Monday, November 19, 2012

2012 Europe Trip - Day 16: The Return Trip

Travel journal entries from my trip to Europe from May 12-28, 2012. Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed.

Welcome back! Just a couple more entries to go...

All good things must come to an end. Monday would be my big travel day. I started things off with one last relaxing breakfast at a coffee shop in Christianshavn. The shop had an LP of Barry White going, and a nice little setup with a couple tables in front. I indulged myself in reading a bit of Steve Jobs's biography.

Then it was time to pack and leave. I worked it so I was able to use the ticket from Sunday's Malmö trip to get me to the airport via the Metro. Copenhagen's Metro is kind of unusual, in that there are no drivers in the trains. I'm not quite sure how they're controlled (a central command center in Odense?), but it is a little odd.

At the airport, I had quite a few leftover Kroner, so I took advantage of the bar's deal on an open-faced prawn sandwich and beer combo. A fitting end to my time in Denmark.

The flights back were pretty sight-filled. I first flew to Reykjavik, with nice views of Denmark and Norway along the way. In particular, Stavanger looked like a beautiful town, surrounded by a massive bay and its water and islands. The eastern side of Iceland was neat, too, with its glaciers and volcanoes. I was able to pick out some of the sights from my road trip of two weeks earlier. The flight from Reykjavik to Seattle was also scenic, but in a different way. There's almost no civilization on the entire route over Greenland and northern Canada, but it was neat to see a part of the world that most of us don't see very often. After about 11 hours of flying plus a layover, minus 9 time zones, I was back in Seattle around dinner time. I dropped off my bags at home and headed to Rancho Bravo for a traditional post-Europe burrito. Then on to laundry and fighting jet lag...

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

2012 Europe Trip - Day 15: Hallå Sweden

Travel journal entries from my trip to Europe from May 12-28, 2012. Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed.

Sunday would be my last full day in Europe. I had to make it count. How about two museums and an international side trip?

I started the day with a Danish and a chocolate milk at a chain-type bakery along the Strøget. The bakery was pretty remarkable, though. Every kind of bread and pastry along the back and side walls. They were moving through about five customers per minute, too. Quite an operation.

First museum of the day was the national museum. It has all kinds of historical items and stories about how Denmark was settled. The museum even has some thousand-year-old mummified human remains, along with some other artifacts like ancient coffins and animal skeletons. I skipped some of the sections about later Danish history so I could move on to my next stop, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.

The Glyptotek is an art museum whose works were mostly donated by the founder of the Carlsberg brewery, J.C. Jacobsen. There are tons of works from the 19th century. Lots of Rodin sculptures and several paintings by Monet, Manet, and Van Gogh. It was also definitely worth a visit, especially considering it was free on Sundays.

With museums "out of the way," so to speak, it was almost time for lunch. But first, a train to Sweden. Before I visited Copenhagen, I didn't realized the city is on the eastern edge of Denmark, on the island of Zealand. In the past, Denmark controlled the southern part of Sweden, so Copenhagen was somewhat centrally-located. Anyway, construction was completed in 2000 on a project to link Copenhagen to Malmö, Sweden, via an about 10-mile-long combination of tunnel, artificial island, and bridge. The toll to drive across is crazy high (around $100 US if I remember correctly), but luckily, the train ticket is very reasonably-priced.

Malmö was a nice town. My first goal was lunch. I wasn't overtly interested in specifically sampling Swedish food, so I found a cheap Chinese to-go place. Since Malmö is such an easy trip from Copenhagen, many shops and restaurants accept Danish money. I had to smile when I realized that I was in Sweden, buying food from Chinese people, speaking English, and paying with Danish money. I took that food over to a little park in the square. It wasn't quite up to west-coast-US Chinese food standards, but hey, it was filling.

After lunch, I explored the town squares a little more before settling down at a coffee shop. The shop's outdoor seating was good for an hour or so of reading and writing. The clouds in the sky worried me that my perfect-weather streak might be coming to an end, but the clouds held off, and the weather wasn't so bad.

Next up was a walk to see some "sights." Though Malmö was a pleasant city, it's not big on sights. First was Malmöhus, which was, during Danish years, a mint. Now it's sort of a museum, and not really much to see. From there, I walked up toward the beach. Though it wasn't really beach weather, a bunch of people were there, walking dogs or just sort of enjoying the outdoors. Or maybe that's as close to "beach weather" as Sweden gets. The beach also provided some great views of the Øresund Bridge (or Öresund Bridge, if you're Swedish) and "the turning torso," a giant skyscraper of a residential building that's more than three times as tall as the second-tallest building in Malmö. On top of all that, there were a ton of birds near the beach: swans, ducks, baby swans, baby ducks, seagulls, and more. I can think of a few animal-loving friends who could have probably spent a whole afternoon there.

But alas, Copenhagen called me back. After a quick rest at the "B & B," I went back to one of my favorite spots, Nyhavn, for another outdoor dinner. I actually ended up getting a hot dog and a beer at the adjacent Kongens Nytorv (King's New Square). I relaxed for one last bit of sunset people-watching and thought about how the Metro construction at that square reminded me of the construction on a light rail station in my Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill. I wonder if we can learn some lessons from the Danes.

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

2012 Europe Trip - Day 14: Smørrebrød and a Hippie Commune

Travel journal entries from my trip to Europe from May 12-28, 2012. Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed.

Saturday was a less-eventful, more relaxing day. That morning, I had to check out of my hostel. For the last two of my nights in Copenhagen, I'd be staying in sort of a B & B/guesthouse. I think splitting my accommodations into two places was partly a way of hedging my bets: if the hostel was too crowded or noisy or something, I'd be able to look forward to the B & B, and if the B & B was not an ideal situation, at least it would only be two nights. Also, trying both kinds of housing would be a learning experience. Looking back, switching in the middle added a lot of coordination work and general hassle, so I'm not sure I'd do it again. That said, I don't know if I'd say I regret it.

So anyway, I checked out of the hostel around 10 and walked over to the Strøget, where there was supposed to be some kind of parade for the "Copenhagen Carnival." What I found wasn't really a parade, but I suppose it was parade-esque. Maybe my timing was wrong. There were a few groups of drumlines, and lots of girls dressed up in outfits like you'd expect in Rio for Carneval. But nothing super-special.

After that, I was feeling a little sleep-deprived and "out of it." (10am is an early check-out when you're "on vacation.") I walked over to the royal gardens (basically a giant park) and emulated some others I saw who were sprawling out and sleeping/resting without looking too sketchy. It was a nice little power nap.

Next up was my only "fancy" Copenhagen meal. One of the most Danish meals is a lunch of smørrebrød. It's a series of open-faced sandwiches with a variety of ingredients. Luckily, the café I chose, Aamand's, had a pre-selected flight of them. I think the first was mackerel-based, followed by chicken-salad-based, then roast-pork-based. Of course, there were plenty of other fresh vegetables and ingredients as well. Along with a local Danish microbrew, it made for a delicious lunch. Quite a bit pricier than shawarma or hot dogs, though.

After lunch, it was time to switch hotels. I picked up my luggage at the hostel and lugged it over to Christianshavn, a different, quieter part of Copenhagen.

The "B & B" was not quite what I expected. Really, it was just a family who had an extra bedroom in their condo. Sort of like a much shorter version of studying abroad and having a host family. The place was nice, and the hosts, Thorkill and Donna, were very generous, but I knew I'd feel rude if I had any more 3:30am bedtimes. Maybe that was a good thing. In the end, though, it was a neat experience. I got a glimpse, however short, of some family life in Copenhagen. I wouldn't have had that with a hotel or hostel.

After I had settled in and rested a bit more, I set out for nearby Christiania. It's Copenhagen's own hippie commune. The people there consider themselves to live outside Denmark and outside the EU. In fact, there's a sign when you leave that says, "You are now entering the EU." The government has a pendulum-like back-and-forth relationship with Christiania, but they seem to be on OK terms right now. I didn't take many photos there, because they discourage it in certain areas, and I wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally photograph the wrong thing. Christiania is known for different things, and while I won't go into detail here, it's not too difficult to find the info on the web. It was a pretty peaceful place. There were several musicians playing at cafés and on street corners; it kind of reminded me of Austin for some reason. I enjoyed a Danish soft drink called Faxe Kondi while watching a band play some rock/blues/jazz-type music at an outdoor café, then had a chicken panini from a little bakery. (Chicken = "kylling" in Danish, which sounds more like "gooling.") After that, I was still not feeling very energetic, so I spent most of the rest of the evening back at the "B & B", relaxing and reading.

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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

2012 Europe Trip - Day 13: Outside Copenhagen

Travel journal entries from my trip to Europe from May 12-28, 2012. Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed.

Friday morning, I was going to take a train north of the city to see some sights.

I walked from the hostel to the nearby Nørreport station, where I had to wander around for a while to find the ticket office. Copenhagen was in the process of a major revamp of their metro system, so, as with many other spots around town, Nørreport was a little out of sorts. When I finally found the office, the lady behind the counter was very helpful.

My first stop was the town of Helsingør, home of Kronborg Slot, also known as Elsinore Castle. The castle, in addition to its Hamlet ties, has an important place in Denmark's history. For centuries, Denmark collected a toll on all ships passing between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and Kronborg Slot was where that happened. Helsingør's position at the closest point to Sweden made it ideal for that purpose. So the site has some really nice views across the Øresund to Sweden. There were lots of people taking advantage of the good weather by fishing or boating. I did a lap around the castle, but decided to save some time by skipping the visit/tour (as Rick Steves said, "To see or not to see?")

Satisfied with that, I walked back around the town a bit. Helsingør's modern importance has less to do with tolls and more to do with alcohol. Apparently, Sweden's taxes and laws on alcohol are stricter, so the Swedes will take a ferry over to Denmark to buy their booze. I came across several liquor stores with pallets of vodka, gin, whiskey, or wine on display. Even selling truckloads of spirits looks classy, though, when Denmark is doing it.

Next stop was Humlebæk, a town a few miles south of Helsingør. It's home to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. After a short train ride and a medium-length walk, I was there.

The museum is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. It's sort of half-outside, half-inside; situated on the edge of the water. There are a few different connected buildings, and outside are some wooded areas and some grassy areas spotted with sculptures. As usual, I made a point to seek out and appreciate the Picassos, but there were many other works that stood out to me. There were a couple works by Francis Picabia, an artist from around the same time who has recently caught my attention, and some really entertaining works by a guy from Iceland and a guy from Denmark. So the art would hold its own, even if you took away the amazing setting.

Another nice bonus was a combo of musicians jamming on the front porch of one of the buildings. It was relaxed, jazzy music that fit well with the setting. When I finished perusing the artwork, the museum was a great place to sit down, relax, and take in the environment. I kind of felt bad about leaving, but Copenhagen was calling me back.

Dinner that night was another Shawarma picnic at Nyhavn, this time with a Carlsberg beer to be extra-Danish. It really is a great dinner option.

Once I finished dinner, I made a trek up to see another one of Copenhagen's most well-known tourist attractions. The Little Mermaid statue was built in honor of the author of the story with the same name, Hans Christian Andersen. He was born in the Danish town of Odense, but lived much of his adult life in Copenhagen. The statue is one of the most photographed things in town, thought it's not really overwhelming. There were some good people-watching and nice parks on the way there, though.

By the time I returned to the hostel, it was happy hour. Time for some more socializing. I met a Filipino guy named Mike and an Irish guy named Paul. Strangely enough, though Mike grew up in the Philipines, he was actually born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, less than an hour away from my hometown of Marion. Small world. We chatted for a while and then decided it would be best to go explore the bars around the neighborhood.

Walking down the street was eye-opening. Lots of young Danes, out looking for a good time. Many just standing with their friends on the sidewalk, having beers. Denmark's liquor laws show a stark contrast to America's.

Anyway, we settled on a pub called Wall Street. It was loud and crowded (mostly with Danish people), and the music was a mix of "American" party music and some Danish stuff, which made us feel a little left-out. Still, though, it felt more "foreign" that way, which is sort of what you want when you visit a foreign country. We met a few girls there, and we talked about language, the songs, and some good places to visit and things to do. It was another fun night, but we did get back well before sunrise. Probably a good thing.

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Sunday, August 19, 2012

2012 Europe Trip - Day 12: København Tours

Travel journal entries from my trip to Europe from May 12-28, 2012. Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed.

Thursday would be a day planned around tours. The first was a walking tour. After a simple breakfast at a café near the hostel, I met up with the tour group at 11am. A company called New Europe puts on "free" walking tours in several European cities. I say "free" because the tours are not quite totally free—the guides depend on tips—but either way, the tours are worthwhile. I had taken part in one in 2009 in Amsterdam and found it a good way to get acquainted with the city and get an overview of the main sights. Our trip was led by a friendly and entertaining guy from the Czech Republic named Igor.

The tour was comprehensive: about three hours of walking with a lunch break in the middle. We saw sights like Nyhavn, the Magasin du Nord, the royal palace, the opera house, the town hall, and the old and new town squares. We also heard about a Danish guy named Tommy Sneum, Denmark's former dominion over Southern Sweden, a defector from East Germany, and the Danish Royal Family. It was a very informative and engaging overview.

After the tour's three hours of walking, I needed a break. Time for an iced coffee at a coffee shop at Kongens Nytorv. I had also gotten quite a bit of sun on the walk, so I opted to stay inside the shop and give my skin a rest as well. The people-watching was great, as the weather seemed to turn this into the first week of summer for Copenhageners. I saw lots of cyclists riding in Copenhagen's cyclist-friendly dedicated bike lanes, and the beautiful, tanned Danish girls breaking out their summer wardrobes made for some great scenery, too.

When my coffee and reading break ended, I headed back to the hostel, where I bumped into Ryan, one of my roommates. We went out for an elegant dinner of some chicken pita sandwich wrap. It was cheap. Ryan had spent a few years in the Navy and was now a student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. We connected over some stories of travel in Europe and life in the Midwest.

After dinner, we opted to do a pub crawl run by the same New Europe company from the walking tour. So this was tour #2. Our group was unusually small, with just five people; all guys. Our Irish guide, Gareth, was surprised, and talked about how they had had over 100 on a recent Thursday. Still, it was a pretty good group. In addition to Ryan and me, there was a guy named Michael from Switzerland, Mike from Canada, and a half-Brazilian, half-Spanish guy who lives in London whose name I forget. Now I feel bad. Anyway, the tour was a lot of fun. The bars started fairly empty, because apparently there was some soccer match and everyone was watching at home. Things picked up later, though. We started at Hiedi's (totally empty), then moved to Billy Bar (looked like it could be a lot of fun, but it was mostly empty). I can't remember the name of the third bar, but that's not too big a deal, as they had some Danish comedian, so it was kind of lame for us. The final bar was a club called A-Bar (the A stands for Australia). It was a lot of fun. We played a couple rounds of pool, watched a bit of beer pong, and chatted with the locals. By the end of the night, we were getting more social.

Once things at A-Bar started wrapping up, we headed back toward the hostel, near the well-known Andy's Bar. Well-known for staying open until 5 or later. First we stopped at the 7-11 for some beers, and I got a banana. Then we went to Andy's for a bit. It seemed fun, but with it being close to 4am at that point, we decided to call it a night. The sun was just about to rise as we re-entered the hostel.

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Monday, August 13, 2012

2012 Europe Trip - Day 11: København

Travel journal entries from my trip to Europe from May 12-28, 2012. Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed.

Come Wednesday, it was time for some more travel. Before work, John dropped me off at the Luxembourg airport, where I caught a flight on a small SAS plane to Copenhagen. When I arrived at my hostel, it was still morning, so I dropped off my stuff and began to wander around town.

First stop was a canal tour by boat. It was a pretty relaxing and refreshing way to spend an hour and quickly see some of the big sights in the beautiful weather of Copenhagen. After that, I grabbed a traditional Danish hot dog, with "everything." Not quite a Chicago-style dog, but closer than most American hot dogs. Then it was time for wandering along Copenhagen's main pedestrianized shopping street, the Strøget. I don't know if I ever heard that word pronounced consistently, but it's not pronounced how you'd expect. My primary destination was the flagship Lego store. Lego was founded in Denmark, and the factory and original Legoland are there. Unfortunately, they're across the country from Copenhagen, and the entry fee for Legoland is pricey. Plus, I've heard it's mostly kid-focused. Too bad. Anyway, I managed to find myself a souvenir magnet from the store, so that was good. The store itself was impressive, too. An entire store of just Legos and some Lego apparel. They had a bunch of containers of different parts, and you could make your own assortment by the pound, kind of like at Jelly Belly stores. They also had a bunch of different Lego sculptures set up, of things around Copenhagen and the like. Definitely worth the visit.

For dinner, I acted like the locals and bought a "picnic" of Shawarma and took it down to Nyhavn to eat outside. Nyhavn ended up being one of my favorite places in town. It's kind of like Pike Place Market, in that it's a tourist attraction without being so touristy that locals stay away. It's a small canal built into the middle of town, lined with restaurants, cafés, and bars. There are also usually several musicians, and, when the weather is nice, lots of people like me sitting on the edge, having a picnic. Thanks to the weather during the week I was in Copenhagen, Nyhavn was usually very busy and full of life.

After dinner, I went back to the hostel for some quick planning, Internet, and resting, followed by drinks at the hostel bar. There was a group of teenagers from elsewhere in Denmark watching a soccer match between Copenhagen and another Danish team. Toward the end of the match, the bar started a 2 for 1 happy hour, and it wasn't long before I became a big fan of Carlsberg beer. Sitting at the bar, I met a few interesting people. First was a guy named Chris who normally worked on merchant ships based in Alaska. When he had time off, it usually came in big blocks like this, and he'd use it to travel. He had just spent a week or two in Helsinki for the world hockey championships. Later, there was a couple of film students from NYU. They had been studying in Prague and were making some side trips before heading back to the US. Interestingly, they said they had a rough time in Prague, partly because of some racism they experienced toward Asians. I never really had a problem when I was in Prague, but then again, I'm a white guy. A little after that point in the deep, Carlsberg-fueled discussion, it was time for me to hit the hay, so I went upstairs to my room for the night.

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