Copenhagen

When we got to Copenhagen our host, Jan, was waiting for us on the platform with Danish beers in hand. So amazing. We then walked out of the station and he made us put our bags down and drink the beers right then and there. At this point I was already in love. We spent the first half hour in Copenhagen outside the train station drinking beers and talking. I could not have asked for a better way to enter Scandinavia.

Once we were done with the beers we headed to Jan's place. We found out we are his first CSers - yay! We love popping the CS cherry, haha. This is the second time it has happened. He surfed in other places but just recently got the OK from his landlord and roommates to finally start hosting. So glad he did cause he is amazing and a great host. He is super energetic and the type of person who is just really fun to be around. When we got to his place we made tacos for dinner, yum. And then headed to a bar in his neighborhood for a drink. Unfortunately, Hilary is getting sick so we only stayed out for one beer.

The next morning we got a late start. Since Hilary is sick she slept in until 11 and I didn't want to wake her so I just found random things around the apartment to occupy my time with until she got up and we could get going for the day.

We wanted to check out a boat tour around the city that Jan recommended and after a few wrong turns on the bus we made it there. The tour was cheap so we jumped on and spent the next hour or so on the water learning about the town. The tour was in 3 languages so I fell asleep a couple times in the warm sun while the tour guide wasn't speaking English. It was really nice being on the water and finally having sun to enjoy.

After the boat ride, there was a museum Hilary wanted to check out that housed sculptures of one of her favorite artists. Her guide book told her the museum was free on Wednesdays so we headed that way. Turns out her guide book was wrong. It is free on Sundays. But, it happened to be the crown prince's birthday this particular Wednesday and all the museums were free, sweet. We wandered around the museum until we both got our fill and then headed out.

It was time for food and some random walking around the city center so we headed to the main area and hung out there for awhile. We couldn't find any cheap food that looked good so once we had pretty much gone the whole day without eating we headed back to Jan's for dinner. He ended up making us some delicious Rosti. This was the second time we'd had it, but his was for dinner and full of vegetables and eggs, not just potatoes. It was great. We were supposed to meet up with some of Jan's friends for drinks but ended up eating so late and talking we just decided to stay in and have a calm night.

The next morning we made it out of the house much earlier, and headed to Christiania. Essentially this is described as a hippie commune that is pretty much self governed separate from Copenhagen since the 60s. It is a described as a 'social experiment'. It is definitely different from any community I had ever seen before. It is exactly how one would picture a hippie commune set up in the 60s. There is graffiti everywhere, parks, bars, all the buildings are painted bright colors, people selling drug paraphernalia and of course lots of hippies walking around. It was really cool. I can definitely see more than a few people back in Seattle fitting in here.

After that we got lunch and then went to meet Jan for a tour of Carlsburg brewery. A few wrong turns and 20 minutes late we got there and paid $10 for the tour which Hilary's guide book had told her was free - wrong again. This wasn't so bad in the end though cause we got 2 free beer tickets. We learned a ton about the factory and the brewing process and then rewarded ourselves with some good beer. There is an area right before the bar that allows you to smell 20 different aromas and then mark down if you like them or not. Then they lay out each beer they have and you can see which one you want based on what aromas you liked. It was a really cool experiment. I'm not sure if it worked 100% but fun to do at least.

Next on our list for the day was the Tivoli theme park. Theme park! Yay! I LOVE rides and theme parks so I was really excited about this. It wasn't cheap, but after we paid the entrance fee and got an unlimited ride ticket the major money spending was over and we got to ride everything as much as we wanted, score. The lines were nice and short so we got to do just about everything we wanted and some of them twice. I even got Hilary to do a ride where you drop straight down from a pretty high distance in the air. Brought back memories of sky diving - loved it! The three of us were essentially middle schoolers again running around the park. I could not have asked for a better time or better company. :)

Once the park closed and kicked us out food was our next objective. We found a restaurant that was still open, had our fill, got a student discount and then headed to a bar. We stayed at bar #1 for one beer and a shot then moved on to meet up with Jan's friend at another bar. We stayed there just long enough to pick up his friend and head to the next place. Bar #3 was more of a club which we stayed at for awhile. Jan's friend and I got into some good conversation, I liked him a lot. After that we were back to the second bar until around 3am and then headed out to the beach to watch the sun rise.

We ended up taking a taxi to get to the beach. It was so beautiful. We were the only people on the beach. I love nature when it is untouched. We watched the waves roll in, the birds fly about and the sky gradually turn from dark blue, to a rainbow of colors and finally the sun rose over the water. Absolutely gorgeous. We ended up being out there for an hour and a half since we misjudged when we thought the sun would rise; but other than being pretty cold it was perfect. Watching the sun rise is one of my favorite things to do. Everyone can watch the sun set, but only a small percentage of people really get to enjoy the sun rise often. I love it.

The sun was finally up and we were freezing our asses off so we headed back to Jan's place. I was tired but really happy. This had probably been one of my best nights of the trip so far - and that is saying a lot. Jan is amazing and I'm going to miss him a lot. So sad we only got to spend a couple days with him. Hopefully he will come to the states and visit us soon! *hint, hint Jan - :)*

I slept in until 11:30 after getting to bed around 5:30 and the morning consisted of eating, packing and going to the train station. Our train was at 1:45. We didn't have any trouble making it and our now on our way to Sweden to meet Hilary's family. We only have 2 countries left: Sweden and France but a whole 3.5 weeks. This is the slowest part of the trip for us. I think the tempo and the vibe is going to change a lot but it will be a welcome change. Slowing things down for a little bit and being with Hilary's family will be really nice. I am in desperate need of doing laundry as well, so that'll be exciting as well. It really is all about the little things when you're traveling.