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I JUST CAME FROM THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!!
For serious! The Danes are statistically the happiest nation on the planet. The Sudanese are the saddest...makes you think!
And after spending a few days in the nation's GORGEOUS capital, København (Copenhagen to those of us who like our English names BORING!) it has certainly lived up to its reputation!
And another thing... The Danish are THE MOST STYLISH PEOPLE I'VE EVER SEEN!! It made me feel jealous and ugly. Everyone looked as if they had just walked off a catwalk or a magazine shoot for I:D and were ready to do beautiful people things. The Swedes might have actual beauty down pact, but the Danes work it! It was incredible. I was seriously jealous of everyone! All ages, Moms, Dads, Grandmas, Kids, Teens, Dogs, EVERYONE WAS HOT!!
We arrived in Copenhagen around 11 at night after taking a train ON a ferry! WHAT WHAT!! I was thinking, "surely they've built a tunnel or a bridge or something?" Nope...they rode the train onto the ferry and rode that mother all the way across! Sooper cool!
Got in late after a bunch of delays and then crashed. Marched "the kids" down in the rain to our hostel which was 20 stories, so we got a KILLER view of Copenhagen at night and then again in the morning. I crashed on my bed hard, after a day of lugging the equivalent of the cast of "Small People, Big World" on my back. That would be the only thing that sucked at that point! (You'll have to read about the other sucking bits! NOW YOU'RE HOOKED!!)
Woke up early and decided to hit the town. Got a really cool map that told us all the local stuff to do in Copenhagen that would make us authentic! Kelsey and I both have fluent Danish flowing through our blood so we had NO TROUBLE whatsoever communicating with the Danes....or not. My guide book neglected to include a Danish section, skipping over the D's and going straight to Swedish...crap. So we got as far as "takk" which is "thanks" in all the Scandi countries! Went for brekkie at the oldest bakery in CPH and mao'd down a serious cinnamon bun in a park. Hit up some shops and soon realized that Danes are always happy COS THEY'RE ALWAYS ON THEIR FLIPPIN BIKES!! There are some SERIOUS bike lanes in Denmark; everyone has a bike, and those that don't shouldn't worry cos there are millions littering the side streets abandoned like the emotion "sad" from the Danish lexicon. They take their rules very seriously, so everyone signals, waits, NOBODY J-WALKS, and everyone is ok with this! You can tell the foreigners cos they/we're the ones dashing when there's a break in the traffic.
Found our way to the king's garden, took a nap, walked some more through the cobblestone streets of heaven to the lodgings of the Queen and King. The original castle was burnt down so they built four modest buildings where the Royals reside. The Queen, Margerithe, wears the pants, while her French husband, Frenchman, does not speak Danish and nobody likes him. This is how it works in Denmark!
We wandered, moseyed and even sauntered down towards the waterside, to a fountain across from the amazing opera house they just built. Contemplated life for a bit and then continued down the waterside. There are a s***load of AMAZING buildings showcasing the incredible Danish design spirit; the whole waterside was linked with modern buildings along the canals. Contrasting that was the incredible collection of Old Danish historical buildings in the center of the city. They haven't been overshadowed by the development of a new business core, but rather serve as a link to the past. Everything is made out of old brick, and the roofs are all a pale turquoise from the rusted copper they once were. It is amazing. Mad love for CPH after the short stint there.
We sauntered some more and sat down by the Royal Library which is a huge black diamond shaped building and found ourselves in the mood for a tanning sesh. FUN FACT!! In Denmark you can legally take your top off! Lucky you, ladies of the world! Our map told us this, and we got to find out first hand...neato!
Got to the train station and booked our night train to Stockholm. It was at this point that the sucking kicked in to high gear. "Weird", I thought, "My wallet is usually in this compartment...huh...?"
"Houston, we have a problem."
Losing your wallet sucks. Losing your wallet overseas sucks more! I hate hate hate hate hate with a burning passion the feeling of your stomach leaking out your ass. The pit in your stomach is so heavy that you sink, I sank. I swore like my Scottish ancestors before and had a right scene right there. I won't bore you with the deets, but ya, she was gone...basically 11 hours of "f*** my life". Called Maaaam, probably cost the hostel a few grand cos I assured them it was a collect call...ooops. BUT got the home team working over drive and now have a reserve debit card being sent to Stockholm.
OR WAS SHE?? I have seriously bashed "The Secret" before, but I am now an acknowledger of its power. I'm not a fanatic, but I am starting to think it works. It's basically the power of positive thinking. The whole time it was MIA, I wasn't stressed. It was a few pieces of plastic. It sucked then, but it won't suck forever. So, positive thinking paid off. On our way to the station, I was marching along and happened to swipe an obscure pocket on my backpack backpack and felt something. Just to be sure, I opened her up and there was my wallet. I have NO recollection of putting it in there, NO idea how I thought to put it there, No idea whatsoever which great power decided to move my hand to my pocket on the off chance it might be there. So ya...I'm a dumb ass, but I found it. By this point, MOM you'll have gotten the apology email and all will be balanced again! THANKS SO MUCH FUR YOUR HELP MOM/DAD!!
After the wallet fiasco, prior to finding it, we had dinner in Christianahavn which is a free colony on the water in CPH which has autonomy over its actions. Basically it's where hippies go to smoke drugs, BUT DAMN do they have some killer vegan food! Amy/Elise, you should write the name down and move here, cos wow. Vegans galore! Delicious food, cool vibes, hippies and fun times everywhere! Got a good stint in there and then grabbed some brewskies for the road and walked around singing "Buffalo Soldier" by the waterside.
And now for a news flash...DENMARK ALWAYS RAINS!! If not for the whole day, it'll rain at night!
We woke up the next day in a hurry to check out and ran to the station to drop off our bags, I found my wallet (I'm a dumb ass, I have come to terms with that now!) and then ran to brekkie in a cool cafe surrounded by hot Danes. Walked a few blocks to go rent bike from a place that sends used bikes to Africa with the money raised from renting them; it seemed like the DEVS-y thing to do! J
We dodged patches of rain and made it all the way up to the famous Mermaid of Copenhagen, located far flung from the core, but after some tactful planning, stood in front of us at last! She's a small one, that mermaid, but draws a crowd! Droves came to see this copper lass stare longingly at the sea. Kelsey and I congratulated ourselves on not falling into the tourist bus line thus far on our trip! Ya, thanks, no big deal!
And then it started to really rain. Drizzle, drizzle, cloud of greys appears in the distance an within seconds is over top of you, soaking EVERYTHING! We were minutes from the Danish Architecture Museum and got absolutely PISSED on! We ran inside, getting stares from the warm, dry Danes inside and plunked down in the cafe on the second floor overlooking the soup that is Copenhagen and proceeded to wait it out. Well, we waited for as long as we could until the dump became a drizzle and biked to the other cool museum, the Danish museum of Design. It was neat, sustainable and about wood. Woo! We waited out the rain for a while and then gave up and raced back to drop the bikes off.
We walked down to the Tivoli Gardens for an afternoon romp in Copenhagen's 19th Century amusement park. Super cool, but a bit racist...the huge orientalist "mosque" opera house and the blackface dolls everywhere would make a weak DEVS student dry heave, but it was fun after a day cooped in the rain.
Now we're on the train to Stockholm...where I am now? I have no idea... Talk to y'all later!!
Robin
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