Day one solo

Not soon after Fletcher left did the realization that my adventure is going solo set in. What a weird feeling that was. My immediate instinct was to run back home where familiarity will return me to my comfort zone. But wasn’t getting out of my comfort zone what this trip was all about? Tuesday we (and by ‘we’ I mean ‘I’ of course) continue on to Munich, then to Budapest, then to Belgrade. Beerfest goes on until Sunday, and it’s a city I can finally afford. I also can’t wait to get out of this hostel-living for a week. A luxury apartment in the center of Belgrade for €40/night? Sign me up. No more showering in sandals dodging mold and mosquitos that made Sprague Hall look clean? Done. And a kitchen…I can’t wait. I haven’t had milk since I left.

Anyway, the last two nights have been crazy here. I met an interesting mix of people here: a few Americans, a couple of Canadians, a few Aussies…but no Danes. Too bad. Night one we decided going out around here was just too expensive, so we went to Sevs (7-11 for you common folk) and decided to “homeless it up” and drink at a park bench (which is completely legal here). Keep it classy, Copenhagen. What an experience that was. As we were all trading travel stories, people would stop by randomly and sit with us for a few minutes (or more), then take off. A homeless woman came by and started singing to us (quite loud, I might add; could be classified as ‘shouting’). Priceless. Cut to the next morning. I have to get up and walk Rob to the train station but my back is killing me. WTF? What happened last night? Oh that’s right, I fell asleep in the lobby at a 45 degree angle with my laptop on my lap…for three hours. Well done, sir. Dropped Rob off, got to the Carlsberg brewery only to find out that 1) it’s closed on Mondays and 2) the swastika isn’t as unpopular in Denmark as it is in, say, Israel (see picture). Spent the remainder of the day with these two Americans bumming around the city swiping city bikes from the bushes/stairwells/canals they were stashed away in. Hey, when in Rome, etc. etc. We walk up to the City Public Hostel to try and find them a room for the next night, and I run into Heath Ledger from Stockholm! What a small world. The four of us got a pizza (after another epic search for ice – wtf is wrong with this continent???), and reconvened at the hostel. Our group continued to climb to the point where there were six of us Americans, three Aussies, two Canucks, a Costa Rican. We decided to go on a pub crawl…in the most expensive city ever…in the pouring rain. Worst decision ever. We actually walked into this dive bar with the Sevs beers thinking we were stealth. We were not. The walk home was not a dry one.

Almost time for the epic journey to Belgrade for Beerfest. First I have to hit the Danish War Resistance museum (I have to see their tanks up close: http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/DanishResistanceAC2795.jpg/180px-DanishResistanceAC2795.jpg). But I leave tonight at 6:57pm for Munich, I don’t get in to Belgrade until Thursday morning (after changing trains in Munich and Budapest). I’ve got to be out of my mind…