Back Well, I haven't been able to get on-line for a while now, so I'll attempt to bring you up to date. I got tired of Amsterdam, and epecially that hostel, so on Thursday I left for Hamburg, Germany. I got there and was lucky enough to find a room for the night. Apparently they fill up fast, because I couldnøt find a room for Friday night. Since there really didnøt seem to be all that much to do in Hamburg, I just left on Friday morning and went to Copenhagen, Denmark.
So far, it has really been great. I met up with a couple of guys from London on the train, and then we all headed for the same hostel. Last night the three of us went out for a drink. Nice chaps. I also have been haning out a bit with some of the other people I've met at the hostel. Everyone here seems to be very nice, and perfectly happy to speak english.
Unfortunately, that cold I had in London has come back, this time in the form of an earache. I can't hear all that much out of my left ear, which makes thigs a bit difficult.
The city is gorgeous. I have spent only a little time walking around here so far, but I plan on walking around a lot. Or perhaps I'll find some of the free city bikes they have here. It's great...you just have to deposit 20 kronner into the bike, and you can take it anywhere in the city you want. then when you lock it up again, you get your 20k back! Today it's raining a bit, so I guess I won't be doing too much biking or walking.
Gotta go...my time's up!
Wonderful Copenhagen. That's what Danny Kay said in the movie. It also happend to be the name of the main tourist office. I happen to agree with both of them. This is a wonderful city. The people here are very friendly, almost everywhere I go I find some one to chat with. The hostel I'm staying in is one of the best so far, at least as far as meeting lots of friends. The room I'm in has three triple bunk-beds, and they have been full almost every night so far. Now, as to what I've been doing...
To start out with, I have been spending a lot of time just wandering around the Strøget, which is the longest pedestrian walkway in the world. It is lined with shops of all manner, and has street performers all over the place. There was a Jazz festival going on all last week. I almost wish I had come here earlier, just so I could have taken more of it in. As it was, I watched a blues performance on Saturday that was awesome. They called it "Neverending Blues," because they were trying to set a world record for the longest continuous blues set. They had about 20 musicians, and just kept passing the music back and fourth between them, as they rotated people in and out. This festival has brought the best blues players of Denmark, and I believe a few from other countries. Since I haven't listened to blues much in the past, I didn't recognise any of the names. After watching this, though, I am going to start listening to the blues more often.
What else have I been doing? well, Saturday afternoon I walked out to look at the Little Mermaid, which is a very small statue on the edge of the harbor. Unfortunately, I did not bother to look up at the sky, and as it has been drizzling so much lately, I didn't think anything of the mild clouds that I did see. When I turned around to go walk back to town, there were ominous black clouds heading at me. I tried to run back to the hostel, but it was much too far...at least a mile away. I didn't know that storms like this usually pass by in a matter of minutes, so I just kept on going. Within just a few minutes of hitting the serious rain, I was soaked to the skin. My windbreaker is water resistsant, and actually held up pretty well under the circumstances, but my jeans and my shoes were soaked. Luckilly it was not all that cold, and I kept warm by jogging. As luck would have it, the rain stopped completely about 20 mintues before I got to the hostel.
After a hot shower, I headed over to the laundromat wearing a pair of borrowed jeans. I went ahead and washed all my clothes, since it had been a while...they were just about ready to walk off without me. I stopped in at a taco place around the corner (that's right, taco, as in mexican food...it's really big here, with at least four restaurants and one cantina) for some take-out dinner. MMMMMmmmmmmmm...
With clean (and dry!) clothes, I went down to the pool (billiards) room in the hostel, which also serves as a lounge. I almost went out to a club with a bunch of people I met, but I only had my thongs, since my shoes were still wet. Those I dried in the morning.
On Sunday I walked around the Strøget some more, and then watched the final match of the World Cup between France and Brazil. I though Brazil would win, but they were stomped on, the score was 3-0 France in the end. It was still a pretty good game. Did any of you watch it? Did it even get any coverage over there? What about the other matches? I've been telling people here that it's pretty much only on cable....I hope I haven't been misleading them.
Today I headed out with two things in mind...replacing my camera, and finding an internet cafe. I acomplished both! The camer I brought with me just wasn't working right, and after getting a bit wet on Saturday, I don't trust it anymore. So, I went out and spent about $250 on an Olympus. Ahh, the wonders of credit cards! The cafe I stumbled across after I had given up and was headed back to the hostel. It turns out I had been walking right past it all along! Maybe that'll teach me to keep my eyes open a bit more. Other than that, I took a canal tour...not all that impressive, but it gave me an idea where some of the sights are.
Well, I think I'm finally done here, after spending over two hours on-line just to catch up! I'll write more later! until then, I hope you're all safe, happy, and having fun!
Scott
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