers, water or go to the smoking room. After a solid few hours of dancing the scene began to wind down and the bar finally closed at 5. With some time before my flight we went to McDonald's and then Josh and co. decided to go with me to the airport because their train was not yet running. We got to the airport and by this time I was feeling the effects of 8 hours of sleep over 60 some hours. I had had a good amount of caffeine but eaten no real food and my stomach was reminding me of that fact. I periodically had horrible stomach cramps but continued to pound coffee in my body for fear of missing my flight. By the time I cleared security it was around 6:45 and my flight boarded at 7:20. I found my gate and noticed that there was no waiting area only a damned hallway. At this point I was too tired to care and I collapsed in the middle of the Copenhagen airport and played the Smashing Pumpkins full volume to try to stay awake. The sight of me must have been ridiculous. I reeked of smoke from the night's activities, my hair was disheveled, my eyes were glazed over and I was too lazy to shut my mouth and start breathing through my nose.

Somehow I made it to boarding and collapsed in my seat. The next thing I knew two people were sitting next to me and the flight attendant was asking me about a drink. I chugged a water while the pilot pointed out Berlin on the right side. I looked out and saw an amazing view. Tiergarten was right below and the Brandenburg gate and Berliner Dome were plainly visible. It was awesome especially since I had been there one week earlier. 

The rest of the journey was unremarkable and I arrived in Prague at around 11. The weather in Prague was beautiful as usual and it made the bus ride much more tolerable. I finally got off at Albertov at around 12:30 and strolled home in the gorgeous Sunday weather. I was strangely not tired upon my arrival considering I had gone over 2 days with very little sleep. My stomach was still killing me though so I eventually passed out in anticipation for Czech class the next day.

Copenhagen was certainly my most epic trip so far in terms of traveling but it was also very enjoyable. Like all of my trips it was a blast and it was good to see Josh again. By that time I was missing lots of things from home and it was good to commiserate and discuss the things we would do when we got back to College Park.

 

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