Here it is! As it should have appeared a week ago...
Elena and I had so much fun this weekend in Copenhagen! Of course it went by too fast, and it would have been nice to have more time to relax and see everything thoroughly without having to rush or walk until we dropped over each day, but we definitely had a great time.
Our trip began Thursday night at around 8:30, when Elena and I
met at the station in Köln. The train wasn't scheduled to leave until just before 9:30, but I've already had one unfortunate experience with missing a train for a long journey, so we got there a little early to make sure it didn't happen again. As we were sitting on the platform eating some chow mien and waiting for the train to get there, we heard an announcement that it was actually almost 1 hour delayed. So we had to wait a little longer, but it wasn't so bad. We just opened up a bottle of sparkling wine and a package of chocolate donuts while we waited.
The train ride itself was not so pleasant. It was an all night train, but we booked too late to get a cabin with beds, which meant we were in a small room with 4 other people, along with everyone's luggage. There was no room to lay down or get comfortable enough to sleep, and it was really hot. My feet were so hot that it felt like they were on fire, partially because it was simply
so warm and stuffy in the cabin, and partly because my feet were swollen because I never got the chance to put my feet up and let the blood flow back out of them. Not to mention I had forgotten my traveling companion (the little green frog neck pillow that I always take with me when I fly or have a long train ride) and that made it a little more difficult to fall asleep while sitting up. At some point in the middle of the night I grabbed my blanket and went into the hallway where I could open the window and get some fresh air without disturbing everyone. Then, with the window open, I laid down on the floor as close to the wall as possible so that there was still room to walk by, and that's where I slept. When we got to the Danish border in the morning the police came through and woke up every passenger to do a passport check. Although Denmark is part of the EU, they started controlling their borders again in April of this year.
Elena got slightly worried, because when the police officer saw her Ukrainian passport he spent about 3 minutes to thoroughly read and double check every detail of her visa to be sure she was permitted to be there. But there was no problem. After that, though, I had to stay in my seat in the cabin because we aren't actually allowed to hang out in the walkways like that. At that point there were only a couple hours left in our journey, though, so it wasn't too bad.
When we got to the train station in Copenhagen, the next step was to find the buses and figure out which direction to go in. I had already
looked it up online at home and knew which bus to take and how many stops we had to go, it was just a matter of getting on the bus traveling in the right direction, which wasn't really a big deal. What was actually more difficult was determining where and how to buy our tickets. We only had Euro, and Denmark still uses their own Danish krone. I had asked the bus driver if we could pay with Euro, but we couldn't. So we went back into the train station to find an ATM so I could pull out money and went back to the bus stop. We didn't have to wait very long for the bus, only a couple of minutes, and then it was only 2 stops until we were at the station where we needed to get off and a short walk around the corner to the Danhostel Copenhagen Downtown, where we were staying.
The hostel was really cool. If anyone ever takes a trip to Copenhagen and is looking to save a little money on accommodations, I highly recommend it. In the lobby/reception area they have a bar, lots of seating areas, a pool table, a Foosball table, a full kitchen available for everyone's use, and a cozy little corner with lots of pillows and cushions to relax, read a book, or take a nap. It has a really laid back atmosphere, and although we were in a room with 6 strangers, we felt really at home.
It was not yet noon when we got there, and check-in was at 2, so we had a little time to waste. At first we thought we would just hang out there in the lounge and relax a little bit until we were able to check in, but then we realized that that was way too long to just sit around and do nothing. We carried our luggage into the storage area in the basement, grabbed something to eat at the burger joint on the corner (we had smelled it as we passed by earlier, and it smelled so good that we couldn't resist) and then we headed out into the city. We didn't really have a goal or destination, we were just wandering around to get a feel for things and maybe figure out what looked interesting that we would check out in more detail over the next couple of days. The city itself was beautiful. It's really pleasant to just w
alk along the canals and look at all of the ships and the buildings.
After we were able to check in at the hostel, we made our beds and then got ourselves a little bit cleaned up and refreshed, which was extremely necessary after the long train ride, before we went back out to see more of the city. Again, we didn't have a destination we were trying to get to, so we just roamed around checking things out. In the process we came across a painted elephant statue, one of 100 in Copenhagen, which was part of the Elephant Parade to help raise money for elephant conservation projects. We took a picture with the
elephant, and decided that we were going to try to take a picture of each elephant statue we saw.
In the evening we took a walk along the canal in Nyhavn, which is accurately described in my travel guidebook as the biggest tourist trap in Copenhagen, but nonetheless a must-see. It was so beautiful to walk along the canal as night fell and to see all the lights reflecting off the water. The whole street was lined with little cafes and every one of them was busy. Elena and I picked one near the end of the row and ordered ourselves a bottle of wine and a bite to eat and just sat there enjoying the ambiance of the city. Afterward we were too tired/lazy to walk all the back to the hostel, so we took a rickshaw taxi back. Then we hung out in the bar at the hostel and played a couple rounds of pool before going to bed. Although it had been a long day and we both expected t
o be asleep by 10 pm, it was almost 2 in the morning when we finally went to sleep. That wasn't a bad thing, though, because we knew we didn't have to get up particularly early and we were having a great time.
On Saturday morning we took our time waking up and getting ready. It was around
11 when we went down to the lobby, and since breakfast was already winding down we decided to go elsewhere for food. The first thing we thought of was this little sandwich shop right there on the corner. When we walked by the day before, there was a line out the door waiting to order lunch there, so we figured it must be pretty good if so many people are willing to wait. We were standing outside, attempting to
decipher a menu and debating whether or not that's what we really wanted, when a man walking by said to us that this place had the best sandwiches in all of Copenhagen and that we needed to eat there. So we did, and he was right. Elena ordered a sandwich with mozzarella and sundried tomatoes, and I had one with chicken salad. That was seriously the best sandwich I've ever eaten. It's too bad that they were closed on Sunday, because I wanted to go back there for lunch again, and to order an extra sandwich to take on the train for dinner. I definitely know where I'm going for lunch if I ever make it back to Copenhagen.
Once our hunger was satisfied we started out again, this time with a few actual intended destinations. First was a church (Vor Frelsers Kirke) that we had stumbled upon the day before,
with a spiral staircase on the outside of the top of the tower, which we wanted to climb. On the way there we passed by Christiansborg palace which we somehow missed on Friday, so we checked that out a little bit, too. We didn't go inside the palace, but we did go beneath it to see the ruins of the middle ages castle that used to stand in that spot. Then we headed to the church, and it was a perfect day to climb the tower. It was warm and sunny, and the sky was clear so we could see everything. It was kind of crazy, though. The stairs go up the tower until it tapers off so much that they simply can't go any further, and you can climb all the way up until that point. Kind of neat, actually.
The next destination was Rosenborg Slot, a 17th century castle with beautiful gardens. Actually, the gardens are more like a giant park, and people use it today as a public park. There are 2 members of the Danish guard that stand watch outside the palace. More specifically, they patrol the entrance to the treasury, and once you're inside it's clear to see why.
There is so much gold and ivory and jewelry in there. The crowns in particular were impressive. After we saw the treasury we went inside the palace, which was equally well decorated. There was one room off to the side of the throne room that was lined from floor to ceiling with shelves filled with expensive porcelain. At first Elena wasn't sure that she wanted to take the time or spend the money to go inside at all, but she was definitely glad that I made her.
Although it seems in writing like we didn't see or do very much, it was a lot of walking and we were pretty tired after visiting the castle, so we went back to the hostel to relax for a little bit. After we got cleaned and rested up, I asked the girls at the reception where they would recommend to go for good, traditional Danish food. What was the response? There is no such thing as Danish food. Huh? Yeah, after discussing it with them further I learned that they simply didn't like traditional Danish food because they think it's too fatty, but of course there's such a thing as Danish food. So they pointed out on the map where a restaurant was, and Elena and I headed out. Unfortunately they told us the wrong street corner, and we had to wander around a bit to find it, since there was nothing there which even resembled a restaurant. When
we did get there, the waiter explained that if we really wanted traditional Danish food, we would have to come at lunch because what the Danes eat for dinner is the same as what we would eat for dinner (like roasted chicken and potatoes, that kind of thing). So we decided we would simply head back in the direction of the hostel, where we knew there were a lot of cafes, and somewhere we would have to see something that was "typical Danish" enough. What we found was a cafe that served something called Pariserbøf, which is kind of like a Danish version of a hamburger and which apparently can't be found outside of Denmark. It's a big patty of ground beef on a slice of bread, garnished with pickled beets, onions, fresh horse radish, and capers, complete with raw egg yolks (in this case pasteurized) to go
on top. Sounds pretty gross to some people, I'm sure, but I loved it.
After dinner we hung out in the lobby at the hostel for a little while longer before heading out for our last planned event of the day. Just down the street from the hostel, about 2 minutes by foot, was the Ice Bar Copenhagen, which is from the same people that build the Ice Hotel in Sweden. Once I saw the Ice Bar, I knew we had to go in to check it out. They have 3 different cover charges, each one including entry into the bar and a certain number of drinks. We paid 200 DKK each, which got us each 2 alcoholic cocktails once
inside the bar. Before you go in they put a giant, heavy fur-lined waterproof poncho over you, and in case you don't have proper footwear you can borrow a pair of boots. When you get inside, it's pretty much exactly what you'd expect: a bar made of ice. They had tables, a chandelier, chairs, a tip jar, everything made of ice. The cups were made of ice, too. They were basically giant hollowed out ice cubes. The bar itself wasn't too exciting, by which I mean it wasn't exactly a place you would go to spend the night socializing, dancing, partying, whatever. But it was definitely a really cool experience.
Back at the hostel we played a few rounds of pool again, but this time not by ourselves. We had met a couple of German guys that morning who were staying at the hostel (one of them was actually in our room) and we played with them. There was also a group of 4 Danish guys there, each of them wearing a different crazy hat, and we were talking to them and hanging out while they threw darts. That wasn't so great for Elena, because she doesn't speak English (and the Scandinavians speak impeccable English) and they didn't speak German, but I don't think it bothered her too much that I had to translate. She did go to bed earlier than I did, though. She left for the room at a little before 1 and I stayed in the lobby until they kicked us out at 2.
Sunday morning we had to get up a little earlier because we had to check out by 10 am. It was no big deal, though, since we just took our stuff into the storage room in the basement, checked out, and then basically continued our day as if we were still staying at the hostel. We ate breakfast at the hostel this time and relaxed in the lobby while we planned out our day. There was a row of windmills in the water that Elena wanted to walk to and see up close, and we had to make our way over to the statue of the little mermaid. There were a few other things I wanted to see, but we were pretty beat, so we just planned a course that would take us past these other things so that I could take a picture and call it a day.
It didn't quite work out the way we planned because we couldn't figure out how to get to the windmills and realized, after putting way too much time and energy into walking in their direction, that they were too far away, anyway. So we turned around and headed in the direction of the statue, which was also further away than we realized. But along the way we passed by the citadel, and got to see the St. Albans Church, which is my favorite building that we saw during the whole trip. It's not very Scandinavian in terms of style (or function, since it's an Anglican Church), but it looks really cool, and it's in a beautiful setting. Then it was
just a short walk until we reached the little mermaid statue, which sits on a pile of rocks just a few feet out in the water. It took a little while to get some good pictures there because there were so many tourists all standing in the way and trying to take their own pictures, but I think we got some good ones.
On the way back to the hostel we had planned a route that would take us past a couple of other really cool looking churches, but we took a wrong turn and were far too exhausted to care. We both noticed that as the day went on our pace got progressively slower, and our legs could hardly carry us anymore. We thought we were going to drop over by the time we got back to the hostel. We had done so much walking over the 3 days that our feet hurt and we
couldn't feel our legs, so it wasn't the end of the world that we didn't get to look at a church or two. Back at the hostel we laid down on the mattresses in the little meditation/relaxation corner for about an hour with our feet up to recover. Then we went across the street to the cafe for lunch. Elena ordered traditional meatballs with potato salad and I ordered herring with a creamy dill sauce. Both were typical Danish, and both were very good. Though, I must say, the meatballs were much better than the fish, and I was glad that Elena couldn't finish her meal and I got to eat the rest.
After lunch we were able to put our feet up for a little bit longer before heading back to the train station for the long ride home. This time we
walked to the station instead of taking a bus, since we now knew exactly where to go and that it wasn't all that far to walk. The train ride itself was much more pleasant, too. At first we were really worried because there were probably about 100 boyscouts in their early teens who were getting on the train with us, and we thought for sure we were going to be stuck in a cabin with 4 loud, obnoxious, stinky boys who were going to make it impossible for us to sleep. Boy, did we luck out! For the entire 12 hour trip there was only one other girl in our cabin. We all had plenty of room to spread out and get as comfortable as one possibly can in such a cramped little space. Plus, I was next to the window and was therefore able to control the thermostat, meaning I was able to keep it as cold as possible at all times. Eventually I actually laid down on the floor because I was able to completely stretch out my
legs that way, and then I was able to sleep. At first Elena was concerned that I must've been uncomfortable and she kept trying to rearrange luggage and whatnot to make it better, but eventually I was able to convince her that I was actually quite comfortable, and we were both able to get some sleep.
We arrived back in Köln at around 6:30 Monday morning. We were both sad that our trip had to end so soon, but of course thrilled that we were able to go at all. Once we got back we both went our separate ways, each of us then going direct home and into bed. Elena had to go to work at 6 that evening, and not much was really expected of me here at home for that day. And, needless to say, Amelie was absolutely ecstatic when I walked through the door. She followed me directly up into my room and we both went to sleep. A good end to a great trip, I would say.
comment wasn't technically a question, but you get the point. You would think that, at midnight, when they just got home from a 2 week vacation and everyone is exhausted and wants to go to bed, he could let the milk bit go for just one night. Apparently not. Then, at 4:15 in the morning, I was woken up by Pauline yelling and crying and screaming at the top of her lungs because she had "Beinschmerzen." By 8 am the kids were fully awake, and at around 9 am I was again awakened by the obnoxious sound of a child screaming and yelling and crying. This time it was Gustav, sitting on the toilet (which, by the way, is directly across the hall from my bedroom door) throwing a fit because nobody would come to wipe his butt for him. So my brief sojourn in the realm of peace and tranquility has come to an end, and its passing has been "commemorated" with a 21-gun-salute, fired into a nitroglycerin plant during a nuclear blast while the world's worst marching band plays "76 Trombones" and Jim Carrey belts "the most annoying sound in the world" into a megaphone. Awesome.
as they came through the door from the baggage check, the kids (who were both half asleep, since it was 10 pm) came running over to me to give me a hug. Pauline immediately wanted me to pick her up, and she stayed on my arm until we put her in the car. She even came with me to go pay the parking fee (here you usually pay at a machine before you get in the car instead of paying at the exit) instead of going with Esther and Olaf to the car. She and Gustav both held my hand the whole way home, too, even while they were sleeping.
always has a stick that she carries around with her, and at the lake she's actually willing to hand it over, which she otherwise never does. That's because I throw the stick into the lake, and she gets to go swimming. She has such a blast in the water, and it's perfect for her in the hot weather. Even though it's now officially fall, we basically just got our summer weather. We had a pretty mild, somewhat cool and occasionally rainy summer, but at the end of last week it started to get warm, and now we're supposed to have hot, sunny days for at least another week. That's not so fun for Amelie because she get's too hot and then doesn't have the energy or desire to go for walks or play. But at the lake, she can go swimming to get cooled off, and she gets her exercise in the water instead of having to run through the fields in the hot sun. And it's also wooded there, so she can still go running through the trees and I can enjoy the beautiful leaves, which are starting to turn.
n another high note, I'm actually allowed to play soccer now! I've been playing for over a year, but "officially" I haven't really been allowed to. At first I never registered with the club, because I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be in Germany and I really was just happy to be able to kick the ball around and participate in practices with the team at all. Then I didn't register because the coach stepped down and we weren't sure if there was going to be a new coach at all. Then, once that all got figured out, I finally filled out the application to become a member of the team. The only problem was, in order for me to be permitted to play as a member of any soccer club in an official league in Germany, I first had to get clearance from a central agency. Man, the Germans are ridiculous with their bureaucracy! Anyway, that took probably about 2 months, because they first had to contact my old soccer club in California to verify
that I was no longer a member and that there had been a long enough period of time between now and the last time I played with them. Shouldn't have even been a question, considering that I haven't played soccer in 8 years, but whatever. At first we worried that it was going to take forever to get the clearance, since god only knows who, if anyone, in the Temecula-Murrieta Soccer Club has my player pass or knows anything about my involvement with the club anymore. But we got the word last Tuesday that I was cleared to play, and I played in my first official German soccer game Sunday afternoon. I was terribly nervous, as I always was when I was playing soccer, but I got to start and I played the whole game. I didn't do too bad, either. We tied 1:1, which was kind of crap because we should have had at least 4 goals in the first half alone. But it was a lot of fun, and I'm super excited that I get to play every week now.
